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Members of the L.O., that helped people in hiding.
People who played a role during WW2 in and around Valkenburg. Most of them appear in the resistance story about Valkenburg. In that case, click on More in our story Resistance in Valkenburg next to that name.
This list is far from being complete.
Memorial stone for the resistance people Coenen and Francotte
† ✡ † Jews Holocaust Allied soldiers USA RAF NL sold Verzet initial resistance L.O. K.P. municipality local contacts couriers occasional resistance people in hiding Valkenburg+ Valkenburg Berg en Terblijt Schin op Geul IJzeren Sibbe Margraten Houthem-St.Gerlach Geulhem Hulsberg Houthem Klimmen Meerssen Heerlen police priests NSB / NSDAP
| L.O. was originally the abbreviation for Limburgse Onderduikershulp, Limburgian Hiding Aid, later it became the Landelijke organistie voor hulp aan Onderduikers, National Organization for Help to Hiding People. – 35 pers. | ||
| Berckel,
van Karel C. | ∗ 1892-08-19 Delft † 1944-09-05 Kamp Vught | L.O. - K.P. - Heerlen - war victim - Surgeon and chef de clinique at the St. Jozef hospital in Heerlen. He was one of those who created there an important resistance center and the beginning of the LO in the Heerlen district, from where the connection with Valkenburg was also made. Like almost all people of the Limburg L.O. he was a devout Christian. Moreover, he wrote for the Heerlen resistance paper Het Vrije Volk, The Free People.
More in our story Resistance in Valkenburg This person also appears on the list of fallen resistance members in the resistance memorial on the Cauberg https://oorlogsgravenstichting.nl/persoon/9721/karel-clemens-van-berckel https://www.nmkampvught.nl/biografieen/1125/ |
| Berix,
Jan Willem Giel | ∗ 1907-04-12 Meers † 1945-03-13 Bergen-Belsen | L.O. - priest - Heerlen - person in hiding - war victim - During the first days of September 1943 he founded the L.O.-district Heerlen with others. Became district leader after rector had withdrawn for health reasons. See also the special page on this website. More in our story Resistance in Valkenburg This person also appears on the list of fallen resistance members in the resistance memorial on the Cauberg https://oorlogsgravenstichting.nl/persoon/10748/jan-willem-berix |
| Betuw,
van Jan Jules | ∗ 0000-00-00 † 0000-00-00 | L.O. - courier - Heerlen - survivor - Bus driver, courier in the LO district of Heerlen. In this capacity, he barely escaped his arrest on the Valkenburgerweg in Heerlen one day at the beginning of 1944 during a check while transporting ration stamps and cards. Provided information after the war about the Soesman couple and about the then sexton Van Ogtrop More in our story Resistance in Valkenburg |
| Brands,
Lambert | ∗ 0000-00-00 † 0000-00-00 | L.O. - Valkenburg - survivor - Head of the local food office, opposite the station in (now) hotel Tummers and the C.C.D. (Central) Crisis Control Service, a government agency charged with monitoring compliance with the Landbouwcrisiswet (Agricultural Crisis Act) of 1931. With his support, in particular young men could go into hiding in farms. From him many them received an agricultural exemption so that from then on they could live and work there legally instead of being sent to Germany. That way they were no longer dependent on the LO. More in our story Resistance in Valkenburg |
| Caldenborg,
A. | ∗ 0000-00-00 † 0000-00-00 | L.O. - local contact - Houthem - survivor - “diver’s chief“ More in our story Resistance in Valkenburg |
| Coenen,
Sjeng | ∗ 1915-01-10 Simpelveld † 1944-09-05 Valkenburg | L.O. - K.P. - person in hiding - war victim - Former subdistrictleader of Simpelveld. Cammaert: “After the betrayal of Wittem, J.H. Coenen from Simpelveld and W.J. Francotte from Vaals, who had worked for the illegal magazine Je Maintiendrai in Amsterdam until the summer of 1944, joined the KP. They participated in the raid on the jail of Maastricht on September 2.” They went into hiding in the Diver’s Inn in Geulhem “where suspects and difficult people in hiding were detained and interrogated. … They were arrested by the Germans on September 5th, 1944 (Mad Tuesday) during a resistance action. By order of Major Bernhardt, they were shot on the Cauberg (Valkenburg). There is a memorial stone and the monument for the fallen resistance people of Limburg on that spot. More in our story Resistance in Valkenburg This person also appears on the list of fallen resistance members in the resistance memorial on the Cauberg https://warsage.nl/levensverhalen/sjeng-coenen/ |
| Cornips,
Constant Jozef Ernest Constant | ∗ 1895-09-19 Berg en Terblijt † 1944-09-05 Kamp Vught | L.O. - Heerlen - Berg en Terblijt - war victim - “More complicated need of clothing used to be regulated by the director of the municipal social welfare office, Mr Cornips, with me. He was very competent for this due to his function. It was predominating about suits, clothes, coats etc. for families being hidden as a whole (primarily Jews) and suits and coats for prisoners of war (primarily Frenchmen) and pilots.” The son of this Constant Cornips was Jan Cornips, the secretary of district leader Berix of the L.O. in Heerlen. Because the SiPo Maastricht searched for him but did not find him, Constant was taken away. He was executed on Dolle Dinsdag ( Mad Tuesday) in Kamp Vught. More in our story Resistance in Valkenburg This person also appears on the list of fallen resistance members in the resistance memorial on the Cauberg https://oorlogsgravenstichting.nl/persoon/29254/constant-jozef-ernest-cornips |
| Cremers,
Hein | ∗ 0000-00-00 † 0000-00-00 | L.O. - municipality - Valkenburg - survivor - At the end of the war, the municipal officials Hein Cremers and especially Guus Laeven ensured that the entire register of the registry office of Valkenburg “somehow” got lost, when the Germans had the idea to force all male inhabitants between 16 and 60 years old to work in digging trenches. More in our story Resistance in Valkenburg |
| Cremers,
Wielke | ∗ 1910-07-12 Heerlen † 1950-08-20 Valkenburg | L.O. - courier - Valkenburg - survivor - Sister of Gerda Cremers and sister-in-law of Pierre Schunck. He wrote about her: “Wielke Cremers and the Peusens sisters worked as couriers”. Wielke was always out by bike anyway. More in our story Resistance in Valkenburg ../stamboom/schunck_view.php?ID=224 |
| Francotte,
Joep | ∗ 1920-12-29 Vaals † 1944-09-05 Valkenburg | L.O. - K.P. - person in hiding - war victim - Cammaert: “After the betrayal of Wittem, J.H. Coenen from Simpelveld and W.J. Francotte from Vaals, who had worked for the illegal magazine Je Maintiendrai in Amsterdam until the summer of 1944, joined the KP. They participated in the raid on the jail of Maastricht on September 2.” They went into hiding in the Diver’s Inn in Geulhem “where suspects and difficult people in hiding were detained and interrogated. Generally, Francotte took care of the surveillance of the “prisoners” because of his strongness. Both were arrested by the Germans on September 5th, 1944 (Mad Tuesday) during a resistance action. By order of Major Bernhardt, they were shot on the Cauberg (Valkenburg). There is a memorial stone and the monument for the fallen resistance people of Limburg on that spot. More in our story Resistance in Valkenburg This person also appears on the list of fallen resistance members in the resistance memorial on the Cauberg https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joep_Francotte https://www.joep.francotte.nl/verhaal.htm |
| Freysen,
Willem A.P. | ∗ 0000-00-00 † 0000-00-00 | L.O. - municipality - Valkenburg - survivor - To hide the manipulations of him and his colleagues in favor of the people in hiding, the distribution office of Valkenburg was robbed with great success. On Valkenburg’s liberation day he became almost a victim of lynch justice, because he had acted as if he was German-friendly. More in our story Resistance in Valkenburg |
| Geelen,
Th.G.H. | ∗ 0000-00-00 † 1962-05-19 Roermond | L.O. - priest - Meerssen - survivor - Chaplain in Meerssen since 1928, 1944 pastor of the male youth work in Limburg, pastor of a parish in Roermond. Pierre Schunck of the L.O. Valkenburg wrote: “In 1942 I heard from chaplain Berix that a chaplain Geelen from Meerssen hid two boys in my father’s cave, who were wanted by the Germans.” Cammaert: “Chaplain Th.GH Geelen from Meerssen, in collaboration with members of the former Jonge Wacht, helped submerging young people in a cave since 1942.” (The Jonge Wacht, Young Guard was a catholic youth organiation, which was forbidden by the Germans, because only national-socialist organisations were still allowed.) More in our story Resistance in Valkenburg |
| Goossen,
Theo J.M. Harry van Benthum | ∗ 1917-10-20 Bergh † 2000-02-06 Heerlen | L.O. - Kerkrade - survivor - Leader of the subdistrict Kerkrade of the resistance organisation LO. Worked together the Auβenministerium (a group that repatriated students forced to work in Germany to the Netherlands). After the arrest of the provincial L.O. leaders in June 1944 in Weert, he led the L.O. district of Heerlen for some time and, with the help of L.O. people and agents of the Auβenministerium, set up the strikingly effective intelligence service ID18 there. From Valkenburg he received his information from Paul Simons (real name: Pierre Schunck) during whose funeral he gave a farewell speech. Cammaert writes in chapter 12: “Once again it turned out that the organically grown resistance activities functioned better and more effectively than those implanted in Limburg from other parts of the country. For example, in the summer of 1944, the intelligence service of the L.O. in the mining district was smoothly transformed into a military intelligence service, which after the liberation soon covered large parts of Limburg and provided the Americans with numerous services” More in our story Resistance in Valkenburg https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theo_Goossen |
| Gronden,
van der A.C. | ∗ 0000-00-00 † 0000-00-00 | L.O. - Valkenburg - survivor - Already 1941, he started helping the first people in hiding. Brother of Gerrit J. van der Gronden, who was arrested on January 13, 1942. Together with Rector G.A. Wolf from Sibbe he helped to hide Jews and communists. In late 1943, they joined the L.O., sub-district Valkenburg. After the war, he was police detective. More in our story Resistance in Valkenburg ../verzet/cammaert.php?lang=nl#original |
| Grotaers,
Coen | ∗ 0000-00-00 † 0000-00-00 Australië | L.O. - Geulhem - survivor - Worked as an excavator operator in the Curfs limestone quarry in Geulhem. He and his wife, as well as many colleagues in the adjacent Curfs and Schunck quarries, helped people in hiding in the cave called the Diver’s Inn. On March 15, 1944, he had to go to Kaldenkirchen with 172 false IDs to get people out of the concentration camp there. After filling the truck in Sittard, something went wrong and the truck went up in flames, he was badly burned, but survived. More in our story Resistance in Valkenburg |
| Hendriks,
J. | ∗ 0000-00-00 † 0000-00-00 | L.O. - local contact - Berg en Terblijt - survivor - “diver’s chief“ More in our story Resistance in Valkenburg |
| Horsmans,
Louis (Gerardus Aloysius Anton | ∗ 1918-02-03 Ulestraten † 2001-03-13 Maria-Hoop (gem. Echt) | L.O. - local contact - Houthem-St.Gerlach - survivor - On the recommendation of Pierre Schunck, he became assistant of H. Stahl to the lime quarry Schunck in Geulhem. Was a brother of chaplain Horsmans in Valkenburg. His brother Jan Frans Antoon Horsmans, tenant of the Wijngaardshof in Ulestraten / Waterval, was also part of the resistance (Knokploeg Zuid-Limburg). There Sjeng Coenen and Joep Francotte were arrested. More in our story Resistance in Valkenburg https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Horsmans https://www.parlement.com/id/vg09ll1tpgvt/g_a_a_louis_horsmans#p.overig |
| Horsmans,
Wim (Willem Bernard Jozef) | ∗ 1912-05-20 Ubachsberg † 1987-05-31 Heerlen | L.O. - local contact - priest - survivor - Chaplain in Valkenburg 1938-1950. Contact person of the LO for people in hiding, together with the sexton Harie van Ogtrop, supported by J. Peusens and J. van de Aa. His last position: dean of Meerssen (1963-1975), where he is also buried. mortuary card in the Rijckheyt Archive. He was a brother of the post-war KVP politician Louis Horsmans, who was also a contact person for the L.O. during the war(in Houthem-Sint Gerlach) and deputy of Heinrich Stahl in the limestone quarry Schunck near Geulhem. Also a third brother, Jan Frans Antoon Horsmans, tenant of the Wijngaardshof in Ulestraten was member of the resistance. There Sjeng Coenen and Joep Francotte were arrested. More in our story Resistance in Valkenburg |
| Jansen,
Sjir / Gerard | ∗ 0000-00-00 † 0000-00-00 | L.O. - Geulhem - survivor - Behind his house was the entrance to the Diver’s In, which was almost completely covered by the bushes, only accessible via a steep slope. Pierre Schunck called him “a very simple man, but a pound guy, thoroughly trustworthy.” More in our story Resistance in Valkenburg |
| Jaspers-Koten,
J. | ∗ 0000-00-00 † 0000-00-00 | L.O. - Klimmen - survivor - Not many things are known about Mrs. Jaspers-Koten. In an interview with students, Gerda Schunck-Cremers (DB) said about the successful robbery at the Valkenburg distribution office: “Mrs. Jaspers kept the stamps and other documents for one night in her house in Klimmen. She was not in the resistance, but occasionally helped them.” She too risked her life. For example, her distribution stamkaart (main card) and the one of Gerda S.-C. were made available to a printer in Amsterdam to copy them. The printing shop was busted, but fortunately that had no consequences for these women. She also sometimes made her house available for meetings. More in our story Resistance in Valkenburg |
| Kooten,
van Bep | ∗ 1914-12-12 Laren N.H. † 1979-06-20 Hilversum | L.O. - K.P. - Klimmen - survivor - Bep (B.J.C.) van Kooten, temporarily leader of the LO Klimmen and, for the sub-district of Valkenburg, contact person to the KP (“Knokploegen”, armed groups), sabotage specialist of the KP. Towards the end of the war, the rayon (subdistrict) of Klimmen worked closely together with the rayon of Valkenburg, so here follows a bit more about this village from Het Verborgen Front = The Hidden Front, chapter 6b VIII.5.7. by Dr. A. Cammaert. Some group members were (also) part of the O.D. and maintained contacts with aid workers in the Heerlen region, including with chaplain Berix. These connections date from the Smit period or were brought on the way by the chaplain of Voerendaal, A.F.J. Vondenhoff. In the autumn of 1943, Bep van Kooten established the connection of the subdistrict with the Heerlen district. In addition to Klimmen it included the villages of Hulsberg, Voerendaal, Ransdaal and Ubachsberg. Van Kooten took charge and appointed Miss M.Th. Jaspers as a messenger. Because of Van Kooten’s fast career in Limburg resistance, the actual leadership rested with Brouwers who soon succeeded him. G.H. Meurders and curate A.J. Gibbels, who had to work under very difficult circumstances because the pastor was pro-German, were his deputies. Biography at the website of his rugby club. At the end of the war, Van Kooten was looking for a suitable depot for weapons and a shooting range for the “Knokploegen” of South Limburg. So this cave had to be evacuated. In the second half of July 1944, Crasborn and Van Kooten moved to Swalmen, at the invitation of J. Frantzen. They found shelter on the monumental farm De Baxhof of the Poels family on the edge of the village. Bep was commissioned by Crasborn to travel through the lines via the recently liberated Valkenburg and Maastricht to the headquarters of Prince Bernhard in Brussels, where he was appointed commander of the Stoottroepen in Limburg, see the chapter Valkenburg is free below. As a member of the Dutch army, he participated in the actions against the new republic of Indonesia after the war. Photo: Swearing in as an officer of Bep van Kooten, Commander of the Limburg Command / Limburg Regiment, in front of a line-up.. More in our story Resistance in Valkenburg |
| Laar,
van de J. | ∗ 0000-00-00 † 0000-00-00 | L.O. - local contact - Margraten - survivor - “diver’s chief“. Nothing more is known about the resistance in Margraten. All the more about the military cemetery. Read the e-book about it, see link: More in our story Resistance in Valkenburg https://books.google.de/books?id=RxtwdMUYeRcC |
| Laeven,
A.H. | ∗ 0000-00-00 † 0000-00-00 | L.O. - local contact - Schin op Geul - survivor - “diver’s chief“ More in our story Resistance in Valkenburg https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Horsmans |
| Laeven,
Guus | ∗ 0000-00-00 † 0000-00-00 | L.O. - municipality - Valkenburg - survivor - At the end of the war, Hein Cremers and especially Guus Laeven (DB), who ensured at the end of the war that the entire register of the registry office of Valkenburg “somehow” got lost, when the Germans had the idea to force all male inhabitants between 16 and 60 years old to work in digging trenches. More in our story Resistance in Valkenburg |
| Ogtrop,
van Harie | ∗ 1901-11-13 Hulsberg † 1989-10-26 Heerlen | L.O. - local contact - Valkenburg - survivor - He was the sexton of the old parish church St. Nicolaas & Barbara. One of the two contact people to the people in hiding of the L.O. Still during the last days of the war he hid a German conscript from Valkenburg in the church tower. Also read the story of his activity as a confessor, see “info”. See also his mortuary card in the Rijckheyt Archive More in our story Resistance in Valkenburg |
| Peusens,
gezusters | ∗ 0000-00-00 † 0000-00-00 | L.O. - courier - Valkenburg - survivor - Pierre Schunck schrieb: „Wielke Cremers und die Schwestern Peusens arbeiteten als Kuriere“. More in our story Resistance in Valkenburg |
| Prompers,
Nic M.H. | ∗ 1908-11-05 Sint Geertruid † 0000-00-00 | L.O. - priest - Heerlen - survivor - Nic (Nicolaas Maria Hubertus) Prompers was one of the founders of the L.O. district of Heerlen. He collaborated on the resistance magazine “Het Vrije Volk” in Heerlen, including the chief physician Van Berckel of the St. Jozef hospital in Putgraaf, where Prompers worked as a rector. During one of the first days of September 1943, the L.O. Heerlen district was established in the hospital of Rector Prompers. A certain mr “Paul Simons” from Valkenburg was present too. 1955-1971 he was pastor in Broekhem. Golden “Father Prompers receives the resistance memorial cross from Mr. J. Cornips. Dean Jochems watches.” Limburgsch dagblad, 04/18/1983. More in our story Resistance in Valkenburg https://www.rug.nl/research/portal/files/14543329/11_h11.pdf |
| Schoenmakers,
F. | ∗ 0000-00-00 † 0000-00-00 | L.O. - local contact - Sibbe - survivor - “diver’s chief“ More in our story Resistance in Valkenburg |
| Schunck,
Pierre Paul Simons | ∗ 1906-03-24 Heerlen † 1993-02-02 Kerkrade | L.O. - Heerlen - Valkenburg - survivor - Founder and leader of the “rayon” (subdistrict) of the L.O. in Valkenburg, under the alias of “Paul”. He was also a member of the ID18 intelligence group, which belonged to the Heerlen district of the LO. After the war he gave interviews and wrote down memories about that time. These documents were the beginning of this history about the resistance in and around Valkenburg. More in our story Resistance in Valkenburg |
| Schunck-Cremers,
Gerda | ∗ 1912-09-10 Heerlerheide † 2005-05-05 Valkenburg | L.O. - Valkenburg - survivor - As the wife of Pierre Schunck, she was constantly involved in his resistance work. In retrospect, we can not determine exactly the extent of her share anymore. But given the nature of their relationship, we can assume that it was substantial. More in our story Resistance in Valkenburg ../stamboom/schunck_view.php?ID=59 |
| Starmans,
J. | ∗ 0000-00-00 † 0000-00-00 | L.O. - Valkenburg - survivor - maintained the relations to the other districts. More in our story Resistance in Valkenburg |
| Vroemen,
? | ∗ 0000-00-00 † 0000-00-00 | L.O. - Valkenburg - survivor - Stationmaster in Valkenburg. His first name and other dates are not known to us. In the event of danger, he called with the message: “You cannot unload your wagon.” People who wanted to go into hiding and arrived by train usually got in touch with him, and he then forwarded them, for example to the sexton Harry van Ogtrop of the local Catholic church. See there Thanks to the vigilance of stationmaster Vroemen, after the war precious possessions of the Jesuits from their monastery which had been confiscated by the Germans were recovered. At the request of LO chief Pierre Schunck, he had noted the addresses where the items had been sent to in 1944. (Christine W.M. Schunck, Niet zeuren maar werken – Twee generaties Eck vanaf 1873, artikel in Het land van Herle 2015-3) More in our story Resistance in Valkenburg |
| Westerhoven,
van Jan Ferdinand | ∗ 0000-00-00 † 0000-00-00 | L.O. - priest - Valkenburg - survivor - As Father Ferdinand he was a member (and chief?) of the monastery on the Cauberg (sscc). Worked for the Resistance during the occupation. Involuntarily witnessed the “execution” of Funs Savelberg. More in our story Resistance in Valkenburg |
| Willems,
Vic. | ∗ 0000-00-00 † 0000-00-00 | L.O. - municipality - Valkenburg - survivor - Together with Willem Freysen, he stole food stamps and other documents for the people in hiding in the LO on a large scale, which ultimately made the raid on the distribution office necessary. More in our story Resistance in Valkenburg |
| Wolf,
G.A. | ∗ 0000-00-00 † 0000-00-00 | L.O. - priest - Sibbe - survivor - Rector in Sibbe. He helped Jews and Communists to hide, together with A.C. van der Gronden. At the end of 1943 they joined the L.O., sub-district of Valkenburg. Due to the talkativeness of the person in hiding A.S. Bron, he was arrested on February 17, 1944, along with Bron and the hidden person Th.M. from Santpoort. In the absence of evidence, Wolf was released after ten days and Van Santpoort after some months. Bron was deported and survived the German camps. Source: Cammaert, Chapter 6b More in our story Resistance in Valkenburg |