This memorial page is dedicated to Bernardus Jacobus Erkelens, 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.

 

Bernardus Jacobus Erkelens

Name: Erkelens
First names: Bernardus Jacobus
Nickname: Bertus
Date of birth: 27 July 1914
Place of birth: Deurne
Residence: H.69, Helenaveen
Rank / Occupation: Gardener
Identity tag: –
Unit: –
Date of death: 1 February 1945
Place of death: Oldenburg (Germany)
Cause of death: as a result of bronchopneumonia
Cemetery: Roman Catholic Cemetery at Helenaveen
Memorial site: War Memorial in Helenaveen

 

Additional information

Son of Andries Erkelens and Maria Gertruda Camps.

Grave location: Section 1 / Row 1 / Grave 58

On Sunday 8 October 1944, during the 7.00 am Mass, German paratroopers (Fallschirmjäger) surrounded the two Rijkswerkkampen I and II in Mariaveen. The people were driven out of the chapel whilst Mass was being celebrated. The Germans cordoned off the roads and searched the church and all the houses. All the men and boys were rounded up and marched away in a long, sombre procession. Without food or drink, without extra clothing. Some are still in their nightclothes. According to the Germans, they are to go to work in Maasbree or Helden, but in reality they are being deported to Germany for forced labour (Arbeitseinsatz).

On 14 October 1944, Bernardus Jacobus Erkelens ended up at the firm ‘Reichswerke AG, Hermann Göring’ in Salzgitter and later tried to visit his brother Henk, who lived in Papenburg. However, as he did not possess valid travel documents, he was taken off the train and transported to a penal camp, where he later died as a result of bronchopneumonia, i.e. bronchitis and pneumonia. He was buried at the Roman Catholic Cemetery in Oldenburg, Section VII (Row A, Grave 19), from where he was reburied in Helenaveen on 23 November 1951.

A report of the transfer, containing identification details and drawn up by the Identification and Recovery Service, may be available for inspection from the author.

Memorial card
Bidprentje
Death certificate
Sterbeurkunde
Identity card
Ausweis
The Eisenhower Certificate, a posthumous award for proven assistance to aircraft crews.
De Eisenhower Certificate, een postume onderscheiding na bewezen hulp aan vliegtuigbemanningen.
Letter from his brother, Henk Erkelens, sent to Leonard Joosten
Brief van zijn broer, Henk Erkelens, verstuurd naar Leonard Joosten

“Papenburg, 4 February 1945
Dear
Leonard, dear friends.

Today I have some sad news to share with you. As I wrote to you some time ago, Bertus (Erkelens) and Harrij (Lagarde) had ended up in a penal camp somewhere in this area, but I did not yet know where. A while ago, I received a phone call in the morning from a hospital in Oldenburg informing me that my brother had been admitted there in a serious condition. I travelled there straight away and visited him. He looked terrible – completely emaciated and very weak – and I didn’t have much hope left at that point. He remained there for a further eight days, and all the efforts to get him through it proved in vain. He died at midnight on Wednesday, and will be buried in Oldenburg on Tuesday 6 February. It is hard to bear, but apparently it was all meant to be this way.
He remained in full possession of his faculties right up to the end and told me everything he’d had to go through during those weeks, even though he was still very weak. They simply tortured him to death. In the penal camp, he received more beatings than food. He said that even in Watenstedt, it was like heaven in comparison. Because in that camp, they were given almost no food at all and were beaten a great deal. Fortunately, Harrij is free from that misery; they declared him unfit for service and sent him back to Holland. He is now in ………………

Best regards, Henk Erkelens"

View all persons in the category: Died in concentration camps and as a result of forced labour