The fallen resistance fighters in the dutch province of Limburg
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The fallen resistance fighters in the dutch province of Limburg

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Valkenburg

The local aid to the people in hiding in Valkenburg was part of the L.O. district of Heerlen.
Read more on the resistance in Valkenburg
The activities of the subdistrict of Valkenburg of the LO stretched from Gulpen to Maastricht. Also Klimmen and environs were incorporated with the subdistrict.


Liberated: 1944-09-13 – 1944-09-17
Wikipedia NL: Valkenburg-Houthem



Memorial stone for the resistance people Coenen and Francotte


Those from Valkenburg, who fell for our freedom


Memorial stone Jewish victims from Valkenburg


The strategic importance of the Geul in 1944


Murderous artillery duel in Valkenburg


American army vehicles


Front of the book “Valkenburg 2019 - 75 years liberated”

On the Cauberg in Valkenburg stands the Resistance Memorial of the Province of Limburg near the spot where on September 5, 1944, shortly before the liberation of South Limburg, the men of the Knokploeg (fighting group) South Limburg Sjeng Coenen and Joep Francotte were shot. In the chapel of this memorial, the names of the fallen resistance fighters are written on three walls. There are also people among them who died of the aftermath after their liberation from the camp.
The municipality of Meerssen also includes Ulestraten and thus the hamlet of Waterval with the farm Wijngaardshof. The farmer there, Jan Frans Antoon Horsmans, was a member of the Knokploeg Zuid-Limburg (South Limburg Command Group), whose headquarters were located on his farm. Until suddenly, on Mad Tuesday (September 5, 1944), news came that retiring German soldiers were to be quartered there. Sjeng Coenen and Joep Francotte, who had just successfully participated in the liberation of 80 prisoners in Maastricht, had to hurry to hide some stolen German vehicles in the forest. When they returned to the farm, they attracted attention and were arrested. This was the beginning of a ordeal through the hotels in Valkenburg where the officers were housed. Finally they were shot on the Cauberg in Valkenburg.
See for more info: Two Resistance Men Shot on the Cauberg
See also the list of persons, who have played a role during the war in the subdistrict of Valkenburg.

Valkenburg – 6 pers.   ⇒All the fallen resistance people in Limburg
Cobbenhaegen,
Frans A.
∗ 1921-10-18
Valkenburg
† 1944-12-20
Buchenwald 		Valkenburg - unorganized resistance - Post official, unmarried, arrested (date unknown) in Cologne for smuggling letters to the Netherlands, died on 12/20/1944 in concentration camp Kdo. Langenstein-Zwieberge, Buchenwald, buried Quedlinburg, Hauptfriedhof, 23 years old.
See memorial stone former post office: war victims among postal workers in Valkenburg.
More in our story Resistance in Valkenburg
Frans A. Cobbenhaegen op de lijst van personen die tijdens de bezetting belangrijk waren voor Valkenburg.
wall: right, row 27-01
Gronden, van der
Gerrit J.
∗ 1895-12-13
Dordrecht
† 1943-01-02
Neuengamme 		Maastricht - Valkenburg - CPN - early resistance - press - Driver and mechanic at the GGD (municipal medical service), married. As a driver, he also disseminated banned writings. He helped people to flee and provided medical care when needed. All this in collaboration with his brother A.C. van der Gronden (Source: ARCH00347.148, see link below.)
Picture also at oorlogsgravenstichting.nl
He took care of Jewish people in hiding, was arrested on Jan. 13th 1942
Fred Cammaert wrote in chapter 10: “in his garage on the Heugemer Weg in Maastricht he made copies of De Vonk, the Limburg edition of De Waarheid.” … “member of the Municipal Air Protection Service.” “ … Arrested “on january 13th, 1942” … “He died on December 5th 1942 in the Neuengamme concentration camp.” (near Hamburg), aged 47. His brother A.C. van der Gronden participated in the sub-district of Valkenburg of the LO.
wall: right, row 26-03
Hout, van
Jan
∗ 1908-10-17
Valkenburg
† 1945-02-22
Neuengamme 		This person is not (yet?) listed on the walls of the chapel. - Valkenburg - person in hiding - Professional cyclist from 1932 to 1940. On August 25, 1933, he broke the world hour record on the velodrome in Roermond with 44.588 kilometers. After the German invasion, he closed down his pub in Eindhoven and joined the resistance with his wife Anneke (1916-2012), among other things to help people in hiding. Was caught during a control in the natural swimming pool "De ijzeren man".
This person is not (yet?) listed on the walls of the chapel.04-13
Nijst,
Charles Joseph
∗ 1916-03-05
Kerkrade
† 1944-01-18
KZ Groß-Beeren, Kreis Teltow 		Valkenburg - early resistance - press - The weekly magazine Het Land van Valkenburg wrote about him: “He refused to sign a declaration of loyalty and went into hiding. Arrested (date unknown) for spreading illegal literature.”
At the Oorlogsgraven­stichting there is a source link where he is mentioned as a student at the Katholieke Economische Hoogeschool in Tilburg. Furthermore, contrary to the above, we read there: “Employed at the Arado Flugzeug Werke in Brandenburg upon Havel. Was arrested on October 6, 1943. The reason was a statement in a private conversation held at the beginning of September. He was sentenced to two months in prison. Around 15 December the family received a message from the Swedish Society that Nyst had not been released, but transferred to a Arbeitserziehungslager in Gross Beeren and from there to the concentration camp in Sachsenhausen near Oranienburg. In the meantime on 18 February 1944 the family in Maastricht was informed that on January 18th, 1944 he had succumbed from ‘Herzschwäche’ (cardiac insufficiency) in Gross Beeren.“
More in our story Resistance in Valkenburg
Charles Joseph Nijst op de lijst van personen die tijdens de bezetting belangrijk waren voor Valkenburg.
wall: right, row 26-04
Rocks/Roks,
Jan Joseph
∗ 1883-05-21
Sibbe
† 1944-03-03
Natzweiler-Struthof 		Valkenburg - early resistance - Group Erkens - Member of the early resistance group Erkens in Maastricht, co-owner of the guesthouse Samoshuis, the later hotel Parkhotel Atlanta. Nic Erkens spent some time in hiding with him, arrested in Valkenburg during the Hannibalspiel for spreading resistance literature on November 19, 1942. Piet Roks came home too late due to circumstances, saw the police cars standing in front of their house and could escape in time. Jan Joseph died in the Nacht und Nebel camp Natzweiler (Alsace) on 3 March 1944.
Totenzettel (Mark the spelling!)
See also The Fallen in Valkenburg
More in our story Resistance in Valkenburg
Jan Joseph Rocks/Roks op de lijst van personen die tijdens de bezetting belangrijk waren voor Valkenburg.
wall: right, row 27-02
Soesman,
Gerard L.R.
∗ 1922-06-23
Valkenburg
† 1945-01-21
Auschwitz/Oświęcim 		Maastricht - Valkenburg - CPN - Jew - early resistance - press - Student HBS (high school). Listed in the Honor Roll of Victims 1940 – 1945, in the category resistance people. Moreover he had a Jewish father, Jacob Soesman. Mother: Christina Johanna Maria Prick
See also the site of Joods Monument: “Gerhard Lodewijk Robertus Soesman, who had attended commercial secondary school, lived in Maastricht. He worked in the underground for the Dutch communist party (CPN). He distributed papers, including De Vonk. Because of the V-Mann (informant) Engwirda, he was caught in Maastricht on 24 January 1942. He was locked up at the prison in Maastricht and subsequently deported to Auschwitz via Vught concentration camp.”
See also Genealogy Soesman
More in our story Resistance in Valkenburg
Gerard L.R. Soesman op de lijst van personen die tijdens de bezetting belangrijk waren voor Valkenburg.
wall: left, row 35-04