Jan Campert

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Jan Campert

Jan Remco Theodoor Campert (born August 15, 1902 in Spijkenisse , † January 12, 1943 in Neuengamme concentration camp ) was a Dutch journalist, poet and Jewish worker . He was the father of the poet Remco Campert .

"The Eighteen Dead"

Monument The eighteen dead in Spijkenisse

Campert is particularly known for his poem De Achttien dooden (Eng. The Eighteen Dead ), which deals with the Dutch resistance during the German occupation. The poem is written from the point of view of a resistance fighter who, together with seventeen fellow soldiers, records his thoughts on the evening before the execution: He does not regret what he has done, since he regards it as his patriotic duty to have resisted. He asks the reader to remember himself and his comrades. He asks God for strength to die a man the next day.

The poem was published in the illegal magazine Vrij Nederland in the winter of 1943 , when it became known that Campert had died in Neuengamme concentration camp. Almost at the same time it appeared as an illegal flyer with a circulation of 15,000. After the end of the war, another 63,109 copies were sold.

Campert myth

The poem gave the impression that Campert himself was one of the eighteen dead. This misunderstanding has its origins in another illegally published songbook, the Geuzenliedboek , whose anonymous editors stated that the poet wrote the text shortly before his execution. A widely used school book from the 1950s spoke of the last words of the poet, whom one should remember with awe. The name Jan Campert became a symbol of resistance. The Jan Campert Foundation was established in 1947. Few knew that the poem had already been written in April 1941.

In 2004 the Campert biography by Hans Renders was published, which throws a different light on him. Campert was a journalist with eternal financial worries because of his preference for women and alcohol, who was also active as a writer and occasionally wrote poems with which he had little success. During the war he had seen a source of income in bringing Jews across the Belgian border for a fee. However, none of these Jews survived, they were immediately arrested in Belgium and deported . Campert's main motive was not philanthropy or patriotic resistance to the occupiers, but financial gain. On July 21, 1942 he was arrested, taken to a transit camp and finally taken to Neuengamme on December 2, 1942. There he died on January 12, 1943, the official cause of death was: pneumonia . As early as 1992, a former prisoner had declared that Campert had not died of pneumonia but had been killed by fellow prisoners.

After the biography was published by Renders, the inmate who was one of the organizers of the strike of February 25 and 26, 1941, was also heard. Three of these organizers were among the eighteen dead in the poem. Said inmate was part of a communist group of prisoners who had formed a secret camp council, the rules set up, how one should behave in the camp and how to sabotage the forced labor could handle. Campert refused to take part in the deliberations from the start. Rather, he is said to have revealed the names of some members, because he hoped it would benefit himself. Then it was decided to get rid of Campert. A new investigation revealed that there had been doubts about Campert's role as early as 1947 and A. van der Leeuw, a member of the denazification commission , had expressed concerns about giving a foundation the name Camperts. When rumors surfaced again in 1950, they agreed not to disclose anything to avoid a scandal. The relevant files that are listed in the table of contents are missing and were probably destroyed at that time.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hans Reenders, pp. 405-408.
  2. ↑ a b Henk van Gelder in NRC Handelsblad from May 5, 1995
  3. ↑ WLME van Leeuwen: Beknopt overzicht van de Nederlandse letterkunde. Groningen, 14th edition 1958, p. 136f.
  4. ↑ Hans Renders, p. 330.
  5. ↑ Hans Renders, p. 328.
  6. ^ A b c Godert van Colmjon in NRC Handelsblad from February 19, 2005.
  7. ↑ Hans Renders, p. 310f.
  8. ↑ Hans Renders, p. 366.

literature

  • Hans Renders: Wie weet slaag ik in de dood. Biography of Jan Campert. Amsterdam 2004.

Web links

Commons : Jan Campert  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Campert, Jan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Campert, Jan Remco Theodoor (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Dutch journalist, poet and savior of the Jews
DATE OF BIRTH August 15, 1902
PLACE OF BIRTH Spijkenisse
DATE OF DEATH January 12, 1943
Place of death Neuengamme concentration camp