Adriana Valkenburg

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Adriana 'Jeanne' Valkenburg ( Schiedam , June 10, 1894 - Bergen op Zoom , February 19, 1968 ) was a Dutch collaborator during World War II who worked as a prostitute and madam before the war.

Biography

Valkenburg was born on 10 June 1894 in Schiedam as the fourth of fourteen children of Jacob Valkenburg and Adriana Cornelia de Ligt. She had a difficult childhood. Her strictly religious father was violent, while her mother neglected the upbringing of the children. She first came into contact with the police in 1911 when she stole a gold ring. [ 1 ]

In 1916 she married the Jewish businessman Jacob (Jack) Stibbe. However, Stibbe disappeared without a trace after a short time. The divorce was not made official until twelve years later. [ 1 ]

In 1920 she moved to Amsterdam, where she established herself as a prostitute and madam. In the 1920s and 1930s she became a well-known player in the Amsterdam underworld . At that time she was nicknamed 'Jeanne the Liar', because she was considered unreliable. She was regularly arrested for prostitution, drunkenness , fights and other offences. [ 1 ]

In 1931 she started a relationship with the Jewish businessman Jacob Acohen. At first he was her client, later they started a love affair.

WW2

Shortly after Valkenburg and Acohen entered into a marriage contract on 17 March 1942, Acohen was arrested by the SD . He died on 29 June 1942 in Mauthausen concentration camp . [ 2 ]

During the war, Valkenburg was an opportunist. In 1942, she helped Jews find a hiding place in her own house on the Van Ostadestraat for a financial compensation. When she was arrested for this in 1943, she went to work as a V-Frau for the occupiers. In order to avoid prosecution, she had to report Jews to the notorious Bureau Joodsche Zaken herself . It is said that she betrayed several dozen people in this way.

Valkenburg moved to Zuider Amstellaan 120 (now: Rooseveltlaan ) in 1943. This was because a fellow collaborator had been liquidated by the resistance . When she moved, she met the handyman Joop Bom, with whom she had a relationship and later married. She worked together with him in betraying Jews. [ 1 ]

After Mad Tuesday, Valkenburg fled with her partner to Bergen op Zoom, where her sister lived. The couple was arrested there - at the request of her sister - on 31 March 1945 and taken to the Meilust internment camp .

Post-war

After the war, she was sentenced to death after a long trial . Valkenburg was pardoned, however, and the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment . In 1960, she was released early and lived until her death at various addresses in Amsterdam and Putte . [ 1 ]

In the 1960s, Valkenburg ended up in a wheelchair due to severe obesity . She was eventually admitted to the Algemeen Burger Gasthuis in Bergen op Zoom, where she died on 19 February 1968. [ 1 ]

References

Bibliography