Kapelaan Berix: English Version

During the First half of the 1940s the World was hit by one of the bloodiest wars so far. The results: Millions of victims and an incredible amount of damage. Like many parts of the world, Limburg wasn’t spared this fate. Even now, over 70 years later, when on caching trips, we often come across reminders to the darkest days in our history. Time to give them some attention in a series of caches!

Whenever a county gets occupied by a strange entity, there will be resistance, especially when the occupiers use strict or cruel ways to enforce their will onto the local people. WWII was no exception to this. Chaplin Berix was such a resistance hero.

Jan Willem Berix, known as Giel to family and friends, was born in Meers, on 12 April 1907. After becoming a priest in 1933, he was sent to Heerlen, where he was responsable, among other things, for supporting the poor and for supervising the catholic boy scouts.

Chaplin Jan Willem Berix
When the Netherlands were dragged along in the war, Berix felt great compassion for the thousands of people who were deported to Germany. He became involved in the resistance movement. He provided safe houses for those who faced deportation and he arranged 'important jobs' close to home for men who were selected for forced labour in Germany. People like miners or farmers were very important to keep the German war economy running, so they were exempt from working in Germany. During the course of the war, Giel Berix became one of the most important people in resistance in Limburg.

In June 1944, Berix was betrayed. During a meeting between the leaders of several important resistance organisation, he was caught. The Germans transported him to the infamous Kamp Vught, where he unterwent terrible tortures.

Eventually he was himself deported to Germany, where he was put to work in an aircraft factory. During his time in the labour camp, the priest was infected with dysentry. After he had become too weak to work, he was brought to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Eventually, the combination of disease, malnutrition and other hardships became too much. Jan Willem Berix died on 12 March 1945, only 3 days before the camp was liberated. He suffered the fate he had protected many other people from.

After the war, the main road between Stein and Meers was named after him. In 1956 a bust of Chaplin Berix was revealed along this road. In front of the monument there is a memorial stone with the names of 13 more war victims from Stein.

This cache is part of a series. The caches are:

'40-'45: Kapelaan Berix  (GC2PEZJ) 
'40-'45: Veer Berg-Meeswijk  (GC2PEXA) (in English)
'40-'45: Brug Obbicht  (GC2PER6) (in English)
'40-'45: Sluis Born  (GC2PEP0) (in English)
’40-’45: Brug Roosteren  (GC2TV5X) (in English)
'40-'45: Sittard War Cemetery  (GC2TV9R) (in English)
'40-'45: Staff Sergeant Booher  (GC2TQC1) (in English)
'40-'45: Jürgen G. Krohnke  (GC2X5V3) (in English)
'40-'45: RCAF Bomber Crew  (GC2X60A) (in English)
'40-'45: Schepenkerkhof  (GC2X6KF) (in English)
All caches contain a bonus number. When you find all 10 of them, you can search for the bonus cache (GC2X6MV).

Did you find one or more caches in the series before there were bonus numbers added? Send me a message, telling which caches you’ve found and on which date. I will try to send you the bonus numbers as soon as possible!

Hint:
tree fork