The fallen resistance people in Limburg

Karel “Godfried” Ex
(Karel Paul Maria)

Karel Ex was studying law in Nijmegen when the German army invaded the Netherlands, but he was still living with his parents at Goltziusstraat 44 in Venlo.
… Carla Drukker, a Jewish girl from Amsterdam, was placed with the Ex family in Venlo by the resistance. [1]
Karel’s brother Paul (Paul Josef Jacques Ex, born on March 27, 1925 in Venlo) also took part in the resistance, partly together, partly each with his own activities. [1]

There was an Amsterdam student group, founded by Piet Meerburg, which was dedicated to rescuing Jewish children.
However, Friesland was not the only province where Piet wanted to place children. He was also interested in Limburg. He made the acquaintance of Karel Ex from Venlo. Ex had gone into hiding, but was also a member of the Limburg Organization for Help for People in Hiding (L.O.). He provided various addresses in Limburg for people who had to go into hiding. A connection between Meerburg and Hanna van de Voort was also established through Karel Ex. Hanna led a small but quite independent group in Tienray. [2]

Cammaert writes about Karel: Venlo, student. Became involved in the local L.O. early on, made various connections and held various positions at district and provincial level. [3.1]
At the head of the Venlo district of the L.O. was primary school teacher Jan Hendrikx, who quickly made a career there. After his transfer to the organization at provincial and national level, in the second half of the summer of 1943, K.P.M. Ex took over this position. [3.2]

Karel was also involved in the distribution of Vrij Nederland in Venlo. Parcels containing Vrij Nederland were delivered to the Ex family home. In addition, Karel was an editor of the underground magazine Het Gastmaal. The editorial team consisted of the students Russel, Ex, J. Peters and H.J.M. Seelen. The first issue appeared in June 1943. [1]

Details of his family tree and his pseudonym can be found on geni.com. [4]

Footnotes

1. Scouts in het verzet Paul Ex
2. Kinderwerk -hoe ging dat en wie waren de verantwoordelijken?
3. Cammaert, A. P. M. (1994). Het verborgen front: Geschiedenis van de georganiseerde illegaliteit in de provincie Limburg tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen.
   1. Hoofdst. 0, pp.18ff: Introductie van vaak genoemde personen
   2. Hoofdst 6, De Landelijke Organisatie voor hulp aan onderduikers, p.579
4. Karel Paul Maria Ex