War hero! This Zoetermeer dentist planned secret missions from his treatment room

When it comes to World War II, history is full of compelling, gruesome and also hopeful stories. Of course also in Zoetermeer! For example, do you know the story of dentist Joseph (Joop) Kentgens?

Who was Joseph Kentgens?

Joseph Kentgens was born on December 21, 1915. Not in our beautiful Zoetermeer, but in Utrecht. When the Germans invade the Netherlands in May 1940, Joseph is 24 years old. He now lives in Zoetermeer. Joseph, also called Joop, becomes active in the resistance. He fulfills the role of commander in a resistance group and helps to transport and hide Jews and Allied pilots. His pseudonym is Van ‘Der Berg’. Kentgens lived at the time in ‘t Oude Huis, Dorpsstraat 7.

Wife Riti

What makes Joseph’s story extra special is that his wife Johanna Maria Bos (usually called Riti) is also a dentist and participates in the resistance together with Joseph. For example, one of the sources states that Joseph and Riti together repaired the jaw of an English airman who was injured when his plane crashed. Joseph, Riti and the other resistance members also have good connections within the town hall who help them with false papers and food stamps.

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The treatment room

Joseph Kentgens plans various secret missions from his treatment room. He works together with, among others, Marechaussee Jacob Leendert van Rij, Piet Lengkeek and the van Herwijnen brothers. The Kentgens resistance group organizes various actions. For example, weapon drops, robberies and sabotage actions. After some time, however, Kentgens has to go into hiding permanently, because the situation becomes too dangerous.

Hunting lodge Jolly Duck

On April 29, there is a major confrontation between the German army and the resistance members in Jolly Duck hideout. Jolly Duck is a hunting lodge near Zevenhuizen, named after an American plane that crashed nearby. A source from Museum de Voorde reports that the resistance members were betrayed by the black trader ‘Black Han’. This person illegally traded in horses, which he slaughtered and then sold the meat at high prices. Due to resistance actions, Black Han can no longer carry out his practices and so he retaliates by betraying resistance members, or so the story goes. Incidentally, not only Kentgens stay in the Jolly Duck shelter, but also Jacob Leendert van Rij and the American soldier John McCormick, for example. Kentgens is badly wounded in the firefight, but survives.

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After the war

After the war, Joseph Kentgens receives a number of awards. He receives a Medal of Freedom from the American government for his help in capturing and hiding American pilots. He will also receive the British King’s Medal for Courage in the Cause of Freedom and the Dutch Government will award him the Verzetsherdenkingskruis. The Municipality of Zoetermeer also honors him, of course: Kentgensplein is named after Joseph Kentgens.

Further life course

Joseph Kentgens continued his dental practice in Zoetermeer after the war. He also served as an alderman in our municipality for a while. After his retirement, however, he decides to leave Zoetermeer. He spends the last period of his life in Ireland, South Africa and Belgium, where he eventually dies in 2009. He dies shortly after the death of his wife Riti, to whom he had been married since 1942. Joseph Kentgens has become 93 years old.

Nowadays we know the Kentgensplein in Zoetermeer in the Buytenwegh district. The central square in the shopping center is therefore named after former dentist Kentgens.

Sources: Memory of Zoetermeer, workbook Museum de Voorde, War Resources, Jolly Duck