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This memorial page is dedicated to Johannes van Berlo, 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.
| Name | : van Berlo | |
| First names | : Johannes | |
| Nickname | : – | |
| Date of birth | : 20 May 1923 | |
| Place of birth | : Deurne | |
| Residence | : Tramstraat 55, Deurne | |
| Rank / Occupation | : Concrete worker | |
| Identity tag | : Prisoner number 13180 | |
| Unit | : – | |
| Date of death | : 26 May 1945 | |
| Place of death | : Eems, on board the motor vessel Joanna | |
| Cause of death | : as a result of a sea mine explosion | |
| Cemetery | : Dutch War Cemetery, Loenen | |
| Memorial site | : Monument to the Joanna shipwreck in Delfzijl | |
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Additional information
Grave location: Section B / Grave 259
Son of Peter van Berlo and Geertruida van den Broek.
Johannes van Berlo was registered with Scheidnug in Saalfeld, Köditzgasse 14, from 13 March 1943 to 5 June 1943, with the note ‘abgemeldet nach Deurne’ (deregistered to Deurne). From 26 June 1943 to 15 September 1943, he was insured with the Allgemeine Ortskrankenkasse in Neus and worked at the Schmolz & Bickenbach steelworks. From 21 February 1944 to 12 May 1944, Johannes van Berlo was insured with the Allgemeine Ortskrankenkasse for the district of Kempen-Krefeld and was employed by the firm Kocherscheidt.
Later, following his arrest, Johannes van Berlo was sent to the Polizeichlichen Durchangslager Amersfoort (P.D.L.), also known as Camp Amersfoort, probably because he had failed to report back to his German place of work after his leave. From there, on 15 June 1944, he was transported, along with 314 fellow prisoners, for ‘Arbeitseinsatz’ with the Organisation Todt (OT) to the island of Wangeroog, a Wadden Sea island in East Frisia, Germany.
On Wangeroog, mainly forced labourers worked hard on the ‘Atlantic Wall’, a German defensive line intended to prevent a possible Allied invasion. After more than 10 months of working on the Atlantic Wall under extremely poor living and working conditions, and having survived the Allied bombings of the island of Wangeroog, Johannes van Berlo returned to the Netherlands after the war.
However, off Spijk, north of Delfzijl, disaster struck when the motor vessel Joanna struck a sea mine, killing Johannes van Berlo and 37 others.
A brief account of this event can be found, amongst other places, in the book “The Joanna Shipwreck – Forced Labour on Wangerooge, Tragedy on the Ems, 38 War Victims in Peacetime”; this book may be available for consultation with the author.
His passport has always been preserved…
Memorial card
Motor vessel ‘Joanna’
P.D.L. Amersfoort, transport details
Endorsement (Visa) valid until 14 June 1943 from the passport of Johannes van Berlo
Death register
View all persons in the category: Residents of Deurne who died outside Deurne