Klingen, Jan

Date of birth:: October 5th, 1884 (Gouda, the Netherlands)
Date of death:: September 24th, 1944 (Alem, the Netherlands)
Nationality:: Dutch

Biography

Jan was born on October 5, 1884 in Gouda. For some time he lives in the municipality of Gilze en Rijen, where his children Jan junior, Tilly and Leo are born. Since 1923 he has lived in Alem, where he is head of the primary school. Son Jan junior, member of a congregation as brother Josef Albertus, was active in the resistance during the German occupation. In 1942, after betrayal, he is executed by the notorious traitor Anton van der Waals in Wassenaar. The tremendous distress in the family at the loss of Joseph soon gives way to determination; from that moment on, the Klingen family will devote themselves even more resolutely to the resistance.

In September 1944 Jan is visited by two Germans dressed in English uniforms who pretend to be Allied pilots. Initially, Jan suspects a trap, but the two still manage to gain his confidence. When asked about the German positions, he gives them the exact positions. Immediately afterwards, Jan is arrested and the Germans summon anyone who enters the house to come out: his daughter Tilly and Louis Boelen from Zaltbommel, the person in hiding, are arrested. Mother Klingen and the youngest daughter Tonny manage to escape in time and flee. The Germans appear to have kept an eye on the family for some time, partly as a result of Josef Albertus' resistance work.

Neighbor Jan Kling comes to take a look and is shot without further ado and left seriously injured on the street. Jan, his daughter and Louis are then taken to Rossum, where they are imprisoned in the basement of the town hall.

The next morning, September 24, father and daughter Klingen and Louis are taken to the entrance road of Alem and there violently murdered. Jan turned 59 and finds his final resting place at the Roman Catholic cemetery in Zaltbommel.

In February 1945, Leo, Jan's younger son, would drown in sight of the liberation while crossing the Waal.

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