1940-1945. The resistance in the dutch province of Limburg
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1940-1945. The resistance in the dutch province of Limburg

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Erkens Group

During the first days of the occupation of the Netherlands by Germany, Niek Erkens was serving in the army’s logistic department in Rotterdam. He was ordered by the Germans to make an inventory of the entire stock there before his release. He and his comrades did so by making disappear substantial amounts of weapons, ammunition, and other material. In September 1941, due to "talkativeness", dozens of people were arrested, also from the logistic department, and so the need arose to make people disappear as well. This was the beginning of the Erkens group. The latter came from Maastricht and was an excellent networker. Through his network, he came into contact with groups of other ex-soldiers in South Limburg such as Pierre Dresen, Charles Bongaerts and Sjef Smit. Pierre Dresen made contact with the resistance group in the border town of Eijsden, which had formed around fruit farmer Alphons Smeets and his landlord, count Raphael de Liedekerke. This new Erkens group worked closely with the Belgian groups Luc /Marc and Clarence. Read more about how they became victims of infiltration: the Hannibal game. More info Cammaert, chapter II, p. 79 ff.
Unfortunately without translation. By the way, do you already know the translator Deepl.com?


Monument Rhijnauwen,
Wikimedia

Erkens Group – 11 pers.   ⇒All the fallen resistance people in Limburg
Dresen,
Alphonse Henri Louis
Alf(ons)
∗ 1885-10-18
Luik
† 1944-01-05
Fort Rhijnauwen, Bunnik
Maastricht - early resistance - Group Erkens - Alfons Dresen was chief dispatcher in Maastricht at the Dutch Railway Company and as such he knew everything about train movements in his area. [1#6] Married, belonged to the resistance group Erkens-De Liedekerke, arrested on Nov. 11, 1942 [3], executed on Jan. 5, 1944 in Bunnik …

wall: left, row 30-04
Erkens,
Niek /Nic
Van der Maas/ Niek
∗ 1894-10-10
Maastricht
† 1943-10-09
Fort Rhijnauwen (prov. Utrecht
Maastricht - Sittard - early resistance - Group Erkens - Nicolaas Egidius Erkens was married to a Liège woman, he spoke French well and was an organizer of cross-border resistance to Belgium, especially with regard to smuggling refugees (Group Erkens). Cammaert writes (Chapter …

wall: right, row 18-03
Goffin,
Jules G.H.J.
∗ 1897-03-31
Noville-les-Bois
† 1943-10-09
Bunnik (Utrecht)
Belgium - early resistance - Group Erkens - He was not a resistance fighter in the Dutch province of Limburg, but was in close contact with them and therefore also appears on this list. He was a general practitioner in ’s-Gravenvoeren (Fouron-le-Comte) since 1925. In 1940, he became a member of the Clarence resistance network, of which …


This person is not (yet?) listed on the walls of the chapel.02-02
Jacobs,
Karel
Père Hugues /Pater Hugo
∗ 1900-11-17
Antwerpen
† 1943-10-09
Bunnik (Utrecht)
Belgium - early resistance - press - Group Erkens - priest - He was not a resistance fighter in the Dutch province of Limburg, but was in close contact with them and therefore also appears on this list. His resistance activity began by helping escaped French prisoners of war to continue their escape. He was a Cistercian monk in the Abbey of Val-Dieu and …


This person is not (yet?) listed on the walls of the chapel.02-03
Liedekerke de Pailhe, de
Raphael R.E.J.G.
∗ 1903-04-15
Eijsden
† 1943-10-09
Fort Rhijnauwen, prov. Utrecht
Eijsden - Belgium - early resistance - Group Erkens - He was one of eleven members of the Dutch resistance group around Nick Erkens executed by the Germans in fort Rhijnauwen near Bunnik, province of Utrecht. He was a reserve lieutenant in the Belgian army but lived in the Netherlands.
wall: left, row 08-02
Muhren,
Piet
Père Étienne /Pater Stephanus
∗ 1908-09-14
Bergen-op-Zoom
† 1943-10-09
Bunnik (Utrecht)
Belgium - early resistance - press - Group Erkens - priest - Petrus („Piet“) Johannes Cornelis Muhren was not a resistance fighter in the Dutch province of Limburg, but was in close contact with them and therefore also appears on this list. His German ancestors still wrote "Mühren", but in Dutch it is pronounced the same way.He entered the novitiate …


This person is not (yet?) listed on the walls of the chapel.02-04
Partouns,
Jozef J.G.
∗ 1911-01-03
Eijsden
† 1945-02-08
Vaihingen
Eijsden - early resistance - Group Erkens - Joseph Jean Gerard Partouns was a laboratory assistant. J. Arpots, J. Partouns, and J. Reintjens were three young men, one of whom worked for the Dutch railways. The three called themselves the Orange Triangle. They wrote down all the details about the rail traffic and passed the data to …

wall: left, row 08-03
Roks /Rocks,
Jan Joseph
∗ 1883-05-21
Sibbe
† 1944-03-03
Natzweiler-Struthof
Valkenburg - early resistance - Group Erkens - Jan Joseph Rocks was a member of the early resistance group Erkens in Maastricht, co-owner of the guesthouse Samoshuis, next to Parkhotel Rooding of that time. Nic Erkens spent some time in hiding with him, arrested in Valkenburg during the …

More in our story Resistance in Valkenburg
Jan Joseph Roks /Rocks op de lijst van personen die tijdens de bezetting belangrijk waren voor Valkenburg.
wall: right, row 27-02
Schoenmaeckers,
Hélène
Lèneke
∗ 1894-07-03
Kapelhof-Rekem (B)
† 1945-07-11
Sankt Gallen (CH)
- Amby - early resistance - Group Erkens - Marie Clotilde Hélène Schoenmaeckers came from a true resistance family. Her sister Adèle and her brother Paul with his sons were also closely involved in the resistance. She was unmarried and did volunteer work. Hélène’s mother, Pauline …

wall: left, row 01-02
Smeets,
Alphons
∗ 1887-07-14
Mheer (L)
† 1943-10-09
Fort Rhijnauwen, prov. Utrecht
Eijsden - early resistance - Group Erkens - Michiel Hubert Alphonse Smeets was a fruit grower and fruit merchant in Eijsden, neighbor and tenant of Raphael de Liedekerke and brother of the municipal secretary Hubert Smeets.
In the …

wall: left, row 07-05
Smeets,
Hubert
∗ 1892-08-27
Noorbeek;
† 1943-10-09
Fort Rhijnauwen, prov. Utrecht
Eijsden - early resistance - Group Erkens - C.H.A Smeets was municipal secretary and brother of Alphons Smeets. Member of the Belgian intelligence group Luc, section Renkin. He called in the help of J. Arpots, Jozef Partouns and J. …

wall: left, row 08-01