1940-1945. The resistance in the dutch province of Limburg

Limburg +

The outskirts of Limburg

In 1943, two aid organizations for those in hiding were in the process of being founded in the Netherlands in order to achieve better cooperation between the existing resistance groups. Both were initiated in part by clergymen, and both bore the abbreviation L.O., which was certainly no coincidence. In Limburg, this was the Limburgse Onderduikershulp (Limburg Submerged Help. Hidden people commonly were called submerged or divers). North of the rivers Maas, Waal and Rhine it was the "Landelijke organisatie voor hulp aan Onderduikers" (National Organization for the Support of Submerged Persons). See Cammaert Chapter VIa, §III.2. [1]

The provincial resistance monument of Limburg does not commemorate the fallen of the resistance outside the province. However, we do so for the following reasons.
Also in North Limburg the resistance started with help for people on the run. Either they had to be helped on their way home (escaped French-speaking prisoners of war and later members of downed Allied air crews, for the sake of simplicity all called pilots), or they had to go into hiding on the spot (Jews and men obliged to go to Germany for forced labor). Cooperation arose across provincial borders. For example, to cross the Meuse in boats, since the bridges were often controlled. In this way, four districts were created in the border area of Limburg, North Brabant and Gelderland, which joined the L.O. Limburg. This remained so when a nationwide cooperation was established.
Note: The links to the place names will take you to a map from OpenStreetMap with the boundaries of the actual municipality. Please note that the L.O. rayons were generally larger than the municipalities of the same name.

1. The district of Vierlingsbeek
   Vierlingsbeek and Boxmeer, in Limburg de rayons Bergen, Gennep en Venray.
   TheLO Province of Limburg included not only the Dutch province of Limburg. In 1943, there were in the Netherlands two aid organizations for those in hiding in formation, both of which were partly the initiative of clerics. In Limburg, it was the Limburgse Onderduikershulp. In the areas around Limburg, too, resistants sought and found connections to the Limburg LO, even when it later merged into the national LO (Landelijke organisatie voor hulp aan Onderduikers). See Cammaert chapter VIa, §III.2. [ 1]. In the border region of the provinces of N-Brabant and Limburg this were the districts of Venray (which included three sub-districts, two of which, Deurne and Veghel, were in the province of Noord-Brabant) and of Vierlingsbeek (sub-districts in N-Br: Cuyk, Boxmeer and Vierlingsbeek, in Limburg the sub-districts Bergen en Gennep) and in Gelderland the districts of Nijmegen and Maas & Waal. The provincial resistance memorial of Limburg does not commemorate the fallen resistance people outside the province. Nevertheless, we want to remember these people. For the same reason also some resistants from Belgium are listed here. Because the Limburg resistance did not stop at provincial borders.

   Notes

   1. Dr. Fred Cammaert, Het verborgen front, 6a, §III.2.: De opname van de Limburgse duik­organisatie in het landelijk verband (The incorporation of the Limburg Diving Organization into the national organization)
   2. Cammaert chapter 6b, § VIII 10
   3. Cammaert 6b.VIII.11. Districten Nijmegen en Maas en Waal
   4. Cammaert 6a p. 509)