The fallen resistance people in Limburg

Jacob Jans
(Jacobus Rudolf Lambertus)

commons.wikimedia.org …

Major General Jacob Jans retired in 1938, but became active again during the occupation. [1]
Cammaert writes: Venlo, career officer of the Durch army. From 1941 he was in charge of the O.D. in Limburg. He acted very cautiously and strictly adhered to the guidelines of the national O.D. leadership. Jans’ way of running the O.D. in Limburg prevented disasters among the O.D. in Limburg. After the war, the O.D. was accused of having been passive. However, this did not apply to numerous individual O.D. members and the O.D. in some northern and central Limburg districts. [2.1]
It must be noted that the OD did not see itself as a resistance organization, but as an organization that had to fill the power vacuum that would possibly arise between the retreat of the Germans and the arrival of the Allies. This was primarily motivated by the fear of communism among most OD people.

Jans set to work and traveled throughout the province as a life insurance agent in search of suitable candidates for the seven, actually eight, district commanders, because Helmond was also counted as part of the resistance region Limburg. (See also Limburg+) )Many of the professional officers he asked were not in favor of the plan. Some called it suicide plans or refused to do anything to the detriment of the German Reich because of the oath they had to take as professional soldiers. He received more resonance in circles of reserve and non-commissioned officers of the Fifth Infantry Brigade, which he had commanded himself, and in the volunteer reserve unit Landstormkorps “Limburgse Jagers”. He also put together the regional O.D. staff from among them.
… In September 1941, the “Richtlijnen voor de gewestelijke, districts- en plaatselijke commandanten” (guidelines for the commanders at regional, district and local level) of the O.D. Central Office (later renamed A.H.K.-O.D.) reached Jans in the Dutch city of Venlo. Especially point two of the general regulations disappointed some in Venlo. It stated: “The organization will only come into action after the enemy occupation has left the country and then only after the regional commanders have received the order to do so from the regime formed in The Hague by then. A deviation from this, i.e. own initiatives in this matter, is not permitted under any circumstances.” [1]2.2]
Major General Jans ensured that the directives were to be understood more as camouflage than as binding regulations and set a good example himself by actively resisting.
In March 1942, he had to go into hiding because the German security service SiPo/SD was looking for him. His son Leo then effectively took over the leadership and ran the organization in constant consultation until January 1945. [1]
Jans was the father of this Leo Jans and of Katie Jans, who was the only one of this resistance family who did not survive the war.
General Jans received several high awards after the war. [1]1]

Footnotes

1. Jacobus Jans, Wikipedia • Nederlands
2. 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. 8: De OD, pp.834 ff.
3. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jacobus_Jans_generaal-majoor.jpg