Jan Peters (Jan Mathijs)
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Jan Mathijs Peters is not (yet?) listed on a wall of the chapel.
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The fallen resistance people in Limburg

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Jan Peters
(Jan Mathijs)


 11-10-1908 Echt      25-01-1962 Sittard (53)
- Initial resistance - Ordedienst (O.D.) - Aid to Jews - Aid to escaped POW’s - Pilots’ helpers - Intelligence - BS (Domestic Forces) - Survivors - Echt -

    The picture on the right is from parlement.com [1]

    On July 1, 1936, Jan Peters was appointed principal of the Catholic boys’ school in Roosteren. During the war years, he led a resistance group there that set up an escape line to help Allied prisoners of war who had escaped and crashed airmen to Belgium. With just 40 people, he succeeded in bringing Roosteren into the hands of the Allies without a fight in the fall of 1944.
    ... As a resistance fighter, he was in imminent danger of death four times, including once before a execution squad, from which he was saved by chance.
     [2]
    This was after he had crossed the front line for the third time. He was mistaken for a spy by the Americans and Belgians until the misunderstanding was cleared up. But, as mentioned above , he was already facing the execution squad. He sometimes crossed the border to hand over information or people to the Allies. [3]
    Cammaert writes about him in a summary: Roosteren, head of the local elementary school. Pioneer of the resistance. Committed to the Allied refugees from an early stage. Joined the O.D. and gathered a group of remarkably active resisters around him. He was involved in a large number of resistance activities. Peters and his colleagues uncovered a large-scale hoax against Jews. In the fall of 1944, he and his men spent months on frontline duty in no man’s land in the Roosteren region. [4]
    Liberation Route Europe writes about the above-mentioned swindle against Jews: “They unmasked a Dutchman living in Belgium who, in collaboration with some compatriots, was handing over Jews to the Germans under the pretext of helping them. At least 180 persecuted people had already fallen victim to this when the fraud was uncovered. [5]

    The website parlement.com writes about him:
    School principal from central Limburg who was KVP spokesman for education and broadcasting affairs in the House of Representatives. Courageous resistance fighter who was awarded the Militaire Willems-Orde (Military Order of Willem) after the liberation for his performance as commander of the OD group in Roosteren. Helped Allied prisoners and airmen to escape during the occupation and narrowly escaped the firing squad. Editor-in-chief of De Nieuwe Limburger, board member of the KRO and liaison officer between this radio station and the KVP. Suffered a serious car accident. Modest, artistically gifted and amiable deputy.
    Died in a hospital in Sittard as a result of this car accident (head-on collision) on the night of January 23-24 near Susteren.
    ...
    He was buried with military honors.
    Place and date of burial: Roosteren, January 30, 1962
     [1]

    Knight 4th class, Militaire Willems-Orde. [6]

    Footnotes

    1. www.parlement.com Jan Peters
    2. nl.wikipedia.org Jan Mathijs Peters
    3. Dr. F. Cammaert, Het Verborgen Front – Geschiedenis van de georganiseerde illegaliteit in de provincie Limburg tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog. Doctorale scriptie 1994, Groningen
      Boofdst 8. De Ordedienst, p.905-906
    4. ibidem Hoofdst. 0, pp.18ff: Introductie van vaak genoemde personen
    5. Liberation Route EuropeVerzet blijft actief na de bevrijdingDer Widerstand bleibt auch nach der Befreiung aktivResistance remains active after liberation
    6. findagrave.com Jan Mathijs Peters