Vinkesteijn, Gerardus Joannes Franciscus “Gerhard”

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Vinkesteijn Gerardus Joannes Franciscus “Gerhard”, born 22-03-1907 in Schiedam, Netherlands, the son of Cornelius Joannes Vinkesteijn and Isabella Johanna Maria Vinkesteijn, born Zoetmulder. Gerhard was an interior designer in Wassenaar. He had been friends with the “England sailor” Chris Krediet, who left for England for a long time before the war and since 1940 with Adriën Lambert Jacques Emile Marie Moonen,  with whom he also participated in activities of the Order Service.

The Ordedienst (Dutch for “Order Service”) was a covert military resistance organization in the Netherlands during World War II. Originally formed to maintain civil order and prepare for the return of the Dutch government after a German defeat, its members—mostly former military and police officers—later engaged in espionage, sabotage, and aiding Allied forces.

Jan Leendert “Hans” Plesman, whose son Jan had died during the war, offered Krediet a job at KLM, but Krediet went to Curaçao to establish an airline there. When that didn’t work out due to permit issues, he returned to Europe. In Antwerp, he ran into Plesman. Credit could be obtained in Wassenaar at the training center for foreign representatives.

Krediet married Ellis Brandon in 1944, one of the few female Englanders. Later they divorced. In February 1975, Krediet accompanied the Dutch Prince Bernhard on a tour thru South America. He, on 21-07-1975, age 60, passed away shortly thereafter, in the South Frisian Delfstrahuizen.

Jan Leendert “Hans” Plesman after the war, started working as a KLM captain. He, on 01-09-1944, tragically lost his life at the age of 30 when his KLM aircraft (the Roermond) crashed near Bari (Italy), in St. Omer, dépt Pas de Calais.

At the beginning of the German occupation of the Netherlands in 1940, Gerhard Vinkesteijn worked together with Jeanne Roos, who was employed as a journalist for the Algemeen Handelsblad. She was dismissed on 15-07-1941, along with all the other Jewish employes. In 1942, she burned her Star of David, went into hiding, and became active in the resistance. Under the name ‘Marianne Smeets,’ she was active as a courier and mapped out German reinforcements.

On 30-06- 2001, Jeanne Roos passed away at the age of 85. Although she was wistful about the last years that had come, she was all the more enthusiastic about the life she had led; she had, in her own words, achieved everything she wanted. And her time at Het Parool was the most beautiful period of her life. Gerhard Vinkesteijn made his house available for the resistance and tried to raise money to help fugitives.

Resistance colleague, Sabine Louise Engeline Zuur works also as a courier for the Order Service (OD) and is responsible for finding hiding addresses. She also provides shelter to resistance fighters herself, including the England veteran Peter Tazelaar, whom she marries in 1946. Many of her friends are involved in the resistance, including Siebren Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema,   also known by his nickname “Soldier of Orange,” Gerard Vinkesteijn, and Adrien Lambert Jacques Emile Marie Moonen, nicknamed “Broer”. On  28-04-1943, Sabine is betrayed by her boss the notorious Tilburg police officer Piet Gerrits, who was convicted after the war Piet Gerrits was the most hated policeman in Tilburg. Piet Gerrits, who sometimes works for the resistance and sometimes for the Sicherheitsdienst SD  —depending on where he could make money. Sabine is arrested, but fortunately, she manages to hide an address book in the apartment before being taken away. The hiding addresses are safe. Sabine past away old age 92 in Wassenaar, on 04-07-2012. On 29-05-1947, Piet Gerrits, age 51, was executed in Vught in the former concentration camp.

Death and burial ground of Vinkesteijn, Gerardus Joannes Franciscus “Gerhard”

On 05-01-1942, Gerhard tried to go to England, but was arrested on the train four days later. Vinkesteijn was tried at the Second OD trial, was sentenced to death by the Field Court of the Commanding General and Commander in the Air Region Holland for espionage, sabotage, and possession of weapons, and was executed on 29-07-1943, at Leusderheide. Before the execution, he wrote a small message: ‘Grant me my immeasurable happiness.’ I look back on my life with gratitude, which has sometimes been strict, but often also astonishingly gentle with me. May Marie have my rosary, it is she who was with me until the end. I will pray for you at God’s throne and recommend your concerns. Goodbye. Gerard. To his mother, the 36-year-old Vinkesteijn left a longer letter. Vinkesteijn, Gerardus Joannes Franciscus “Gerhard” is buried at the General Cemetery Rusthof in Amersfoort, Section 12, Row C, Number 146.

A niece of Gerhard Vinkesteijn, Jackie van der Gaag sent me part of the information.

Message(s), tips or interesting graves for the webmaster:    robhopmans@outlook.com

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