The fallen resistance people in Limburg

Michel Bartels
(M.C.M.H.)

Dates of birth and death of Michel Bartels can be found on his In Memoriam card in the Historisch Centrum Limburg. [1]

Already in 1940, civil servants and especially former soldiers began to organize themselves cautiously. For some, the intention was to be ready to maintain order during the liberation (Ordedienst). Others wanted more and established small, early resistance groups.
One such person was Michel Bartels, a tax official in Maastricht. A resistance group arose at the tax office, which others called tax group Maastricht, which they did not like very much. They themselves came up with other names.
Cammaert wrote: Bartels took the initiative to form a branch dedicated to helping people in hiding: the group-Sjeng or group-Versleijen. The emphasis was on helping officials who got into trouble, both inside and outside the province of Limburg. This gave the Versleijen group connections throughout the country and with organizations such as R.V.V. and P.B.C. (ID Card Center) In addition, this branch of theTax Group Maastricht also had a strong O.D. element. The people in hiding were housed in Maastricht and surrounding villages. Especially in the Eijsden area, the group experienced a lot of support. Custom officials, involved in helping refugees, also devoted themselves to the (military) hiders sent by the organization in Maastricht [2.1]
Due to a strange confluence of circumstances, explained in detail by Cammaert, there were two OD groups in Maastricht. Reserve Captain P.J. Sijmons, also a tax officer, established the first OD group at the request of General Jans and appointed Bartels as his deputy. [2.2]

On October 8, 1951, he was awarded the Bronze Cross (BK) by Royal Decree No. 20. The accompanying commentary also mentions his intelligence work:
He has gathered military intelligence pertaining to the enemy in Limburg, has processed it and has passed it on. Despite the fact that his name and pseudonym were known and he was wanted by the enemy, he could continue his resistance work  normally. Furthermore, during the fighting around Maastricht in mid September, he passed military information about the enemy in Zuid-Limburg to the Allies, including vital information about the enemy’s artillery position in Bunde. [3]

After the war he worked for some time for the Political Investigation Department Maastricht. This was in the service of the Directorate-General for Special Justice of the Ministry of Justice and its task was to track down and bring to justice Nazi collaborators.
The file on this is in the archives of the Directorate General for Special Justice. [4]

The President of the United States awarded him the Medal of Freedom. [3]

Footnotes

1. historischcentrumlimburg.nl Michel Bartels
2. Cammaert, A. P. M., Het verborgen front: Geschiedenis van de georganiseerde illegaliteit in de provincie Limburg tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog, Groningen 1994.
   1. Hoofdst. 6, De Landelijke Organisatie voor hulp aan onderduikers, p.644
   2. Hoofdst. 8, De Ordedienst, p.914
3. traces of war: Bartels, Michel C.M.H. • Nederlands • English
4. Bijzondere Rechtspleging
   1. 2.09.70 Inventaris van de archieven van het Directoraat-Generaal voor de Bijzondere Rechtspleging (1945-1958).
      Inv.nr.: 48612. Bartels, M.C.M.H. 1902-03-29. Politieke Recherche Afdeling Maastricht
   2. Wikipedia • Nederlands • English