Luitjens, Jacob (1919-2022)
Jacob Luitjens: educator and convicted war criminal; born 18 April 1919 to Steven Broil Luitjens and Martje (Westerdijk) Luitjens in Buitenzorg, Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). He married Olga Klassen (3 February 1927, Dnipro, Ukraine – 21 November 2022, Rosthern, Saskatchewan, Canada), daughter of Peter J. Klassen (1888-1977) and Maria (Thiessen) Klassen (1902-1991), on 5 July 1952 in Filadelfia, Fernheim, Paraguay. The couple had three children: Gerhard, Annette and Peter. Jacob died 14 December 2022 in Lemmer, Friesland, the Netherlands.
In the 1930s, Jacob’s father, a talented veterinarian, moved his family back from Buitenzorg to Roden, Drente, the Netherlands. When German forces invaded the Netherlands in 1940, Steven Luitjens became a committed National Socialist. His son Jacob applied to the Waffen SS but was refused due to his deformed left arm and hand. He then joined the Landwacht, which hunted down Dutch Resistance members and handed them over to Fascist squads. It is unclear whether Jacob in fact ever killed anyone. After World War II ended in 1945, Jacob surrendered to the authorities and was imprisoned at Westerbork. He escaped from the prison camp just over a year later.
Luitjens made his way to the Mennonite refugee camp at Backnang, Germany, where he assumed the alias of Gerhard Harder (1918-1940), a Prussian Mennonite who died during World War II. Mennonite Central Committee allowed him to board the refugee ship Charlton Monarch, bound for Paraguay. Either on board or in Paraguay he met Olga Klassen and the two married in 1952. Luitjens earned a living there, along with Olga, as a schoolteacher. Meanwhile, a Dutch court sentenced him in absentia to life in prison for his actiities during World War II.
In 1952, Luitjens acknowledged his real name, and in 1958, became a citizen of Paraguay. Olga’s parents were already living in Canada, and somehow Jacob and Olga managed to immigrate to Vancouver in 1961, despite his past record. Jacob worked as a botany instructor at the University of British Columbia. He became a Canadian citizen in 1971. The couple were active members of First United Mennonite Church in Vancouver, British Columbia.
In 1981, Dutch journalist Sjoerd Post found Jacob Luitjens at his Vancouver home. A federal court was convened to discuss the case; fellow church members rallied to his cause. In 1991 he was deported to the Netherlands and his Canadian citizenship revoked. He was sentenced to six years in prison in Groningen but was released at the age of 75 in 1995. Luitjens spent his final years living alone in the Netherlands.
In later interviews, Jacob Luitjens remarked that his story might offer hope that "a monster can become a normal person again."
Bibliography
Barnouw, David. "Jacob Luitjens: A Dutch Mennonite War Criminal." Mennonite Quarterly Review (2022): 255-274.
GRanDMA (The Genealogical Registry and Database of Mennonite Ancestry) Database, 23-08a ed. Fresno, CA: GRanDMA Project Committee, 2023: #369743.
"Jacob Luitjens." Wikipedia. 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Luitjens.
Langer, Emily. "Jacob Luitjens, Dutch collaborator during World War II, dies at 103." Washington Post (20 Dec. 2022).
"Obituary of Olga Luitjens." Funk’s Funeral Home. https://funksfuneralhome.ca/tribute/details/995/Olga-Luitjens/obituary.html.
Murray, Heather Pauls. "Soul-searching play explores compassion and revenge in aftermath of war." Mennonite Brethren Herald (1 Apr. 2010): https://mbherald.com/soul-searching-play-explores-compassion-and-revenge-in-aftermath-of-war/.
| Author(s) | Robert Martens |
|---|---|
| Date Published | August 2023 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Martens, Robert. "Luitjens, Jacob (1919-2022)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. August 2023. Web. 27 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Luitjens,_Jacob_(1919-2022)&oldid=177341.
APA style
Martens, Robert. (August 2023). Luitjens, Jacob (1919-2022). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 27 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Luitjens,_Jacob_(1919-2022)&oldid=177341.
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