Linders Johannes

Linders, Johannes Antonius (Pater Sebaldus) Johannes Antonius Linders was born on June 15, 1907, in Mook, the Netherlands. He was the 15th child in a Catholic family with 19 children. When Jan was 19 years old, he joined a Franciscan monastery, where he studied theology. His named was changed to “Pater Sebaldus” (Father Sebaldus), and in 1933 he was ordained a priest. Beginning in the second half of 1941, more than one year after the German invasion of the Netherlands, he lived in Alverna, in the Dutch province of Gelderland. He lived in a monastery with about a hundred other clergymen and priests. Pater Sebaldus was responsible for the church and the members of the congregation in the village. In August 1942 the Germans took over the monastery and allowed only a handful of clergymen to stay, to maintain the building and the congregation. Pater Sebaldus was one of those allowed to stay. He became involved in resistance activities, one of which was finding safe hiding places for Jewish children. He knew many people in the neighborhood, and his reputation as a priest helped him persuade the local people to hide Jewish children in their homes. He had connections with several resistance organizations. During this time Pater Sebaldus carried a pistol, which was stored in a monastery. Someone betrayed him, and he then had to go into hiding. When a member of the resistance was arrested, Pater Sebaldus was also found and arrested. Although he underwent intensive interrogation and torture, he did not reveal the names and addresses of the Jewish children he helped or the families they were staying with. This saved their lives. After a while he was transported to Camp Vught. From there he wrote his last letter: “Every day I prepare myself to die and I am not afraid anymore. . . . I just beg you urgently for your prayers.” On August 11, 1944, Pater Sebaldus was shot to death in Camp Vught, together with 33 other men. He paid the highest price for saving the lives of a great many Jewish children: Henri Hartog Themans, Nanny Ten Brink-de Lieme, and Samuel Henselijn were among them. Most of the children he helped were never aware of this brave priest’s involvement in their rescue. On June 10, 2014, Yad Vashem recognized Johannes Antonius Linders (Pater Sebaldus) as Righteous Among the Nations.