Jacob Luitjens (18 April 1919 – 14 December 2022) was a Dutch collaborator during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He was nicknamed ''the terror of Roden'', as he was active in and around

Roden Roden is a name of Germanic origin, originally meaning "red valley" or an anglicization of the Gaelic name "O'Rodain". It may refer to: Places * Roden, Bavaria, a town in the Main-Spessart district of Bavaria, Germany * Roden, Netherlands, a tow ...

in the

Drenthe Drenthe () is a province of the Netherlands located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland to the west, Groningen to the north, and the German state of Lower Saxony to the east. As of Nov ...

Province. He was born in

Buitenzorg Bogor ( su, , nl, Buitenzorg) is a city in the West Java province, Indonesia. Located around south of the national capital of Jakarta, Bogor is the 6th largest city in the Jakarta metropolitan area and the 14th overall nationwide.Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

. After the war, on 10 September 1948, Luitjens was convicted and sentenced ''in absentia'' to

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...

. He evaded this punishment by fleeing to Paraguay, aided by

Mennonite Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radic ...

s, using the name "Gerhard Harder". He

emigrate Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...

d to Canada in 1961, where he became an instructor in the Department of Botany at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

. 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 Simon Wiesenthal (31 December 190820 September 2005) was a history of the Jews in Austria, Jewish Austrian Holocaust survivor, Nazi hunter, and writer. He studied architecture and was living in Lwów at the outbreak of World War II. He surviv ...

', managed to track down Luitjens in 1992. Luitjens was stripped of his Canadian citizenship and was

deport Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. The term ''expulsion'' is often used as a synonym for deportation, though expulsion is more often used in the context of international law, while deportation ...

ed to the Netherlands, where he was imprisoned. He resumed his life sentence at a prison in

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

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 B'nai Brith Canada ( ; BBC; from he, בני ברית, b'né brit, Children of the Covenant) is a Canadian Jewish service organization and advocacy group. It is the Canadian chapter of B'nai B'rith International. Mission The organization prese ...

characterized the deportation as part of an ongoing "quest" to bring

Nazi war criminals The following is a list of people who were formally indicted for committing war crimes on behalf of the Axis powers during World War II, including those who were acquitted or never received judgment. It does not include people who may have commi ...

to justice. Luitjens granted an interview in January 2022, at the age of 102. He died on 14 December 2022, at the age of 103.

References

External links

CBC News article "Canada and war criminals: A timeline"

CBC News article "Fleeing Justice: War Criminals in Canada"

University of British Columbia campus newspaper article, 20 July 1983 (p3)

1919 births 2022 deaths People from Bogor Military history of the Netherlands during World War II Dutch people of World War II Loss of Canadian citizenship by prior Nazi affiliation People extradited from Canada People extradited to the Netherlands Dutch prisoners and detainees Dutch collaborators with Nazi Germany University of British Columbia faculty Dutch emigrants to Canada Dutch people of the Dutch East Indies Dutch centenarians Men centenarians {{Netherlands-bio-stub People convicted of treason Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by the Netherlands