My young Dutch Uncles -

Jean and Denis - dead and maybe nearly forgotten

By: Monique Bond

My uncles both fought against the Germans during the war and both died in March 1945. My grandparents and my mother would never talk about them - they were too sad.
I want to find out about them and remember them, and tell my children about them.

Since the 1970s I have wondered about these young Uncles but then my grandparents died and then my mother and the silence deepened.

I do not know anyone who is connected in some way to these young men or who remembers them or cares about them.

I want to honour them and to tell my children about them and also to tell my 4 siblings about them so that we can all know about Jean and Denis.

Uncle Jean Mesritz is called a Jewish Resistance fighter in JOOD but Uncle Denis is not listed. Uncle Jean is one of the 6 young men in the book Soldier of Orange

Wikipedia. it says Denis Mesritz lies buried at the Erbegraafplaats Loenen, the Netherlands, Plot E, Grave 85 although I think he died in Rathenau concentration camp in Germany. He was given a citation Royal Decree No. 17, dated 7th May 1946.

So this is not really a story but it is a request to put more information about Jean and Denis on your Memorial. I am not confident that the sources I have mentioned are correct, reliable or that I have understood them.