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

Zwarte Plak

Farm of the Poels family

Zwarte Plak, America (Lb)

On the eastern edge of the Peel, the then very sparsely populated border area between the provinces of North Brabant and Limburg, lies the hamlet of De Zwarte Plak. [1]
During the war years it consisted of three farms inhabited by the Poels, Smedts and Geurts families. Many Jews and Allied airmen hid with the three families, often only for a few days, and then moved on. This road was also sparsely populated at that time, and the farms were hundreds of meters apart. The RVV group from Deurne had its base with the Poels family at the Antoniushof, which is also referred to as "De Zwarte Plak" in some sources. Perhaps a renaming after the war?
After one of the pilots brought on the trail found out the address of the Anthoniushoeve when he was arrested in Belgium, raids on this farm followed. [2]

On September 5 (Mad Tuesday [3]), Frits de Bruin and Martien van den Eijnden sabotaged the Venlo-Eindhoven rail line, which passed directly by the Zwarte Plak. For the Germans, this connection between the Ruhr and the front was extremely important. However, they were caught in the act by German soldiers, who beat them to death on the spot. Detailed information can be found on the page about Martien, see above.
In honor of the resistance on the Zwarte Plak, a monument was erected at this spot along the railroad line. Griendtveenseweg, 59 66 PT, America (Horst a/d Maas), Limburg, Netherlands [4].
The monument also commemorates the parish priest Henri Vullinghs, who also brought many escaped prisoners of war, crashed Allied airmen and Jews to safety. The latter had been a parish priest in neighboring Grashoek and knew Mathieu Smedts, a journalist from the Zwarte Plak [5].
Like Vullinghs, others who had close contact with the Zwarte Plak were not exactly active there. We must therefore distinguish between the actual resistance group, which was basically the RVV group of Deurne, and the Zwarte Plak network.

1. Verzetskruis Zwarte Plak • Open Street Map
2. nl.wikipedia • Bert Poels
3. Dolle Dinsdag, Wikipedia • Nederlands • Deutsch • English • Français
4. verzetsmonument America • tracesofwar.nl • 4en5mei.nl • Open Street Map • wikipedia NL
5. wikip NL Mathieu_Smedts

Zwarte Plak – 11 pers.   ⇒All the fallen resistance people in Limburg
Ahout, Ger	∗ 1919-12-18 Deurne † 1945-02-17 Bergen (L)	- Aid to People in Hiding L.O. - Knokploegen (K.P.) - Limburg + - Dutch Soldiers - Zwarte Plak - Raad van Verzet (RVV) - Gerardus Wilhelmus Johannes Petrus Ahout was a member of the LO-KP [1] and of the RVV [2] in Deurne. During the liberation of the south of the Netherlands, the  … This person is not (yet?) listed on the walls of the chapel.03-01
Bouman, Martinus Bob	∗ 1899-05-05 Gouda † 1943-05-02 Maastricht	- Initial resistance - Ordedienst (O.D.) - Roermond - April-Mei-stakingen, 1943 - Crisis Controle Dienst (CCD) - Zwarte Plak - Martinus Antonius Marie Bouman was a first lieutenant in the KNIL (Dutch Colonial Army), then chief controller with the C.C.D. in Limburg and East Brabant. He helped downed Allies and prisoners of war who had escaped from Germany. In 1940 and 1941 still on his own, then with R.H. van de Vin … More in our story Resistance in Valkenburg wall: right, row 04-04
Bruijn, de Fredericus Arnoldus Franciscus Frits	∗ 1920-10-04 Asten † 1944-09-05 America (L)	- Zwarte Plak - Limburg + - Knokploegen (K.P.) - Raad van Verzet (RVV) - The grocer Frits de Bruijn lived in Asten. Son of the grocers Petrus Johannes Gijsbertus de Bruijn and Johanna Maria Sanders. Unmarried. Roman Catholic. Member of resistance, belonging to the Knokploeg-Bakel and member of the pilot center De Zwarte Plak in the Peel, whose members were engaged … This person is not (yet?) listed on the walls of the chapel.
Driessen, Hendrik Gijsbert Harry	∗ 1921-11-11 Horst † 1944-09-06 Ravenstein?	- Studenten - Horst - Ondergrondse pers - Zwarte Plak - Horst also did not escape the terror of the commando Berendsen of the AKD. They hunted down people in hiding under the leadership of Johan Berendsen [1], the "Terror of Venlo.” On July 29, … wall: left, row 23-01
Eijnden, van den Martien Ant. Watje, Tinuske	∗ 1917-02-04 Venray † 1944-09-05 Horst-America	- Horst - Raad van Verzet (RVV) - Limburg + - Zwarte Plak - Knokploegen (K.P.) - Tinus was a butcher and lived in Zeilberg in the farm Crisishoeve (municipality of Deurne). He was a member of the "Pilotencentrum De Zwarte Plak" near America, on the Limburg side of the Peel [6]. There are two stories about the last day of Tinus and his friend  … wall: left, row 24-01
Lansdorp, Loek Charles v.d. Heuvel	∗ 1921-07-15 Semarang † 1944-09-05 Arnhem	- Ondergrondse pers - Studenten - Limburg + - Raad van Verzet (RVV) - Zwarte Plak - Louis Albert (Luke) Lansdorp had studied at the Economische Hogeschool in Tilburg. He then joined the RVV group in Deurne, presumably because he had refused to sign the declaration of loyalty and had therefore had to go into hiding. The RVV group Deurne was led by  … This person is not (yet?) listed on the walls of the chapel.03-07
Noordermeer, Cornelis Klaas Cor	∗ 1918-04-12 Lochem † 1944-08-11 kamp Vught	- Raad van Verzet (RVV) - Police - Limburg + - Zwarte Plak - The policeman Cor Noordermeer was the local leader of the Raad van Verzet (RVV, Resistance Council) in Deurne. The RVV was a loose association of scattered, independent resistance groups that, in the absence of national coordination, had to act completely independently. Working from their base at … This person is not (yet?) listed on the walls of the chapel.03-10
Oosterhout, van Nicolaas Cornelis Nico	∗ 1918-02-28 Dordrecht † 1944-08-11 Kamp Vught	- Raad van Verzet (RVV) - Ambtenaren - Limburg + - Zwarte Plak - Customs officer. Son of the bargeman Nicolaas van Oosterhout and Cornelia Antonia Aartsen. At the age of 14 he started working as a helper in a bicycle repair shop, but when he realized that he would not get far without a degree, he went back to school around 1934. In 1937 he volunteered … This person is not (yet?) listed on the walls of the chapel.03-17
Poels, Jacobus Gerardus Jacob	∗ 1885-02-21 Venray † 1944-08-04 Horst-America	- Horst - Zwarte Plak - During World War II, Jacob and Johanna Poels-Emonts took in dozens of Jews, hiders, prisoners of war, and Allied airmen on their farm, De Zwarte Plak [1], near Horst-America. Jakob died of a heart attack when he fled into the field during a raid on his farm. Johanna died shortly … wall: left, row 24-02
Starren, Jozef Mathieu	∗ 1900-10-15 Maastricht † 1945-05-31 Bergen-Belsen	- Aid to People in Hiding L.O. - Police - Horst - Zwarte Plak - Chief of police in Horst. Belonged to a resistance group that had housed divers (persons in hiding), students and pilots in two camps in the woodland Schadijkse Bossen. Antonie Damen, a young marine engineer working for German counter intelligence, infiltrated the group. With 15 … wall: left, row 23-04
Vullinghs, Hendrik Jacob Henri	∗ 1883-09-14 Sevenum † 1945-04-09 Bergen-Belsen	- Initial resistance - Aid to People in Hiding L.O. - Grubbenvorst - The clergy - Zwarte Plak - Catholic parish priest of Grubbenvorst and building parish priest in Grashoek, studied musicology in Italy and the United States. He was known as a very open-minded and culturally enthusiastic person. Already during 1941 and 1942, he began to help Jews in collaboration with the Amsterdam … wall: left, row 11-03