Gerrit van de Weerd (1916-1944)

Gerrit van de Weerd (1916-1944)

Gerrit (Gert) van de Weerd was born March 19, 1916 in Kalamazoo, Michigan the United States of America.
In March 1920 his parents with two children came back to Wageningen and went to live on the Stationsstraat.
Gert followed primary education at School I in the Parkstraat and further education at the Trading School in the Noorderplantsoen (nowadays Het Plantsoen) in Wageningen.
After his schooling, he worked as a plumber with his father.

Gert spent his military service with the navy and during the mobilization he was assigned to the coast guard in Noordwijkerhout, after his service he became later active in the resistance.

Gerrit (Gert) van de Weerd was born on Sunday 19 March 1916 in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Verenigde Staten, son of Gerrit van de Weerd and Jantje Mekking. Gert died on Monday 18 September 1944 in Wageningen (Gld), aged 28.
At the age of 26, Gert married Catharina Maria de Beus, aged 25, on Tuesday 1 December 1942 in Wageningen (Gld).
Catharina was born on Wednesday 1 August 1917 in Den Haag (Zh), daughter of Franciscus Joseph de Beus and Alida Kramer.
They settled on the Hoofdstraat 37a in Wageningen and soon three Jewish refugees were housed.

Gerrit van de Weerd sr and Jantje Mekking, the parents of Gert lived since 1934 on the Fransche Kampweg in Bennekom, "On the forest". (see picture below)
Gert van de Weerd also stayed since September 15, 1944 in the house "At the forest", in connection with the raids of the German army at Wageningen.

On September 17, 1944, around 1:00 PM, the allied airborne lands started due to "Market Garden" or the Battle of Arnhem / Bridge too far.
In the course of the afternoon Jan Schiedam and Jacob Post arrived from their hiding place at the cemetery, on the Fransche Kampweg near the house of Gerrit van de Weerd sr.
Before dinner the four men left to join the airborne troops, Geurt Ansink and Jan Schiedam did not return that day.
Geurt Ansink (21-08-1919 - 19-09-1944) en Jan Schiedam (02-07-1919 - 19-09-1944) fell into the hands of German troops on the 19th of September at 15.00 in the neighborhood of The Blind House (is an institute for the blind people) on the Wolfhezerweg and were executed on the spot.
In August 1945, the families learned from the official side that Geurt (25) and Jan (25) had been executed on the spot.
Geurt Ansink and Jan Schiedam are buried in the "Special Cemetery" of the psychiatric institution Wolfheze.

Gert and Jacob were back at night on the Fransche Kampweg, wearing a bracelet, received from the Allies to be considered a prisoner of war and with a stengun.
In the early morning of September 18, 1944, Gert and Jacob left armed from the Fransche Kampweg in Bennekom.
They cycled through the forest in the direction of Wageningen and were already surrounded by German patrols in the forest and after a fierce firefight, they were arrested by the Germans and during the day, heavily guarded, locked up in the Ansink plant greenhouse on the Keijenbergseweg.
In the evening they were taken to Rhenen, to the headquarters of Von Tettau.

On Tuesday morning, September 19, 1944, Gert van de Weerd and Jacob Post were driven on an open truck from Rhenen via the Hoogstraat to the "Mountain of Wageningen " and executed behind the water tower.
Ten years later, in 1954, their bodies were found, the funeral took place on June 26, 1954 at the General Cemetery Wageningen.

Fransche Kampweg 1 in Bennekom

Sources

C.M. de Beus

G. van de Weerd

B.W. van de Peppel

A.M. van Gent/Marketgarden.com

“Blik omhoog” Cor Janse

Archive of the municipality of Wageningen

General population register

Jacob Post

Harderwijk 6 september 1921 Wageningen 18 september 1944

Jacob Post was the son of Johannes Post and Jacoba Schaftenaar.
He was born in Harderwijk and grew up in Wageningen. Jacob left on 2 May 1939 for Den Helder, Marine Kazerne "Outer Harbor.
Back in Wageningen, Jacob left for Maastricht on October 7, 1941, working at the Dutch Railways.
In 1944 he lived in Kamerik. Jacob was engaged to W.D. van Leeuwen.
Jacob was buried with his father Johannes Post. The remains of father and son Post were transferred in 1976 to the Field of Honor Loenen.

Geurt Ansink

Wageningen 21 augustus 1919 - Wolfheze 19 september 1944

Geurt Ansink was the youngest son of Johan Ansink and Gerritje Rijke. He was an instrument maker.
On December 14, 1942 at 7 a.m. at the request of the regional employment office, the Bezemer agent carried out a house search on J. Ansink for his son Geurt, who had been without a trace since 18 May 1942.
Geurt had ignored the call for employment and went into hiding with Gerrit van de Weerd on the Fransche Kampweg where an underground shelter was built in the forest.

Jan Schiedam

Geboren op 2 juli 1919 te Amsterdam - Overleden op 19 september 1944 te Wolfheze

Beroep: Administrateur / Lid verzet

Text on the stone reads:
JAN SCHIEDAM
Born on July 2, 1919
in Amsterdam
Shot September 19, 1944
in Wolfheze
In loving memory of his Mother

The Ancestor Company, by December 31, 2019 Genealogy terminated website remains online.
The Ancestor Company, terminée le 31 décembre 2019, le site Web reste en ligne.