Marius Petrus Joannes Verdijk <i>(Marius)</i>
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Marius Petrus Joannes Verdijk is not (yet?) listed on a wall of the chapel.
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Marius Petrus Joannes Verdijk (Marius)


 15-11-1907 Beugen      21-05-1945 Malchow, Kr. Waren (37)
- Aid to People in Hiding L.O. - Limburg + - Forced Labor -



Het Grote Gebod – L.O.

    Marius Verdijk was a member of the LO-Vierlingsbeek. Civil servant at the municipal office. Arrested on June 28, 1944 during a search on instruction of the NSB mayor (Het grote gebod [1], The Great Commandment, p. 327)
    He had forged identity cards. [2#1]
    He was imprisoned in the Vught concentration camp [3], where he remained until September 5, 1944 (Dolle Dinsdag), when the camp was evacuated by the SS because of the approach of the Allies. Many resistance fighters were executed there shortly before (Deppner executions [14]).
    Along with the other surviving male prisoners, Marius was deported to Sachsenhausen in Oranienburg, and more than two months later he was taken to Neuengamme concentration camp near Hamburg. [4]
    Arrival at Neuengamme on November 16, 1944. Camp number 64854 [5]
    From there he was sent on to Stahlwerke Braunschweig GmbH for the production of grenades. This dangerous work had to be done by forced laborers. The company was owned by Hermann Goering Werke [6]
    For this, Marius is housed in the Salzgitter-Watenstedt subcamp, which was built near the factory. The conditions there are miserably bad. There is hardly any clothing, hygiene and medical care, the rations are completely inadequate for the hard work, and in addition, the prisoners are subjected to constant mistreatment by the guards. As a result, an average of 20 to 30 prisoners die every day. [4]
    As the Allies approached from the east and west, the death marches [7] and other prisoner transports began. The SS wanted to destroy human "evidentiary material". Malchow, northwest of Berlin, became a transit camp for death marches, especially from Ravensbrück, about 60 km from there. Apparently Marius Verdijk also ended up here; it is not known with which transport. Much remains unclear about that chaotic time. In the Malchow concentration camp already thousands of prisoners, including a large part women, worked in the factory Munitions- und Sprengstoffwerk Malchow. [8]
    The intention was to drive the thousands of prisoners to the ports of Wismar and Lübeck and drown them there on ships. It did not come to that: on May 2, 1945, Malchow was liberated by the Red Army. [9]
    But for Marius, freedom did not last long: he died of the suffered misery on May 21, 1945. The Dienst Identificatie en Berging (Identification and Recovery Department) wrote to the OGS on December 29, 1949: Buried in the cemetery just outside the camp. On the grave is a cross with his name. [2#6]
    It is doubtful, whether that cemetery and grave still exist, because in Soviet times the machines were dismantled and taken to Russia and the factory was razed almost to the ground. [10]
    See also the map of Malchow on Open Street Map. The factory and camp were north right next to the town. [11]
    In Beugen, a commemorative plaque at the parish church bears his name, among others [12].

    Footnotes

    1. Het grote gebod
    2. Archief Oorlogsgravenstichting, Dossier Marius Verdijk • #1#6
    3. Nationaal Monument Kamp Vught
      1. Website • NederlandsDeutschEnglishFrançais, não disponível em português.
      2. Wikipedia • NederlandsDeutschEnglishFrançaisEspañol, não disponível em português
    4. brabantsegesneuvelden.nl Marius Verdijk
    5. Digitaal Monument Neuengamme
    6. Wikipedia DE Hermann Goering Werke
    7. Wikipedia • NederlandsDeutschEnglishFrançaisEspañol
    8. Wikipedia DE Munitions- und Sprengstoffwerk Malchow
    9. ortschroniken-mv.de Das Außenlager des Frauen-Konzentrationslagers Ravensbrück in Malchow
    10. www.blauermel.de Ruinen Munitions- und Sprengstoffwerk Malchow
    11. openstreetmap.org Malchow
    12. plaquette Beugen
    13. Oorlogsgravenstichting.nl
    14. Wikipedia NL: Deppner executies