The fallen resistance people in Limburg

Pater Sebaldus Linders
(Johannes Antonius)

Oorlogsdoden Nijmegen

Jan Linders was born in Mook, entered the Franciscan order under the name Sebaldus and was ordained priest in 1933. During the war he lived in the monastery in Alverna [1] (Wijchen) and was vicar there. He helped Jewish children and Jewish adults, as well as others in hiding, to find shelter and protection. He hid weapons and ammunition for the resistance and resisted himself, including with his cousin Jacques E. Janssen, guiding Allied pilots from Roermond to Belgium. He was a board member of the Thalia theater association in Nijmegen, from where people were recruited for the resistance. Probably he was not careful enough and was therefore betrayed. Cammaert writes: From a priest in Wijchen he (the traitor De Heus [14]) learned about the resistance work of J.E. Janssen from Roermond, branch manager of Edah, a chain of stores for colonial goods. Knowing Roermond well, he visited Janssen at the end of May. The shopkeeper did not reveal anything because the priest from Wijchen did not trust De Heus and had warned Janssen in the meantime. [2]
In March 1944, he was finally forced to go into hiding himself, first in Nijmegen and then in Bussum, but was nevertheless arrested on June 7, 1944, together with his cousin Jacques. On August 11, 1944, he was executed in Kamp Vught along with 32 others, including his cousin Jacques and Herman Jeurissen (*Huissen 3.11.1888 - †11.8.1944) from Alverna.
The Provincial of the Dutch Franciscans, Rob Hoogenboom, received the "Righteous Among the Nations" award from Yad Vashem from the hands of Israeli Ambassador Haim Divon on September 9 at the National Monument in Kamp Vught. [3] On this occasion, Wim Linders spoke about his memories of Father Sebald Linders.[4]
In Alverna (Wijchen) a street is named after him.[5]
Johannes Antonius ( Pater Sebaldus ) Linders is listed in the Erelijst 1940-1945 (Honor Roll of the Dutch Parliament). [12]

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


Footnotes

1. Alverna Open Street Map
2. 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.617
3. Yad Vashem: J. Linders
   Wikipedia: • Nederlands • Deutsch • English • Français • Português
4. YouTube Herinneringen aan pater Sebald Linders door Wim Linders
5. Pater Sebald Lindersstraat, Alverna
   Open Street Map
6. Website kamp Vught • Nederlands • Deutsch • English • Français
   Monument op de fusilladeplaats Kamp Vught
7. artikel van Verheijen in Tweestromenland nr.143
8. De Gelderlander 5 mei 2012 met art. in bijlage Spectrum p. 4 en 5 (Kroniek Alverna)
9. Jack Kooistra, Represailles in Limburg, p.210, 220-221
10. Gedenkboek OGS 36 Amersfoort-Vught-Westerbork
11. De Gelderlander, edit. Regio Nijmegen, 5 sept. 2015, p.6-7
12. Erelijst 1940-1945
13. Oorlogsgravenstichting.nl
14. https://www.oorlogsdodennijmegen.nl/persoon/linders,%20ofm/1f171575-40cb-4325-ab6e-0fd3c4f40c28
15. Wikipedia NL: Joop de Heus