The fallen resistance people in Limburg

Anna Stakenborg-Trommàr
(Anna Catharina)

Photo: Family archive.
Biographical data: Im Memoriam card in the Rijckheyt archive. [1]

Anna Stakenborg-Trommàr was the wife of Herman Stakenborg, who was the contact person for the L.O. in the Rumpen district of Brunssum. As usual, only her husband’s name became known through the help given to those in hiding, including the 200 to 300 Jews who were saved through their efforts. [2][3]

Until September 25, 2024, when both were posthumously awarded the Yad Vashem distinction by Benoit Wesly, Honorary Consul of Israel. [4]
Since the bar is set high by Yad Vashem, we can assume that she was more than just a pillar at her husband’s back. Thus we read:
As important personalities in the Brunssum resistance, the couple helped several Jewish people, including Alfred Strauss and Salomon Silber, to a safe hiding place. From September 1943 until the liberation, the couple gave shelter to Karl Heinz Oskar Mentheim and Johanna Lewin-de Winter. [5]
They are buried together in the cemetery of the Vincentius Church in Rumpen, Tolenhof, Brunssum. Grave number C0903. [6]

Footnotes

1. rijckheyt.nl Anna Catharina Trommar
2. Dr. F. Cammaert, Het Verborgen Front – Geschiedenis van de georganiseerde illegaliteit in de provincie Limburg tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog. Doctorale scriptie 1994, Groningen
   1. Hulpverlening aan joden, pp.420 ff: IV.2.3. De organisatie-Stakenborg/Paasen
   2. De Landelijke Organisatie voor hulp aan onderduikers, § VIII.5.5.: Rayon Brunssum. pp.675 ff
3. rijckheyt.nl Geest, W.M. van der (Pater-Lazarist)
4. L1 nieuws Yad Vashem postuum naar Brunssums koppel voor heldendaden tweede wereldoorlog
5. RTV Parkstad Postume Eer voor Herman en Anna Stakenborg: ‘Rechtvaardigen onder de Volkeren’
6. Brunssum, Kerkhof Rumpen