Interview with Ellen van Dijk-Geurtsen, daughter of Hendrikus Geurtsen, 2024 (Excerpt)

Gedenkstätte Wolfenbüttel

During the German occupation, Hendrikus Geurtsen distributed the magazine “De Nieuwsbode,” which spread messages from the English news service. On 10 March 1944, he was arrested in Zeist and, after three days at the Zeist police office, transferred to the military prison in Utrecht. The charge against him was “possession and distribution of inflammatory pamphlets.”

On 1 July 1944, Hendrikus Geurtsen was admitted to the German investigation and penal prison in Utrecht and on 15 November 1944, he was sentenced to one year and six months imprisonment for “spreading anti-German writings in conjunction with spreading prohibited radio broadcasts.” Mitigating factors included that he “freely and openly confessed to his crimes” and that “he was still very young.”

In March 1945, Hendrikus Geurtsen was transferred to the Wolfenbüttel Prison. Eight days after the liberation on 11 April 1945, the British military government released him from custody. On May 5, 1945, he returned to the Netherlands.

Envelope from the Central Settlement Office for German Damage Payments with notes by Hendrikus Geurtsen, 1960s

Privatbesitz Ellen van Dijk-Geurtsen

In July 1945, Hendrikus Geurtsen applied for support from the Afwikkelingbureau Concentratiekampen and registered as a political prisoner. He responded to an advertisement in the press. Due to the very poor supply situation, he hoped for additional food rations to recover from his imprisonment. The application was rejected, as were most applications from former inmates of the Wolfenbüttel Prison. The reason is unclear.

After the Netherlands concluded a Bilateral Compensation AgreementBetween 1959 and 1964, the Federal Republic of Germany concluded bilateral compensation agreements with twelve Western European states. These agreements included lump-sum payments intended to settle all compensation claims. The distribution of the funds was the responsibility of the recipient state. (Globalabkommen) with the Federal Republic of Germany in the 1960s, Hendrikus Geurtsen applied for compensation from the Central Settlement Office for German Damage Payments. This office distributed the funds from the so-called Globalabkommen with the Federal Republic of Germany. Since he had been in the resistance and had distributed leaflets, he was considered eligible. This time, his application was approved.

In December 1949, Hendrikus Geurtsen and Anna Voorbergen got married. They had three children. His imprisonment continued to affect his life. He suffered from nightmares. However, the family rarely talked about the past. From his daughter’s perspective, Hendrikus Geurtsen did not receive appreciation for his actions. He himself did not acknowledge that he had done “something special.”

Ellen van Dijk-Geurtsen delved deeply into her father’s imprisonment and its effects. When she was 35, she found his diaries. However, she did not talk to her father about what he had experienced. In recent years, she visited his places of imprisonment, the investigation and penal prison Wolvenplein in Utrecht and the Wolfenbüttel Memorial. She tries to learn more about the time of his imprisonment.

Ellen van Dijk-Geurtsen speaks to young people about human rights as a member of Amnesty International. It is important to her to make known what her father went through. She hopes that people with different opinions can also engage in dialogue with each other.