The fallen resistance people in Limburg

Jan Willem Slangen (Sjeng)

Oorlogsgravenstichting

Sjeng was a storekeeper at N.V. Kristalunie in Maastricht.
Starting in May 1943, all men between the ages of 18 and 35 had to report for work in Germany. This included Sjeng, who was assigned to Germany as a crane operator at Friedrich Krupp, now the largest steel and weapons company in Europe, in Essen. From May 1 to 15, 1943, Sjeng was on sick leave and sent home to recuperate. He did not return to Germany after that, but went into hiding with his younger brother Lambert on the farm of the van de Berg family (Rome farm) in Limmel. Source: struikelsteentjes-maastricht.nl [1]. Unless otherwise stated, the other data on this page are also from that source.

The brothers became members of the LO group in their village of Limmel, Maastricht municipality, which included vicar Hein Lochtman. Sjeng was arrested on February 18, 1944 and taken to the cellar of the notorious SiPo headquarters in Maastricht (Wilhelminasingel 71, called Wijckersingel during the war). There he was severely tortured by Richard Nitsch. He was then taken to Vught and remained there until the camp was evacuated because of the approaching Allies. A part of the prisoners were shot on the spot (Deppner executions [2]), while others were transferred to Germany, to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp in Oranienburg, north of Berlin. Camp number 99871. Again at the approach of the Allies, this time the Red Army, Sachsenhausen was also evacuated in February 1945. The prisoners were sent on one of the many death marches [3] to Bergen-Belsen (northeast of Hanover), a distance of about 300 km.
His stumbling stone was laid on September 14, 2021 in front of the entrance of the Kapelaan-Lochtman-Huis, the place of his arrest.
Memorial stone in memory of 21 war victims from Limmel, Dolmanstraat 2, Limmel cemetery. [4]
He was 23 years old when he died. He is mentioned in the book by Antoon van Aernsbergen, Onze gevallenen, herinneringen aan het verzet in Limburg in de Tweede Wereldoorlog (Our Fallen, Memories of the Resistance in Limburg during the Second World War). [5]
His In Memoriam card states that he endured the entire ordeal through the concentration camps together with his friend, the aforementioned vicar Hein Lochtman. [6]
This person is listed in the “Erelijst 1940-1945” (Honor Roll of the Dutch Parliament). [7]


← Foto: [6]

Footnotes

1. struikelsteentjes-maastricht.nl Jan Willem (Sjeng) Slangen
2. Wikipedia NL Deppner-executies
3. Todesmärsche, Wikipedia • Nederlands • Deutsch • English • Français • Español
4. Gedenksteen ter herinnering aan 21 oorlogsslachtoffers uit Limmel
5. Antoon van Aernsbergen, Onze gevallenen, herinneringen aan het verzet in Limburg in de Tweede Wereldoorlog
6. maastrichtsegevelstenen.nl S (scroll!)
7. Erelijst 1940-1945
8. Oorlogsgravenstichting.nl