This memorial page is dedicated to Adrianus Theodorus Köhnen, one of more than 725 war victims connected to the municipality of Deurne documented by Stichting Oorlogsslachtoffers. The municipality of Deurne and the surrounding villages of Liessel, Vlierden, Helenaveen, Neerkant and Zeilberg were liberated in the autumn of 1944 during heavy fighting. Victims fell on all sides: Allied soldiers from countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and New Zealand, and German soldiers.

But the archive covers more than just the combat victims on Deurne soil. Residents of Deurne who lost their lives elsewhere are also commemorated: civilians who were murdered in concentration camps, forced labourers who died in Germany, people who were executed or succumbed to the effects of persecution and oppression. In addition, residents of Deurne who entered German military service and were killed elsewhere are also included.

Stichting Oorlogsslachtoffers has been documenting the story of all these people since 1995, without distinction of nationality, side or background. The goal is to give every person a name and a face, and to keep their memory alive.

 

Adrianus Theodorus Köhnen

Name: Köhnen
First names: Adrianus Theodorus
Nickname: Janus
Date of birth: 11 October 1894
Place of birth: Deurne
Residence: 10 Heuvelstraat, Deurne
Rank / Occupation: Travelling salesman, A. Th. Köhnen Agencies
Identity tag: –
Unit: –
Date of death: 5 October 1944
Place of death: Helmond, hospital
Cause of death: as a result of a shell explosion
Cemetery: ‘Jacobshof’ Cemetery in Deurne
Memorial site: –

 

Additional information

Son of Johannes Antonius Köhnen and Lamberta Köhnen-Spooren, widow of Jacomina Cornelia Coppus.

Adrianus Theodorus Köhnen was organist at the Roman Catholic Church of the Walsberg and director of the Roman Catholic Band of Deurne; he died as a result of injuries sustained during a shelling of his home. A few days before his death, Janus, his wife and seven children were sheltering in the cellar of their home from the ravages of war, under the protection of the small statue of the Virgin Mary, which Janus had told them never to forget should they ever need to take shelter again. Unfortunately, tragedy struck when a shell hit the house; Janus was wounded in the face but still managed to get his wife and seven children out of the cellar. He later died of his injuries at Helmond Hospital.

Adrianus Theodorus Köhnen was buried at the Roman Catholic Cemetery of the Old Parish of Deurne; in the 1970s, his remains were reinterred at the ‘Jacobshof’ Cemetery in Deurne.

Köhnen family
Familie Köhnen
Memorial card
Bidprentje
Death register
Overlijdensregister

View all persons in the category: Residents of Deurne who lost their lives in Deurne