The fallen resistance people in Limburg

Leo Penders
(Leon Marie Hubert)

Het Grote Gebod – L.O.

Vicar Leo Penders headed subdistrict 2 of the LO with the places Gulpen, Reymerstok and Wylré. (See map 45. Gulpen district: division into subdistricts. Cammaert VIb, p.693 [1] and OSM [5]) and determined the district’s financial policy from 12 January 1944. On July 21, 1944, Vicar Penders and J.H. Ortmans of Wahlwiller were arrested (Cammaert VI, p.654 [1]) and shortly thereafter ten other leaders of the Gulpen district. This action would later become known as the Klap van Wittem [2][3.1] (Strike of Wittem).

In the archives of the OGS (Dutch War Graves Commission), file of Leon Penders, there is a form A8963 of the Dienst Identificatie en Berging (Identification and Recovery Service), although it is unclear by whom it was filled out. It states:
Captured in July 1944 and imprisoned in Maastricht prison. On August 4(?) to Vught (North Brabant) and on September 6 to Oranienburg (Germany). On February 6 to Bergen-Belsen. Died in Bergen-Belsen on the night of 24-25 April 1945, presumably of dysentery, after recovering from typhus. [4#9]

This archive also contains a copy on which is handwritten: ‘Terugblik’ (Review) July 1986 Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp, with a photograph of Leo and the following text:
LEO PENDERS
Father of the divers (those in hiding)
Official name: LEON MARIE PENDERS.
Born on June 1, 1914, in the village of Voerendaal near Heerlen, prov. of Limburg. He was ordained priest in 1935 and became vicar in Gulpen in 1939. Belonged to the LO Gulpen. His resistance name was ‘Leo’. His commitment to those in hiding earned him the title of ‘father of the divers’.
As a result of a betrayal, he was arrested on July 21, 1944, and was sent to the Vught bunker via Maastricht. There he said to his fellow prisoners, among other things: ‘Well, why should I grieve? If I had not been in a German prison, I would be ashamed to climb a pulpit after the occupation.’
From Vught he was transported to Oranienburg and next to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. There he lived long enough to see the liberation, but died on April 24, 1945, as a result of the misery and privations he had endured. [4#11]

See also the "Korte biografie van drie Voerendaalse verzetsmensen" (Short biography of three resistance fighters from Voerendaal) [5], including Leo Penders.
More background information also in Verzet in het Mergelland (Resistance in the Mergelland) by Rosalie Sprooten [3]

Honors:

• The square in front of the church in Gulpen is named after him: Kapelaan Pendersplein. [6]
• He is mentioned on the monument in Voerendaal near the church of St. Laurentius. [7]
• Médaille Commémorative Française de la Guerre 1939-1945 avec barette Libération [8], for the special support of French prisoners of war who managed to escape from German captivity during the German occupation.

Leon Marie Hubert ( Leo ) Penders is listed in the Erelijst 1940-1945 (Honor Roll of the Dutch Parliament). [9]

Wikimedia
Médaille commémorative de la guerre 1939-1945

Footnotes

1. Dr. F. Cammaert, Het Verborgen Front VIb, De Landelijke Organisatie voor hulp aan onderduikers, VIII-IX
2. Klap van Wittem
3. Rosalie Sprooten, Bericht aan Hare Majesteit (1991) (dead links)
   1. Verraad of infiltratie?
   2. Verzet in het Mergelland
4. Archief Oorlogsgravenstichting, Dossier Leon Penders • #9 • #11
5. Korte biografie van drie Voerendaalse verzetsmensen
6. Open Street Map • Gulpen • Kapelaan Pendersplein
7. Voerendaal, verzetsmonument
8. Médaille commémorative de la guerre 1939–1945, Wikipédia • Nederlands • English • Français • Italiano
9. Erelijst 1940-1945
10. Oorlogsgravenstichting.nl
11. Wikipedia NL: Leo Penders