AEL (Arbeits-Erziehungs-Lager)

1. Wikimedia
 

2. Wikimedia

Picture 1: Memorial at the Versetalsperre (dam of the Verse) in Lüdenscheid [2].
The AEL Hunswinkel was situated on the current bottom of the reservoir. The bronze plaque was stolen by metal thieves in 2014 and was later replaced by an acrylic plaque.
The original plaque bore the text:

In the valley of the Verse, the Arbeitserziehungs- und Konzentrationslager Hunswinkel (labor education and concentration camp) was located below this point between 1940 and 1945. Out of many thousands of prisoners from the Soviet Union, Germany, Poland, Belgium, France, Italy, Yugoslavia and the Netherlands, at least 550 were killed by starvation, hard labor, beatings and shootings.
 
June 21, 1997, 52 years after the rule of the National Socialists.

Picture 2: Großbeeren, the memorial to the so-called „Arbeitserziehungslager“
(labor education camp). [2.2.][3]

During the National Socialist era, punishment camps that served primarily and initially to discipline and re-educate dissidents, political opponents, long-term unemployed and foreign forced laborers became the official designation of Arbeitserziehungslager (AEL, labor education camps). These foreign forced laborers were usually housed in open labor camps, where they were generally treated better than concentration camp inmates. However, many evaded "Arbeitsdienst" (labor service) and went into hiding, for example with the help of the Dutch resistance organization "Aussenministerium". Those who were then caught, however, were, according to the official interpretation, slackers who had to be re-educated. Hence the derisive name.
These camps were set up from 1940 by the Secret State Police (Gestapo), often in financial cooperation with companies profiting from Nazi forced labor. By the end of World War II, there were about 200 of them in the German Reich and the occupied territories; 500,000 people passed through these camps, mostly with temporary stays.

1. Wikipedia: AEL Nederlands • Deutsch • Français
2. Open Street Map
   1. Großbeeren Gedenkstätte für die Opfer des Faschismus
   2. Versetalsperre Gedenktafel Schatten der Vergangenheit
3. porta-polonica: Großbeeren Deutsch • English • Polsku
4. geschichtswerkstatt-merseburg.de: AEL Spergau und Zöschen

1943-11-09 Pieter Heynen † AEL Mülheim
1944-01-18 Charles Joseph Nijst † AEL Groß-Beeren, Kreis Teltow
1944-01-28 Johannes Adrianus Loogman † AEL Großbeeren, Kr. Teltow
1944-02-09 Jacob Halbe Veenstra † Helgoland
1944-08-18 Johannes Aussems † AEL Zöschen, Kr. Merseburg
1944-10-20 Hubert Joseph Visschers † AEL Köln
1945-02-28 Hubertus Conaert † Straflager Köln, AEL?
1945-03-01 Wilhelmus Hubertus van Mil † AEL Zöschen b. Leuna
1945-03-17 Alphonsus Antonius Pieter Hubertus Ceulen † AEL Hunswinkel
1945-03-22 Jan Louis Rietjens † AEL Hunswinkel, Kr. Altena
1945-03-24 Andreas Gerardus Willem Boijmans † AEL Hunswinkel, Kr. Altena
1945-04-09 Wim Johan Kasdorp † AEL Hunswinkel (D)
1985-08-28 Petrus Reinier Eduard Jozef Miedema † Haelen
hr

Limburgse monumenten vertellen 1940-1945
83

Digital name memorial Oranjehotel
It is one of the most frequently asked questions: who was imprisoned in the Orange Hotel? Unfortunately, there is no complete list of all prisoners. Much of the prison records were destroyed by the German occupiers shortly before the liberation.
See also Oranjehotel & Waalsdorpervlakte82

Jan van Lieshout, Het Hannibalspiel
A sinister game during World War II of the counterintelligence service of the Kriegsmarine (Marineabwehr), which led to the downfall of three Dutch-Belgian resistance groups, ISBN 10: 9026945744 ISBN 13: 978902694574880

Loenen Field of Honour
Over 3,900 war victims are buried at Loenen Field of Honour and include those who lost their lives in different places around the world due to various circumstances. There are military personnel, members of the resistance, people who escaped the Netherlands and went to England during the first years of the WWII to join the Allies (‘Engelandvaarders’), victims of reprisal and forced labour and …79

Markante feiten in Limburg tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog
Remarkable facts in (Belgian) Limburg during the Second World War
Anyone who thinks that hardly any resistance took place in the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium should definitely read this document. The emphasis is on the armed resistance. Author: Mathieu Rutten.78

Stichting Struikelstenen Valkenburg
Also 45 Jews deported from Valkenburg did not return. The Stichting Struikelstenen Valkenburg (“Foundation Stumbling Stones Valkenburg”) was established to place so-called stumbling stones in the sidewalk in front of the house from which they were deported, in memory of the murdered Jews from Valkenburg. With a complete list.
See also Stolperstein on Wikipedia.77

Roermond Front City
Series of stories by Eric Munnicks about the last months of the war.
See also the other War Stories of the Roermond Municipal Archives. Unfortunately no translation available. 76

Limburg 75 jaar vrij
75

Belgium WWII
A virtual platform on Belgium and its inhabitants during the Second World War74

Former concentration camp Natzweiler-Struthof, Alsace
European Centre of Deported Resistance Members. Camp and museum73

The Jewish Victims of National Socialism in Cologne | A–Z
72

Documentation Center on the National-Socialism in Cologne
Virtual visit of the museum and the memorial in 8 languages, amongst them Hebrew and Spanish71

Camp Vught National Memorial
The Camp Vught National Memorial (Nationaal Monument Kamp Vught) is located on a part of the former SS camp Konzentrationslager Herzogenbusch, also known as Camp Vught (January 1943 – September 1944).70

The Margraten Boys - About the US War Cemetery
Harrowing and redeeming, this is the history of a unique ‘adoption’ system. For generations, local families, grateful for the sacrifice of their liberators from Nazi occupation, have cared for not only the graves, but the memories, of over 10,000 US soldiers in the cemetery of Margraten in the Netherlands.
Free e-book by Peter Schrijvers. More e-books on WWII, in English and Dutch, by this author: https://www.google.de/search?hl=de&tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=inauthor:%22Peter+Schrijvers%2268

The Jewish Monument
Every victim of the Holocaust who was murdered is memorialised on the Joods Monument with a personal profile. The Jewish Monument is not only suitable for searching and commemorating. You can supplement the monument with photos, documents and stories, by making family connections and adding members of families. To place a call and get in touch with other users. You can also add information about stumbling stones and important other external links.67

When the miners go on strike against the German occupiers
The mine strike in Limburg started on April 29th, 1943. The workload was rising and rising. The first Dutch men were forced to work in Germany. The immediate reason was General Christiansen’s order to arrest all released prisoners of war from the Dutch army again and to transport them to Germany. The strike is broken up by means of executions.66

Persecuted in Limburg
Jews and Sinti in Dutch Limburg during the Second World War
ISBN 978-90-8704-353-7
Dissertation by Herman van Rens on 03/22/2013, University of Amsterdam, slightly edited
© 2013 Hilversum65

Ons verblijf in het dorp Mergel (dagboek) (Meerssen 1989)
Our stay in the village of Mergel (diary, Meerssen 1989
Joop Geijsen from Meerssen tells how he and two other boys went into hiding for a year in the limestone caves just outside Meerssen, which was later called the diver’s inn.
As far as we know, sold out and only available in Dutch libraries.64

Yad Vashem
The World Holocaust Remembrance Center63

Beelden van verzet
This book shows, how every Dutch generation deals differently with the past of resistance.
If you can read Dutch, you can find the download link for this essay by Sander Bastiaan Kromhout
Published by the Nationaal Comité 4 en 5 May, 2018
Print edition ISBN 9077294244.62

Regional Historic Center Limburg
Limburg has numerous specialized archive institutions that preserve relevant historical sources concerning World War II. However, it is not always clear to the public for which information they can go where. Archives have overlapping work areas, organizations and people have been active in the past in different areas and in different fields. So it often takes a long time to find the right place to find information.
Here you can search, but also share your documents with other interested parties. This can be done by donating them to existing archives or museums, or by making digital copies of the available documents or images.61

War deads in Nijmegen 1940 - 1945
With search function60

Foundation Dutch Resistance Monument
Names of resistance fighters in the Netherlands and colonies during the Second World War59

La résistance durant la guerre 1940-1945
It is mainly about the network “Clarence” whose founder was Walther Dewez; evoked are also the names of various agents of Visé and the Fourons that were part of this movement.58

Fallen resistance people Maastricht
A brief description and a long gallery of portraits57

Stichting Herinnering LO-LKP
The foundation remembrance of LO-LKP wants to raise awareness of the history of the resistance by the organisations LO and LKP. To this end, she makes the contents of his memorial book and many original documents available to the interested reader in digital form.56

The Forgotten Genocide – The Fate of the Sinti and Roma
Also known as Gipsies.55

1944-2019 ⇒ South Limburg 75 years free! ⇐
An overview of the activities in South Limburg around this memorable anniversary in september. It is celebrated in every municipality.54

Short historic American film about the Divers Inn
A silent film, shot by a USAmerican team after the liberation of Valkenburg. The first part has been re-enacted, with the help of the Valkenburg resistance. It shows how people going into hiding (divers) were taken to the divers inn. The man in the hat is always Pierre Schunck. The film starts at his home in Plenkertstraat, Valkenburg. The role of the policeman on the bike at the start is not entirely clear. According to the accompanying text, this is a courier.53

Database persoonsbewijzen uit de Tweede Wereldoorlog
About Dutch identity cards in the Second World War as well as images of identity cards in combination with other documents and genealogical and personal data including life stories.49

Memorial stone for the resistance people Coenen and Francotte
In front of the Provincial Resistance Monument in Valkenburg. Here the underground fighters Sjeng (John) Coenen and Joep (Joe) Francotte were murdered on 5 September 1944, just before the liberation of Valkenburg48

Resistance Memorial of the dutch province of Limburg
Every year on May 4, the commemoration ceremony for the fallen of this province takes place here. Meanwhile, also the veterans are no longer among us anymore.47

Call to everyone, but especially to the residents of Valkenburg
On September 17, 2019 it will be 75 years ago that the town and all villages of the current municipality of Valkenburg aan de Geul were liberated.
To commemorate the liberation and to display the wartime as accurately as possible, the Museum Land van Valkenburg is looking for personal stories, eye witnesses and tangible memories.
Of all these lifelike stories, materials, photos, footage and equipment, we are organizing a unique and as complete as possible overview exhibition under the name “We Do Remember”46

Roll of honor of the fallen, 1940 - 1945
A website commissioned by the dutch Second Chamber (~ House of Representatives). The Honor Roll of Fallen 1940-1945 includes those who fell as a result of resistance or as a soldier.45

Grenzeloos verzet
Borderless resistance – On Spying Monks, escape lines and the “Hannibal Game”, 1940-1943
ISBN 9789056220723
Paul de Jongh describes in detail an escape line from the Netherlands to Belgium. Unique case study on the resistance in World War II on both sides of the Belgian-Dutch border. Focus is on the Belgian side. Extends the book by Cammaert, especially where it concerns the group Erkens in Maastricht.44

The hidden front
History of the organized resistance in the Dutch province of Limburg during World War II
PhD thesis 1994, by CAMMAERT, Alfred Paul Marie.
The complete book in Dutch, with English summary, on the website of the University of Groningen.
Core literature!43

Forgotten History – Pierre Schunck, Resistance Fighter
42

World War II in South Limburg
Very many pictures ordered by municipality. For Valkenburg: many pictures from the Nazi boarding school for boys Reichsschule der SS (former Jesuit convent) and from the days of liberation, by Frans Hoffman.40

Sources Network on World War II (NOB)
Search in 9 million documents, movies and pictures about and from World War II in the Netherlands.39

Institute for Studies on War, Holocaust and Genocide
Institute for Studies on War, Holocaust and Genocide
Issues related to war violence generate a lot of interest from society and demand independent academic research. NIOD conducts and stimulates such research and its collections are open to all those who are interested.38

Limburg gaf joden WOII meeste kans
Dutch Jews had the best chance of going into hiding and surviving the Holocaust in the province of Limburg. This is apparent from the dissertation on the persecution of Jews and Sinti in Limburg during the Second World War by the historian from Beek, Herman van Rens at the University of Amsterdam.
More info in Dutch36

Tweede Wereldoorlog en bijzondere rechtspleging
About the trials of Dutchmen who collaborated with the occupiers: The so-called special administration of justice. This page shows you the way. Here you will find photos, the most used keywords, references to interesting archives, indexes, websites, personal stories and guides for research.35

Nederlands Auschwitz Comité
34

Secret Army Zone II/Limburg
About the failed attempt to set up a complete guerrilla army in Belgian Limburg. Use the built-in translator20

resistance in Enschede
19

30th Infantry Division Old Hickory
Liberators of South-Limburg17

Bond van Oud-Stoottroepers en Stoottroepers
16

The Dutch Underground and the Stoottroepers
Stoottroepen (Stormtroopers) consisted of the ancient resistant fighters who entered in the Dutch army after the liberation of Limburg, to participate in the war against the fascism.15