The fallen resistance people in Limburg
pers.Valkenburg 1940-1945

Sjeng Coenen
(Jan Hubert)

Memorial stone for the resistance people Coenen and Francotte

Former subdistrictleader of Simpelveld.
Cammaert: After the betrayal of Wittem [1.1], J.H. Coenen from Simpelveld and his comrade W.J. Francotte [1.3] from Vaals, who had worked for the illegal magazine Je Maintiendrai in Amsterdam until the summer of 1944, joined the KP. They participated in the raid on the jail of Maastricht on September 5. [2]
During this raid on September 5, 1944, 80 political prisoners were liberated. [1.2]
Sjeng (John) and his buddy Joep (Joe) [1.3] were in hiding in the Diver’s Inn in Geulhem “where suspects and difficult people in hiding were detained and interrogated. … They were arrested by the Germans the same evening (on Mad Tuesday) during a resistance action. By order of Major Bernhardt, they were shot on the Cauberg (Valkenburg). There is a memorial stone and the monument for the fallen resistance people of Limburg on that spot.See photo.
A short biography, based largely on Cammaert’s book, can be found at simpelveld.nl [3]
He is buried in Simpelveld. [4]
Jan Hubert ( Sjeng ) Coenen is listed in the Erelijst 1940-1945 (Honor Roll of the Dutch Parliament). [5]



Footnotes

1. 1a. Wittem 21 jul. 1944
   1b. Wittem, verzetsmonument op de Eyserlinde
   2. Maastrcht 5 sept. 1944
   3. W.J. Francotte
2. Dr. F. Cammaert, Het Verborgen Front 7. De knokploegen en de geschiedenis van de stoottroepen tot de zomer van 1945
   p.780: II.7. De K.P.-Zuid-Limburg
3. 1. Oorlogsgravenstichting (@ Nat. arch.), Dossier W.J. Francotte #6
   2. OpenStreetMap Jos. Francotteweg
4. Erelijst 1940-1945
5. Oorlogsgravenstichting.nl
6. Oorlogsgravenstichting.nl
7. More in our story Resistance in Valkenburg
8. Wikipedia NL: Sjeng Coenen