The fallen resistance people in Limburg

Wim “Fred Bockkom” van der Geest
(Wilhelmus Martinus)

oorlogsslachtoffersijmond.nl …

Unless otherwise noted, the following is taken from Het Verborgen Front (The Hidden Front) [1] and from the article Geest, W.M. van der (Pater-Lazarist) at rijckheyt.nl. [2]

Wim van der Geest was trained as a Roman Catholic priest with the Congregation of the Lazarists and was ordained a priest in Panningen, Limburg, on July 21, 1940, so during World War II. In Panningen was a grand seminary (training institute for priests) of the Lazarists. Because of World War II, Willem van der Geest and other neomists had to wait five years before being able to leave as missionaries. Therefore, in 1942 he was assigned to the rectorate of Rumpen-Brunssum in the eastern mining district. [2]
In the fall of 1943, a person in hiding brought Father van der Geest into contact with vicar Giel Berix, leader of the L.O. district of Heerlen. Shortly after their acquaintance, Berix asked Van der Geest to set up a Brunssum sub-district (rayon) of the L.O. as well. This would include the villages of Schinveld, Jabeek, Doenrade and Merkelbeek as well. [1]
Rayon leader Van der Geest had a problem: he was completely new, knew almost no one and had no experience as a pastoral worker.
Eventually he found Messrs. H. Stakenborg, J. Wassen and P. Vullers willing to take on the task of local contacts. [1]
He was talented as a networker and knotted important cooperation contacts, for example with Jaap Musch, founder of the NV resistance group. The NV was originally an Amsterdam-based group that was primarily concerned with rescuing Jewish children and organizing their hiding places in Limburg. Stakenborg is estimated to have provided housing and care for between 200 and 300 Jewish people in hiding in the mining communities of Hoensbroek, Heerlen, Brunssum and Schinveld. [2]

In May 1944, Van der Geest was warned that he was wanted by the security police in Maastricht. He put on civilian clothes, assumed a pseudonym (Fred Bockkom), got a false passport and fled to Amsterdam.
The Lazarist went into hiding in Amsterdam, where he continued to help Jewish people in hiding until he was arrested during a street raid in September. H. Hendriks had gone into hiding at the same time as Van der Geest. He continued his underground work on a more modest scale. J. (Jaap) van der Geest, a brother of the rector, took over the leadership of the sub-district in May. He had gone into hiding in Brunssum when the Sipo was searching for him in the province of South Holland. Not all L.O. members agreed with J. van der Geest taking over the leadership. They did not so much doubt his commitment, but felt that he lacked the talents and skills of his brother. This led to a process of autonomization of the various L.O. sections. In July 1944, this development was stopped by the addition of Hendriks and Stakenborg to the rayon leadership. [1]

On oorlogsslachtoffersijmond.nl/ it says that when he went into hiding, he adopted the pseudonym Bocckom. But that should be spelled Bockkom.
When it came to light in 1944 that he was on a list, he fled to Amsterdam under the pseudonym Friedrich Bocckom, born on February 12, 1913 in Düsseldorf. There he was arrested during a street raid and registered as a prisoner in the Amersfoort camp on September 16, 1944. He was ill and spent several weeks in the infirmary. Probably with the help of the infirmary doctor, Wim was released on October 17, 1944. He did not return to Brunssum, but went into hiding. A Fred Bocckom (Friedrich Peter Bocckom) was actually born on the same day in Düsseldorf, but he had already died at the age of eight on June 8, 1921 in Brunssum. A perfect pseudonym, although the address mentioned in the Kamp Amersfoort files, Haansberg 179 Brunssum, did not even exist. [3]

In the article on rijckheyt.nl we also read:Before his brother Jaap started work, he explored the street plan of Brunssum and the surrounding area dressed as a street cleaner.
…
Among other things, Jaap made sure that (young) workers wanted by the Nazis were hired at the state mine Hendrik - contact was office manager H. Watervoort - and in the local lignite mines - contact Leitungskaft Jans(s)en. As a “clumsy boy from the North", Jaap managed to fool the Nazis several times.
…
After the end of the war, Father Van der Geest worked as a missionary in Brazil. On May 17, 1969, he died unexpectedly in the Lazarist monastery in Wernhoutsburg, municipality of Zundert, North Brabant. [2]



Footnotes

1. Dr. F. Cammaert, Het Verborgen Front – Geschiedenis van de georganiseerde illegaliteit in de provincie Limburg tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog. Doctorale scriptie 1994, Groningen
   6. De Landelijke Organisatie voor hulp aan onderduikers, § VIII.5.5.: Rayon Brunssum. pp.675 ff
2. rijckheyt.nl Geest, W.M. van der (Pater-Lazarist)
3. https://oorlogsslachtoffersijmond.nl/persoon/1079/wilhelmus-martinus-van-der-geest