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Klingen, Johannes Albertus

    Date of birth:
    February 22nd, 1913 (Gilze en Rijen, the Netherlands)
    Date of death:
    January 24th, 1942 (Wassenaar Waalsdorpervlakte, the Netherlands)
    Nationality:
    Dutch

    Biography

    Lived in Heemstede, Herenweg 103 A. Son of Johannes Klingen and Francisca Mechelina van der Heijden. Unmarried. Brother / teacher. Roman Catholic. Member of the resistance under the pseudonym Brother Joseph Albertus. He ran an illegal broadcast installation that was in direct contact with England. Was also a member of the espionage group ECH / 3. He also sent messages from the brother house of Saint Jean Baptist de la Salle. Klingen was called a genius in the field of radio technology. Reason why he was engaged in sending (news) messages. Before the Second World War, Klingen had already applied for a patent for the distribution of wireless aircraft control. Even the Germans admired him in that field. Klingen was arrested on May 26, 1941 as a result of treason by the SD employee Antonius van der Waals (October 11, 1912 Rotterdam - January 26, 1950 Scheveningen) in the brother house. After his death sentence, he was executed at the same time as Hendricus Machiel Cornelis Schoenmakers (19 February 1914 Amsterdam). A street is named after him in Best and an avenue in Heemstede. On Thursday 21 June 1945 at 10.30 am a funeral service was held for him in the St. Martinuskerk in Zaltbommel. Klingen was posthumously awarded the Resistance Memorial Cross. Klingen has no identifiable grave. His remains have not been found or identified so far. It is possible that it was buried in the Field of Honor in Loenen, where there are 26 unidentified bodies that were found on the Waalsdorp Plateau. It is also possible that his grave has never been discovered.



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    Period:
    Second World War (1939-1945)
    Awarded on:
    December 2nd, 1950
    Verzetsherdenkingskruis (VHK)

    Sources