The fallen resistance people in Limburg

Adèle Jan Gerard Fleischeuer (Ger)

Oorlogsgravenstichting

At the request of Rector Voesten from Heerlen, the municipal secretary A.J.G. Fleischeuer from Oirsbeek helped Jews. Voesten probably belonged to both the group around Father Beatus and the group around Bongaerts. On February 15, 1943, ten Jews arrived at the home of the municipal secretary, who had his house remodeled to provide adequate housing. As a result of the infiltration by H. Vastenhout and his people (Englandspiel) into the Bongaerts group, Fleischeuer and the Jews fell into the hands of the Sipo on November 16, 1943. [1]
These were:
Esther Poons and her son Herman from Amsterdam; Max Wolff, his wife, and their daughter Dini from Sittard; Nannie de Keizer from Utrecht; Yvonne Goedhart and her mother, Rosa Goedhart-Hanau, from Roermond; and Henri Schepp and his widowed daughter, Esther, from Maastricht. Most of these people could barely contribute towards their upkeep but, driven by humanitarian motives, the Fleischeuers still managed to help all of them. On November 16, 1943, the Germans caught Gerard and his wards. All the Jews were murdered in Auschwitz and Gerard was murdered in Dachau. His family was left in a dire financial situation. Twenty years after Gerard’s death, his grave was discovered in Dachau and his body was transferred to Maastricht, where it was re-interred on December 4, 1965. In March 1982, Gerard was posthumously awarded the Resistance Memorial Cross and a street in Schinnen/Oirsbeek was named after him.
On February 12, 1990, Yad Vashem recognized Jan Gerard Fleischeuer and his wife, Philomène Catherine Fleischeuer-Bettonville, as Righteous Among the Nations. [2]
His wife Philomène was from Canne (B) near Maastricht and survived the war. [3#13]
He is buried in the Honor Court of the Maastricht General Cemetery. [3#25]
This person is listed in the “Erelijst 1940-1945” (Honor Roll of the Dutch Parliament). [3]

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, p. 672
2. yadvashem.org, The Righteous Among the Nations Database Fleischeuer Jan & Philomene (Bettonville)
3. Archief Oorlogsgravenstichting (@ Nationaal archief), Dossier Adèle Jan Gerard Fleischeuer
   • #13 • #25
4. Erelijst 1940-1945
5. Oorlogsgravenstichting.nl