This memorial page is dedicated to Johannes Anthonius Kirchyünger, 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.

 

Johannes Anthonius Kirchyünger

Name: Kirchyünger
First names: Johannes Antonius
Nickname: –
Date of birth: 1 May 1904
Place of birth: Utrecht
Residence: Houseboat “Antonetta” in Someren-Eind
Rank / Occupation: Member of the Resistance / Skipper
Identity tag: –
Unit: –
Date of death: 25 September 1944
Place of death: Helenaveen
Cause of death: Executed by the Germans
Cemetery: Roman Catholic Cemetery at Someren-Eind, re-buried at
Cemetery: Dutch War Cemetery, Loenen
Memorial site: –

Additional information
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Grave location: Section A, Grave 1116

Son of Arnold Victor Kirchyünger and Alphonsia Maria Hendriks, widow of Jantje Kirchyünger-Jager.

Johannes Antonius Kirchyünger was a skipper on the ‘Antonetta’ and often sailed along the Zuid-Willemsvaart, which meant he regularly moored at Lock 12. In Someren-Lierop there was a hideout where Allied pilots were often taken; these pilots wanted only one thing: to return to England as soon as possible. To this end, a nationwide network had been set up by the resistance to take these men along hidden routes to Belgium, from where they could then travel on to France and Spain. As a result, Kirchyünger came into contact with Jozef van der Heijden (leader of the underground movement for people in hiding in Someren) and regularly took Allied personnel on his boat to Belgium; although the Germans carried out strict checks, there was always a spot on a ship where you could hide a few people. In addition, Kirchyünger also possessed transmitting equipment with which he could make contact with England.
In September 1944, the Germans blew up all the bridges over the Zuid-Willemsvaart, bringing navigation to a standstill, and the ‘Antonetta’, along with a few other ships, came to a standstill between lock 12 and lock 13 on the eastern side of the canal. Someren was liberated by the British on 20 September 1944, but German troops were still stationed on the opposite side of the canal, and on 22 September a few Germans, probably members of the SS, forced their way onto the boat and searched every room. These Germans came across the radio transmitter, and Kirchyünger was ordered to explain how he had obtained it and what he was doing with it. However, he kept his lips sealed, whereupon the ship was scuttled and the skipper was taken to Helenaveen. It is not known exactly what happened there, but on 25 September he was executed by the Germans and buried in a makeshift grave on Mij’s land. Helenaveen, on the Laantje van Teeffelen next to the ‘Nassau Hoeve’ on the Helenavaart H 56. However, during the identification of the remains on 11 August 1948, it was found that his skull had been completely shattered.
On 18 May 1945, at around 1.00 pm, the remains were reburied at the Roman Catholic Cemetery in Someren-Eind, followed by a solemn funeral service at 3.00 pm. Jozef van der Heijden placed a small iron cross on the simple grave, bearing the inscription ‘Kirchyünger’, along with the dates of birth and death; he then tended the grave for many years, and after his death this task was taken over by some of Jozef van der Heijden’s relatives.
On 23 November 2010, the remains were reinterred from the Roman Catholic Cemetery in Someren-Eind to the Dutch War Cemetery in Loenen, grave number A1116.

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

View all persons in the category: Shot, liquidated or murdered in some other way