The fallen resistance people in Limburg

Leo Dael
(Leopold Franciscus)

Het Grote Gebod – L.O.

Leo Dael was a trained car mechanic. Before his marriage to Henriette Hostermans, he was given a car by his father to start his own cab service. Leo and Henriette had four children between 1929 and 1937, three daughters and a son, which made it increasingly difficult for Leo to support his rapidly growing family on the limited income from his one-man business. To earn some extra money, he worked as a night watchman in a school that had been confiscated by the Germans as an office building.
He and his brother Jan took part in the resistance from the beginning.
On May 12, 1944, Toon Mooren from Vierlingsbeek, a pilot helper who was hiding there, was arrested in Jan Dael’s house. Jan’s bookstore had already been observed for some time from a pub across the street. Several unsuccessful attempts were made to free Mooren, including an attempt at bribery. A week later, the brothers Leo and Jan Dael were also arrested. Leo Dael was sent to Mauthausen via Maastricht and Vught, where he died on March 1, 1945; his brother and Toon Mooren died in the same camp on March 9 and 5, 1945, respectively. His family did not learn until 1947 that Jan Dael had died in Mauthausen.
Leopold Franciscus ( Leo ) Dael is listed in the Erelijst 1940-1945 (Honor Roll of the Dutch Parliament). 

Sources & Literature

• Dr. F. Cammaert, Het Verborgen Front – Geschiedenis van de georganiseerde illegaliteit in de provincie Limburg tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog. Doctorale scriptie 1994, Groningen
  6. De Landelijke Organisatie voor hulp aan onderduikers • VIII-IX, p. 583
• Biogr. Deutsch Leopold Franciscus Dael Raum der Namen, Die Toten des KZ Mauthausen
• Dodenboek Venlo
• Stolperstein Geldersepoort 11
• Gemeentearchief Venlo (Facebook, 12 feb. 2015)
• Erelijst 1940-1945
• Oorlogsgravenstichting.nl