Who knows more about Cor Heijne? Or about the British pilots with whom he and the Belgian Jules Genie had contact during the war? That’s the question Pieter Bleeken from Belgium, grandson of the latter. If the puzzle pieces that have been put together so far are correct, resistance fighter Cor lived in the Langebuurt in Uitgeest during the Second World War, but much is still ‘guesswork’.
“It may be a strange request”, Pieter addresses Uitgeesters from Belgium via Facebook, “but I am looking for (family of) Cor Heijne, an old pen friend of my grandfather Jules Genie.”
And that’s not just random, explains Pieter. It could make for some very exciting stories. “According to the stories that circulate in our family, Cor would have been a resistance fighter in the Netherlands and he and my grandfather, who lived in Tienen, Belgium, had contacts with British soldiers and/or pilots.”
But the grandson, now an adult himself, does not (yet) know much more: “The story of my grandfather and his Dutch pen friend is one with many gaps.”
And Pieter is happy to fill it now. But that is not so easy: unfortunately he can no longer ask his grandfather himself. He passed away over thirty years ago. The information comes from second hand: “What we know, we know from my grandmother,” says the Belgian.
It is clear that the band was special
And unfortunately Pieter can no longer read the letters that the pen pals Jules and Cor wrote to each other. They are to his sorrow been lost. Although he doesn’t know the ropes yet, it is certain for him and his family that the bond between Cor, Jules and at least one British soldier has been special:
“My aunt Carry would have been named after Cor’s wife or (that of) a British soldier, but we’re not sure which of the three. What we do know is that Cor and Jules met after the war, because we have a picture of that.”
Text continues below the photos.
Emile Genie, the British pilot and Jules Genie
Cor Heijne
Jules Genie and Cor Heijne
After whom his aunt is named, and more about the relationship between his grandfather Jules and Cor, Pieter would like to find out through relatives or friends of De Uitgeester. And so on Wednesday he made an appeal in the Facebook group ‘What Uitgeest needs to know…’.
Pieter: “I hope that Cor’s relatives might be able to tell me a little more about the relationship between Cor and my grandfather.”
The Belgian is already certain about a number of things: the name of the Dutchman is in any case correct. “And through the author Erik Schaap I found out that a certain Cor Heijne lived in Uitgeest on Langebuurt 4 at the time, who was involved in the resistance during the war (the resistance, ed.). According to the stories we tell, that would be the case. know can be right.”
Murdered by collaborators
And his own grandfather also had ties to the resistance, Pieter knows from a moving story.
“My grandfather himself was not an active member of the resistance, but he did have connections. In August 1944, three people were murdered by collaborators in his home city, Tienen. One of the targets was a doctor. My grandfather still charged him that evening. informed of what was going to happen. The doctor fled, but his wife (who remained behind) was shot.”
Still, Pieter doesn’t think his grandfather and Cor came into contact through resistance connections, although he’s not sure about anything.
“It must have been just before or at the beginning of the war. My grandfather was French-speaking and was looking for all kinds of ways to learn Dutch. Maybe that’s why he was looking for a Dutch-speaking pen pal, but that’s pure guesswork.”
Or Krommenie?
If you google the name Cor Heijne, you will also find a list of pseudonyms of resistance fighters in the Zaan region. According to that information, a Cor Heijne, pseudonym ‘Brand’, would come from Krommenie. But there are also other indications that a Cor Heijne, or even several, of around the same age lived in Uitgeest.
For example, there are two old school photos from the image bank of the Oud Uitgeest Association (this one and this one) on which a boy, just like Jules born in 1916, looks into the lens of the school photographer at the Sint Jozefschool on the Langebuurt, the same street where the resistance member would live. According to the information on one of those photos, Cor passed away in 1983.
On two other photos from the image bank, here and hereyou can see a Cor Heijne who must have been born in 1925. Many names of classmates are also mentioned in the photos.
Novel about the life of Jules
Pieter found Cor Heijne when he is writing a novel about the life of his grandparents, (for the time being) entitled: ‘Sugar in the pantry’. While describing their story, he also came across his grandfather’s photos with Cor and the British pilot.
Pieter: “My grandfather and mother met in 1935. He was French-speaking and came from a wealthy family. She was Dutch-speaking, came from a working-class family and was a bastard (she lived with her mother). They fell in love, but my Grandfather’s family resisted tooth and nail. They even married him off to a girl from France. And then the war breaks out. In the end, everything will be fine between the two. I tell it all in the novel.”
Do you know more about Cor Heijne, or does this story somehow ring a bell with you? Mail to [email protected]†