The fallen resistance people in Limburg

Wim Kasdorp
(Wim Johan)

Oorlogsgravenstichting

Wim Kasdorp was a seller of electrotechnical articles in the Electro Groothandel Kasdorp, Roermond. [1]
He supported people in hiding, e.g. jewish children [2]
His son wrote: We lived opposite the Ortskommandantur (local army HQ), so if they wanted, the Germans were in our house within ten seconds. Fortunately, my father had a pre-war business friend at the Ortskommandantur who warned him when a raid was imminent. The walls between the basements in our neighborhood had been smashed in, so it was easy to get from our house through another house to a nearby factory. There they had machines with maintenance pits where you could hide. That’s where the people in hiding went in case of a raid, and these hiding places were never discovered. At some point, this German business partner was transferred and the work became too dangerous. As a result, my father’s resistance group went into the woods near the German border, where no one ever went and it was reasonably safe. [3]
This was in the forest area of Meinweg, where they moved on December 29, 1944. When Roermond was evacuated, his wife and children had to go north without him. [2]
Cammaert writes about this group that they were subsequently allowed to hide on a farm there:
Through the mediation of A. Raab, a gin manufacturer from Herkenbosch, twenty-four Roermonders found shelter on the farm “Lindenhof” in the Meinweg nature reserve in December. This leaked. On January 11, 1945, the Sipo from the German border town of Dahlheim, supported by Holla, surrounded the farm. After interrogation, the Roermond men were taken to a labor camp in Wassenberg. After passing through several camps and the Cologne prison, they finally arrived at a camp near Hunswinkel. The prisoners were treated exceptionally badly. At least nine Roermond citizens died as a result of the mistreatment and deprivation. [4]
This group also included Wim’s brother, who was five years younger: Antoine Joseph Kasdorp, born Roermond March 30, 1910, † Hunswinkel March 11, 1945. [5]
His son: My father’s resistance group was betrayed and he did not return from the concentration camp. We didn’t find this out until months after the war. [3]
See also memorial plaque KZ Hunswinkel. [6]
According to the NIOD, cited on oorlogsbronnen.nl, his arrest took place in Herkenbosch on February 12, 1945. Herkenbosch also includes the Meinweg area. [7]
His final resting place is in the municipal cemetery Tussen de Bergen in Roermond, oorlogsgraf (war grave) no. 35. [8]
Wim Johan ( Wim ) Kasdorp is listed in the Erelijst 1940-1945 (Honor Roll of the Dutch Parliament). [9]

Footnotes

1. breurhenket.com Aangehuwden familie Closset
2. roermondinoorlog.nl Kasdorp, Wim
3. Toon Kasdorp, Blog - Het verzet
4. Dr. F. Cammaert, Het Verborgen Front – Geschiedenis van de georganiseerde illegaliteit in de provincie Limburg tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog. Doctorale scriptie 1994, Groningen
   6. De Landelijke Organisatie voor hulp aan onderduikers, p.632
5. wibo.cmshost.nl Nageslacht Kasdorp
6. Plaquette KZ Hunswinkel
7. oorlogsbronnen.nl, tijdlijn Wilhelmus Johannes (Wim) Kasdorp
8. Archief Oorlogsgravenstichting (@ Nationaal archief),
   Dossier • Wilhelmus Johannes Kasdorp #15
9. Erelijst 1940-1945
10. Oorlogsgravenstichting.nl
11. https://gevallenenroermond.nl/appellijst/