The fallen resistance people in Limburg

Jeanne Simonis

Jeanne Simonis was the courier for her father Dolf Simonis, the leader of the knokploeg (armed resistance group) in Sittard. At the beginning of the occupation, she was 10 years old and thus born in 1930. She also knew where her father hid his weapons, in case he was arrested. Then it would have been possible to get them out of there in time. [1]
That Dolf Simonis allowed his daughter to participate in his resistance in the form of courier services seems more dangerous than it was. For the adult women of the resistance already applied, they were usually left alone during checks. This was of course even more the case with a girl like Jeanne: who would suspect a child of resistance?
She earned an extra penny by delivering newspapers authorized by the occupiers. But the home of the Simonis family was also the distribution point for unauthorized newspapers. Jeanne then delivered them to the distribution points because it attracted no attention when this was done by a child. Jeanne did not know which newspapers they were because they were folded. [1]

Jeanne was thus most likely the youngest active member of the Limburg resistance against National Socialism.
Under the above mentioned story [1] about her father, she is called Mrs. Jeanne Hage-Simonis. Among others, on Thursday, June 27, 2024, a mass was read at 8:30 a.m. in St. Peter’s Church in Sittard for the deceased grandparents Simonis-Tummers and parents Hage-Simonis. [2]

Footnotes

1. verenigingsittardsverleden.nl Dolf Simonis, oorlog en verzet in Sittard
2. RK kerken in Sittard