Jacob Luitjens
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2022) |
Jacob Luitjens | |
|---|---|
| Born | 18 April 1919 |
| Died | 14 December 2022 (aged 103) |
| Nationality | Dutch |
| Other names | Gerhard Harder |
| Known for | Nazi collaborator |
Jacob Luitjens (18 April 1919 – 14 December 2022) was a Dutch collaborator during World War II. He was nicknamed the terror of Roden, as he was active in and around Roden in the Drenthe Province. He was born in Buitenzorg, Dutch East Indies.
After the war, on 10 September 1948, Luitjens was convicted and sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment. He evaded this punishment by fleeing to Paraguay, aided by Mennonites,[1] using the name "Gerhard Harder". He immigrated to Canada in 1961, where he became an instructor in the Department of Botany at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Students in the department knew him as an almost completely silent "ghost-like" man.
The Frisian Jack Kooistra, also known as 'the Frisian Simon Wiesenthal', managed to track down Luitjens in 1992. Luitjens was stripped of his Canadian citizenship and was deported to the Netherlands, where he was imprisoned. He resumed his life sentence at a prison in Groningen until March 1995. Afterwards, the Canadian government forbade his return to Canada. Luitjens was without a nationality thereafter. Ian Kagedan of B'nai Brith Canada characterized the deportation as part of an ongoing "quest" to bring Nazi war criminals to justice.[2]
Luitjens granted an interview in January 2022, at the age of 102.[3] He died on 14 December 2022, at the age of 103.[4]
References[edit]
- ^ "Scholars uncover hidden stories of the Holocaust – Mennonite Brethren Herald". 6 April 2018.
- ^ Dutch Nazi deported from Canada for lying about wartime Past, The Jewish Post and News, 2 December 1992
- ^ Hulzebos, Bram (9 January 2022). "Dit gebeurde er toen podcastmaker Maarten van Gestel aanbelde bij oud-NSB'er Jacob Luitjens (102), de 'schrik van Roden'". DVHN. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
- ^ "Oud-NSB'er Jacob Luitjens, de Schrik van Roden, overleden". Nos. 16 December 2022. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
External links[edit]
- CBC News article "Canada and war criminals: A timeline"
- CBC News article "Fleeing Justice: War Criminals in Canada" Archived 17 February 2006 at the Wayback Machine
- University of British Columbia campus newspaper article, 20 July 1983 (p3)
- Bnai Brith article: "The Struggle for Justice: Nazi War Criminals in Canada"
 Canada and war crimes | |
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| Canadian-born individuals convicted of war crimes | |
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- 1919 births
- 2022 deaths
- People from Bogor
- Military history of the Netherlands during World War II
- Loss of Canadian citizenship and deportation by prior Nazi affiliation
- People extradited from Canada
- People extradited to the Netherlands
- Dutch collaborators with Nazi Germany
- Dutch people convicted of war crimes
- Academic staff of the University of British Columbia
- Dutch emigrants to Canada
- Dutch people of the Dutch East Indies
- Dutch centenarians
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- Dutch people stubs
- Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by the Netherlands
- Nazis convicted of war crimes
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