Jan Anne Kraijenhoff van de Leur

Born 13e January 1922 - Dordrecht, the Netherlands
Most likely date of death: 3e May 1945, a casualty of the bombing of the ship Cap Arcona.

Jan Anne was the son of Geertrudes (Trades) Kraijenhoff van de Leur and Selinde Roosenburg. Trudus and Selinde had five children. The oldest was daughter Selinde (Line) followed by four sons: Dirk Arnold (DIK), Willem Anthony (Wim), Jan Anne en Johannes Jacobus (Jaap).

In February 2017 the relatives of Jan Anne received an e-mail from the International Tracing Services in Bad Arolsen (Germany) advising them that a fountain pen en silver coloured tobacco box were in their custody and could be linked to Jan Anne through his prison number. It took a long time to make the connection to Jan Anne as his name was completely misspelled. We wish to thank the researchers Piet and Annelies Sijtsma for their persistence and dedication. The discovery of these possessions has had a deep impact on the family and with it an increasing desire to acknowledge his place in our family by contributing to the Digital Monument Neuengamme. In this way we hope to affirm him as an integral member of our family.

We, the remaining relatives, don’t know much about Jan Anne, as he died so young. Our contribution may therefore not do him full justice. By writing about him we also remember the sad and distressing memories of our own parents who were deeply marked by their experiences of WWII.
Our knowledge of Jan Anne comes by way of a collection of letters by his brother Wim, his mother and Sari Molhuysen - van Der Walle, who was introduced by Jan Anne into the Kraijenhoff family and became a dear family friend. Another source of information was the book “mijn nam is Selma”, with the English title “my name is Selma”, written by Selma van de Perre (published in 2020). Until they both got arrested in June 1944, Jan Anne and Selma were part of the same resistance group. They had the same age and both had lived in Alkmaar.
We have also consulted the book “Nederlanders in Neuengamme” edited by Dr. Judith Schuyf (published by Kimabo, Zaltbommel, 4e edition, 2011) The book details the experiences of the 5500 Dutch in the KZ (Concentration camp) Neuengamme between 1940 - 1945.
As it is assumed that Jan Anne died on the Steamship Cap Arcona, we have also collected information from the book,
“De ramp in de Lubeckerbocht” (translation: Disaster in the Lubeckerbocht), edited by S.P. Geertsema and published by Boom in 2011.
Further sources of information were the websites of the Stichting Vriendenkring Neuengamme and the website of the Friesch Dagblad (Friesian Newspaper).

Jan Anne lived in Dordrecht from 1922 - 1930 and then moved to Alkmaar with his family. There he attended the “Gymnasium”. He was very intelligent and skipped one year in high school . His parents thought he was too young to attend the Technical University in Delft, so he did a bridge year at the MTS (Polytech). He then started his studies at the Technical University Delft, as did his older brother Dik.
During the war Jan Anne took part in the resistance, like his sister Selinde, brothers Dik and Wim and his father. Jan Anne was in a group that was engaged in a.o. espionage. From what the family has learned, a member of his group betrayed some of the other members of the group when severely tortured both physically and mentally by the Germans during interrogation. Jan Anne was arrested on the 16th of June 1944.

From 19th of June till the 5th of September, Jan Anne was in Camp Vught, in the south of the Netherlands.. There he met his brother Wim again, who had been arrested in July 1944. According to a letter from Wim to his parents, he could barely recognise Jan because of his clean-shaven head. Because the Allies had begun invading the south of the Netherlands, the Germans decided to evacuate all Vught prisoners, transporting them to concentration camp Sachsenhausen near Berlin. In Sachsenhausen the two brothers had ample time to talk to each other.

On 16th October 1944 Jan Anne and Wim were transported to Neuengamme near Hamburg. From Neuengamme Wim was transported to Meppen Versen and was separated from Jan Anne. In March/April the British Army came closer to Hamburg and the Germans decided to transport the Neuengamme prisoners to several ships in the Lubeckerbocht near Neustadt. The German motive for this was never completely clear, but it was suspected the Germans intended to sink the ships with all prisoners on board.
Late March 1945 Wim returned to Neuengamme. On the 22nd of April Wim was transported to the Lubeckerbocht and placed on the freight ship Elmenhorst from the 22nd-28th of April 1945. Wim was then moved to the Thielbeck. Then on April 30th, the Swedish Red Cross moved all Scandinavians, French, Belgian and Dutch prisoners from the Thielbeck to Sweden on board the Magdalena.
Jan Anne was in forced labour in Neuengamme in the Messap Werke, a weapons factory. After the war, in July 1945, Wim wrote a letter to the Swedish Red Cross surmising that on April 27th Jan Anne was transported via Hamburg to Lubeck, together with 291 fellow prisoners. Jan Anne was probably taken to the former cruis ship Cap Arcona and likely arrived there on the 29th or 30th of April. We don’t know whether Wim saw or spoke to Jan Anne upon his return to Neuengamme. On May 3rd, 1945 English Typhoon bombers mistakenly bombed all ships with prisoners, including the Thielbeck and Cap Arcona. Many thousands of prisoners died and probably Jan Anne as well.

A number of people who knew Jan Anne personally have recorded their memories on paper. Of course first his mother, who described him in her diary as a 2 1/2 year old, “ lovely lively, dark-eyed darling”. During his time at the MTS in The Hague, he met Sari van der Walle. Sari was introduced into the Kraijenhoff family by Jan Anne. Sari described him as a charming intelligent young man, who got on well with everybody. Selma van de Perre described him in the same way in her book.
In the Kraijenhoff family all children were, when old enough, involved in the Dutch resistance . This was not discussed amongst them for security reasons.
On the 17th of February 1945 mother Kraijenhoff addressed a letter to Dik, Wim and Jan Anne, not knowing their whereabouts at the time. She described to her “dear lovely boy’s” how she, her husband, son Jaap, daughter Linde and Linde’s husband Siebe, managed despite all the hardship ( o.a. not enough food). She also writes how father Kraijenhoff was arrested and imprisoned in the Weteringschans prison in Amsterdam from October to December 1944. She writes about her sorrow “(…) I couldn’t find you in my thoughts (…)”, but later on in the letter she writes, “I have got over that hopeless searching and could imagine you here again (…). “Each evening and morning you arrive and walk in, each in your own way. In the middle of the worst snow and cold, we sit on the bench in the sun.”

When Jan Anne and Wim were in Sachsenhausen camcentration camp, they met their former principal of the Murmellius Gymnasium in Alkmaar, Jaap Hemelrijk writes about his war time experiences in his book, “There is one way to freedom, seven months of concentration camp”. He saw “the youthful Kraijenhoff brothers in deep conversation (part 2, page 63). “They were always together and gave each other much support”. Years later his brother Wim wrote a letter to his 2 1/2 year old grandson, Theo Jan, with a description of his brother Jan Anne. (See copy of this letter in English). Wim sent a copy of this letter to all named after Jan Anne; his sister Linde’s first born and Jaap’s eldest son Mark.
Wim told his nephew Jan Anne that he and Jan Anne had agreed that at least one of them should survive the misery to tell the others what had happened. An other time he told Geert (second son of his sister Linde) that Jan Anne loved to build radios. He was very good at it and in many ways far ahead of his time. Jan Anne’s grandfather was a nay officer, who loved to sail and was one of the first to have a BM, a small sailing boat. He passed on his passion for sailing to his grandson, as we can see from one of the few photos of Jan Anne on a sailing boat.

Because there was no clarity about what happened to Jan Anne, this deeply affected his mother and father in particular. They never received a definitive answer to their question (what happened) and this made the subject of “Jan Anne” a most traumatic topic for the family.

We will never really find out who Jan Anne was, but we know he was a much-loved son, brother and friend.
With love we remember Jan Anne Kraijenhoff van de Leur.

Lijsbeth Bruins - Kraijenhoff van de Leur (daughter of Dirk Kraijenhoff van de Leur)
Ida Lijftogt, (daughter of Selinde Lijftogt - Kraijenhoff v.d. Leur)
and all the other nieces and nephews.Jan Anne Kraijenhoff van de Leur
Born 13e January 1922 - Dordrecht, the Netherlands
Most likely date of death: 3e May 1945, a casualty of the bombing of the ship Cap Arcona.

Jan Anne was the son of Geertrudes (Trades) Kraijenhoff van de Leur and Selinde Roosenburg. Trudus and Selinde had five children. The oldest was daughter Selinde (Line) followed by four sons: Dirk Arnold (DIK), Willem Anthony (Wim), Jan Anne en Johannes Jacobus (Jaap).

In February 2017 the relatives of Jan Anne received an e-mail from the International Tracing Services in Bad Arolsen (Germany) advising them that a fountain pen en silver coloured tobacco box were in their custody and could be linked to Jan Anne through his prison number. It took a long time to make the connection to Jan Anne as his name was completely misspelled. We wish to thank the researchers Piet and Annelies Sijtsma for their persistence and dedication. The discovery of these possessions has had a deep impact on the family and with it an increasing desire to acknowledge his place in our family by contributing to the Digital Monument Neuengamme. In this way we hope to affirm him as an integral member of our family.

We, the remaining relatives, don’t know much about Jan Anne, as he died so young. Our contribution may therefore not do him full justice. By writing about him we also remember the sad and distressing memories of our own parents who were deeply marked by their experiences of WWII.
Our knowledge of Jan Anne comes by way of a collection of letters by his brother Wim, his mother and Sari Molhuysen - van Der Walle, who was introduced by Jan Anne into the Kraijenhoff family and became a dear family friend. Another source of information was the book “mijn nam is Selma”, with the English title “my name is Selma”, written by Selma van de Perre (published in 2020). Until they both got arrested in June 1944, Jan Anne and Selma were part of the same resistance group. They had the same age and both had lived in Alkmaar.
We have also consulted the book “Nederlanders in Neuengamme” edited by Dr. Judith Schuyf (published by Kimabo, Zaltbommel, 4e edition, 2011) The book details the experiences of the 5500 Dutch in the KZ (Concentration camp) Neuengamme between 1940 - 1945.
As it is assumed that Jan Anne died on the Steamship Cap Arcona, we have also collected information from the book,
“De ramp in de Lubeckerbocht” (translation: Disaster in the Lubeckerbocht), edited by S.P. Geertsema and published by Boom in 2011.
Further sources of information were the websites of the Stichting Vriendenkring Neuengamme and the website of the Friesch Dagblad (Friesian Newspaper).

Jan Anne lived in Dordrecht from 1922 - 1930 and then moved to Alkmaar with his family. There he attended the “Gymnasium”. He was very intelligent and skipped one year in high school . His parents thought he was too young to attend the Technical University in Delft, so he did a bridge year at the MTS (Polytech). He then started his studies at the Technical University Delft, as did his older brother Dik.
During the war Jan Anne took part in the resistance, like his sister Selinde, brothers Dik and Wim and his father. Jan Anne was in a group that was engaged in a.o. espionage. From what the family has learned, a member of his group betrayed some of the other members of the group when severely tortured both physically and mentally by the Germans during interrogation. Jan Anne was arrested on the 16th of June 1944.

From 19th of June till the 5th of September, Jan Anne was in Camp Vught, in the south of the Netherlands.. There he met his brother Wim again, who had been arrested in July 1944. According to a letter from Wim to his parents, he could barely recognise Jan because of his clean-shaven head. Because the Allies had begun invading the south of the Netherlands, the Germans decided to evacuate all Vught prisoners, transporting them to concentration camp Sachsenhausen near Berlin. In Sachsenhausen the two brothers had ample time to talk to each other.

On 16th October 1944 Jan Anne and Wim were transported to Neuengamme near Hamburg. From Neuengamme Wim was transported to Meppen Versen and was separated from Jan Anne. In March/April the British Army came closer to Hamburg and the Germans decided to transport the Neuengamme prisoners to several ships in the Lubeckerbocht near Neustadt. The German motive for this was never completely clear, but it was suspected the Germans intended to sink the ships with all prisoners on board.
Late March 1945 Wim returned to Neuengamme. On the 22nd of April Wim was transported to the Lubeckerbocht and placed on the freight ship Elmenhorst from the 22nd-28th of April 1945. Wim was then moved to the Thielbeck. Then on April 30th, the Swedish Red Cross moved all Scandinavians, French, Belgian and Dutch prisoners from the Thielbeck to Sweden on board the Magdalena.
Jan Anne was in forced labour in Neuengamme in the Messap Werke, a weapons factory. After the war, in July 1945, Wim wrote a letter to the Swedish Red Cross surmising that on April 27th Jan Anne was transported via Hamburg to Lubeck, together with 291 fellow prisoners. Jan Anne was probably taken to the former cruis ship Cap Arcona and likely arrived there on the 29th or 30th of April. We don’t know whether Wim saw or spoke to Jan Anne upon his return to Neuengamme. On May 3rd, 1945 English Typhoon bombers mistakenly bombed all ships with prisoners, including the Thielbeck and Cap Arcona. Many thousands of prisoners died and probably Jan Anne as well.

A number of people who knew Jan Anne personally have recorded their memories on paper. Of course first his mother, who described him in her diary as a 2 1/2 year old, “ lovely lively, dark-eyed darling”. During his time at the MTS in The Hague, he met Sari van der Walle. Sari was introduced into the Kraijenhoff family by Jan Anne. Sari described him as a charming intelligent young man, who got on well with everybody. Selma van de Perre described him in the same way in her book.
In the Kraijenhoff family all children were, when old enough, involved in the Dutch resistance . This was not discussed amongst them for security reasons.
On the 17th of February 1945 mother Kraijenhoff addressed a letter to Dik, Wim and Jan Anne, not knowing their whereabouts at the time. She described to her “dear lovely boy’s” how she, her husband, son Jaap, daughter Linde and Linde’s husband Siebe, managed despite all the hardships ( o.a. not enough food). She also writes how father Kraijenhoff was arrested and imprisoned in the Weteringschans prison in Amsterdam from October to December 1944. She writes about her sorrow “(…) I couldn’t find you in my thoughts (…)”, but later on in the letter she writes, “I have got over that hopeless searching and could imagine you here again (…). “Each evening and morning you arrive and walk in, each in your own way. In the middle of the worst snow and cold, we sit on the bench in the sun.”

When Jan Anne and Wim were in Sachsenhausen camcentration camp, they met their former principal of the Murmellius Gymnasium in Alkmaar, Jaap Hemelrijk writes about his war time experiences in his book, “There is one way to freedom, seven months of concentration camp”. He saw “the youthful Kraijenhoff brothers in deep conversation (part 2, page 63). “They were always together and gave each other much support”. Years later his brother Wim wrote a letter to his 2 1/2 year old grandson, Theo Jan, with a description of his brother Jan Anne. (See copy of this letter in English). Wim sent a copy of this letter to all named after Jan Anne; his sister Linde’s first born and Jaap’s eldest son Mark.
Wim told his nephew Jan Anne that he and Jan Anne had agreed that at least one of them should survive the misery to tell the others what had happened. An other time he told Geert (second son of his sister Linde) that Jan Anne loved to build radios. He was very good at it and in many ways far ahead of his time. Jan Anne’s grandfather was a nay officer, who loved to sail and was one of the first to have a BM, a small sailing boat. He passed on his passion for sailing to his grandson, as we can see from one of the few photos of Jan Anne on a sailing boat.

Because there was no clarity about what happened to Jan Anne, this deeply affected his mother and father in particular. They never received a definitive answer to their question (what happened) and this made the subject of “Jan Anne” a most traumatic topic for the family.

We will never really find out who Jan Anne was, but we know he was a much-loved son, brother and friend.
With love we remember Jan Anne Kraijenhoff van de Leur.

Lijsbeth Bruens - Kraijenhoff van de Leur (daughter of Dirk Kraijenhoff van de Leur)
Ida Lijftogt, (daughter of Selinde Lijftogt - Kraijenhoff v.d. Leur)
and all the other nieces and nephews. Krayenhof, Kraijenhoff v.d. Leur, Lyftogt, Lijftogt.