April-Mei-stakingen, 1943
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1940-1945. The resistance in the dutch province of Limburg

April-Mei-stakingen, 1943


Monument De Hamert


The April-May Strikes 1943

Communiqué of the High Führer of the SS and the police of the provinces of Limburg and North Brabant on the death sentences related to the strike in the mines from April to May 1943.
On July 1, 1946, a mass grave containing seven bodies was discovered in Wellerlooi (municipality of Bergen) on the Wellse Heide (now the nature reserve Landgoed de Hamert). There an oak wood cross stands on a red brick wall, the resistance monument, as a permanent reminder of the seven resistance fighters Han Boogerd, Bob Bouman, Leendert Brouwer, Pieter Ruyters, Reinier Savelsberg, Meindert Tempelaars and Servaas Toussaint, shot in connection with the strike in 1943.
In the Dutch coal mining area this strike was called miner’s strike. The actual mining area stretched from Geleen to Kerkrade, but a not inconsiderable number of miners lived outside of it, for example in Valkenburg. In Maastricht, the strike was initiated by government employees. Later bank staff joined in. When the postal workers also wanted to go on strike, the members of the nazi party NSB present forced them to continue working with all sorts of threats. Long queues of people immediately formed in front of all the counters, wanting to buy one single 1-cent stamp. This way the post office was closed too. The factories also joined.
In the beginning there was a party atmosphere. People flocked to the pubs and didn’t suspect (or didn’t want to think about it) that the occupiers would of course not tolerate this and that there would be victims. These events made it clear that attempts to lure the Dutch with the status of an “Aryan brother nation” had failed.
The miners’ strike was part of the strikes of April-May 1943. The background was the return of Dutch soldiers to captivity, planned by the occupiers, to be put to work in the German war industry. They were the transition to a more massive resistance movement throughout the Netherlands, including the province of Limburg. The strikes were brutally suppressed, but the resistance organizations gained more new members (perhaps even because of this?). For the majority of Dutch Jews, however, it was already too late. :(


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During the war the mines were still in full operation and they were of great importance for the supply of electricity, but also for the railroads and thus for the Germans. As a result, many young men, who did not want to go to Germany to work, could stay here legally. But there were also many people in hiding working in the mines, with false papers, because they were not watched so closely.

The fallen resistance people in Limburg

April-Mei-stakingen, 1943 – 11 pers.

Boogerd,
Johannis Leendert Cornelis
Han
∗ 1906-08-24
Kerkwerve (Zeeland)
† 1943-05-02
Well, gem. Bergen (N-Limb)
- Roermond - April-Mei-stakingen, 1943 -

The chemist Han Boogerd worked for the company E.C.I. (Electro Chemische Industrie) at the state mine Emma. The entire staff of E.C.I. joined the (miners’) strike, after which …
wall: right, row 03-04
Bouman,
Martinus Antonius Marie
Martin “Bob”
∗ 1899-05-05
Gouda
† 1943-05-02
Wellerlooi
- Initial resistance - Ordedienst (O.D.) - April-Mei-stakingen, 1943 - Crisis Controle Dienst (CCD) - Aid to escaped POW’s - Zwarte Plak - Pilots’ helpers - Roermond -

Before WWII, Bob Bouman was an officer in the Dutch Colonial Army NIL. [1] After six years in the tropics, he and his family returned to the Netherlands. Here the disease …
wall: right, row 04-04
Brouwer,
Leendert Th.
Leo
∗ 1907-06-01
Nijmegen
† 1943-05-02
Wellerlooi (Bergen [L])
- Crisis Controle Dienst (CCD) - Aid to escaped POW’s - Pilots’ helpers - April-Mei-stakingen, 1943 - Maastricht -

Leendert Brouwer was the district head of Maastricht of the CCD (Crisis Controle Dienst, an agency designed to protect the food market from black marketeers)istrictsleider Crisis Controle Dienst …

wall: left, row 30-02
Dieteren,
Jan Alphons
Jan
∗ 1912-10-26
Schinnen
† 1945-03-01
Neuengamme
- Maastricht - April-Mei-stakingen, 1943 -

Jan Dieteren from Schinnen had been living in Maastricht since May 2, 1934[1#2], his wife was Anna Catharina DANIELS from Oud-Vroenhoven. [1#1][1#5] He was a miner at the Hendrik State Mine …


This person is not (yet?) listed on the walls of the chapel.-
Horstmann,
Henderich
Hein
∗ 1902-01-30
Börger
† 1943-05-04
Maastricht
- Kerkrade - April-Mei-stakingen, 1943 -

Hein Horstmann was born in Börger, Germany, about 50 km from Emmen in the Netherlands. He and his wife Klazina Koelman came to Kerkrade from Emmen on December 15, 1925. [1#3] As a miner at …

wall: left, row 25-02
Ommeren, van
Godefridus
Frits
∗ 1919-11-14
Venlo
† 1944-09-11
Heerlen
- April-Mei-stakingen, 1943 - People in hiding - Kerkrade -

Frits van Ommeren was an apprentice train driver with the Dutch railroad company. After the strike he went into hiding and was shot during a raid by the SS on the Weltermolen …
wall: left, row 25-04
Ruyters,
Peter Leonard
Leo “Huub”
∗ 1892-10-10
Echt
† 1943-05-02
Wellerlooi (Bergen [L])
- Crisis Controle Dienst (CCD) - Civil Servants - Pilots’ helpers - Aid to escaped POW’s - April-Mei-stakingen, 1943 - Heer -

Leo Ruyters was deputy Chief Controller of the C.C.D. (The Centrale Controle Dienst, Central Control Service, 1934-1954, mainly supervised trade in scarce goods. [1]) Member of the …
wall: left, row 14-05
Savelsberg,
Reinier
Harry
∗ 1895-04-27
Schaesberg
† 1943-05-02
Wellerlooi (Bergen [L])
- Heerlen - April-Mei-stakingen, 1943 -

Reinier Savelsberg was an electrician at the state mine Oranje-Nassau III. He participated in the April May strike of 1943. On the night of May 1 to 2, 1943,
wall: left, row 17-04
Schepers,
Johannes Wilhelmus
Wim
∗ 1919-12-11
Stein
† 1945-03-25
Bremen-Farge
- April-Mei-stakingen, 1943 - Forced Labor - Stein -

Wim Schepers was a miner and participated in the 1943 mine strike, which was part of the April-May strikes. He was unmarried and lived with his parents. On kleinemonumentenstein.nl [1] there is …


This person is not (yet?) listed on the walls of the chapel.-
Tempelaars,
Meijnardus Jacobus
Meindert
∗ 1904-06-06
Den Haag
† 1943-05-02
Wellerlooi (Bergen [L])
- April-Mei-stakingen, 1943 - Heerlen -

Meindert Tempelaars was a hewer in the state mine Oranje-Nassau III. Arrested in connection with the miners’ strike on the night of May 1 to 2, 1943. He and
wall: left, row 18-04
Toussaint,
Servatius Hendricus
Servaas
∗ 1914-12-22
Hoensbroek
† 1943-05-02
Wellerlooi (Bergen [L])
- Aid to People in Hiding L.O. - Amstenrade - April-Mei-stakingen, 1943 -

Servaas Toussaint was a supervisor at the Emma state mine, involved in the April-May strike of 1943. On the night of May 1 to 2, 1943, with Renier …
wall: left, row 01-04