The fallen resistance people in Limburg

Gerard Smulders
(Gerard Antoon)

Het Grote Gebod – L.O.

Gerard Smulders was a farmer. The following is a slightly shortened version of his biography on wo2slachtoffers.nl. [1]
He took care of people in hiding and escaped prisoners of war. On August 2, 1944, officers of the Arbeitskontrolldienst (Labor Control Service) wanted to arrest his brother Frans. A person in hiding had mentioned his name. That same night he was freed from the hospital by five resisters from Sevenum. Gerard, who had fiercely resisted his brother’s arrest, had been arrested too. He was held hostage, transferred to Kamp Vught (in English Herzogenbusch concentration camp [2]) and shot a few weeks later. His name is on the monument at the execution site and on the memorial wall in the Camp Vught National Memorial. [3]
In Horst-America, Gerard Smulders Straat is named after him. [4]
The municipal administration of Horst wrote about him: The mortal remains were cremated in the crematorium in Vught. [5]
Gerard Antoon ( Gerard ) Smulders is listed in the Erelijst 1940-1945 (Honor Roll of the Dutch Parliament). [6]

Vught • Fusilladeplaats • Former execution site • Ancien site d’exécution


Footnotes

1. wo2slachtoffers.nl Smulders, Gerardus Antoon
2. Kamp Vught / Konzentrationslager KZ_Herzogenbusch, Wikipedia
   • Nederlands • Deutsch • English • Français • Español
3. Nationaal Monument Kamp Vught • Nederlands • Deutsch • English • Français
4. OpenStreetMap Gerard Smuldersstraat
5. 1. Archief Oorlogsgravenstichting (@ Nationaal archief),
       Dossier • Gerard Smulders #3
   2. tracesofwar.nl Asputten Kamp Vught (Ash Pits Camp Vught)
6. Erelijst 1940-1945
7. Oorlogsgravenstichting.nl