The Children of Adriaan Beukenkamp and Alida von Gorcum: Radboud Beukenkamp

This post continues a series about the children of Adriaan Beukenkamp and Alida von Gorcum. Adriaan was the eldest brother of my great-grandfather, Gerhardus Beukenkamp (later George Beck), so Adriaan's children were my great-grandfather's niece and nephews. 

Adriaan Beukenkamp married Alida Johanna van Gorcum in Amsterdam on August 22, 1907. They had four children together.

1. Marinus Gerhardus Beukenkamp, b. 1910 in Vienna, Austria; m. Anna Elisabeth Keur; d. 1971 in Leipzig, Germany
2. Janna Gerhardina Beukenkamp b. 1911 in Vienna, Austria; m. Hendrick Coenraad Nienhuys; d. 1993 in Suffield, Connecticut, USA
3. Radboud Lourens Beukenkamp, b. 1914 in Graz, Austria; m. Jantina Ette Mensinga; d. 1993 in Shalimar, Florida, USA
4. Lourens Jacobus Beukenkamp b. 1920 in Zaandam, The Netherlands; m. Margaret Smit; d. 2007 in Dothan, Alabama, USA

In this and following posts, I'm sharing what I have learned about Adriaan and Alida's children.

Radboud Lourens Beukenkamp

Radboud Beukenkamp and his wife Jantina, 1954. Photo for Forbes Magazine.

Radboud was born on March 2, 1914 in Graz, Austria. His parents, Adriaan and Alida, moved from The Netherlands to Austria soon after their marriage, and their first three children were born there. They lived first in Vienna, then moved to Graz, where Radboud was born. In 1920, in the wake of World War I and due to ongoing financial difficulties, the Beukenkamps returned to The Netherlands, and in 1922, settled in Haarlem. There, Radboud attended Kennemer Lyceum. 

Radboud was an aspiring agronomist, an expert in the science of soil management and crop production. This was also the field that his brother-in-law, Hendrick Nienhuys, was pursuing, and I can't help but wonder if Hendrick was an early inspiration to Radboud. Radboud's brothers, Marinus and Lourens, both spent their careers in the textile industry, where their father had contacts, but Radboud was on a different path. In 1938, he graduated summa cum laude from the University of Wageningen with a degree in agricultural engineering. In 1945, he earned a Ph.D. in agricultural economics.

On March 18, 1939, at the age of twenty-five, Radboud married Jantina "Tineke" Mensinga. Born January 28, 1915 in Rotterdam, Tineke was the daughter of Jan Mensinga and his wife Alida. Tineke was an athlete who rowed crew and competed in ice skating.  The young couple spent their honeymoon in Austria, revisiting places that Radboud had lived as a child, and then rode a motorcycle through Germany. Just months after this idyllic period, the world was turned upside down. In September 1939, Germany invaded Poland and World War II began. On May 10, 1940, the Germans invaded The Netherlands. 

Radboud's eldest brother, Marinus, had been conscripted into the Dutch Army, and when the Nazis invaded, Marinus fought in the Battle of the Grebbeberg, a desperate attempt by the Dutch to hold off far superior German troops. Radboud had not been compelled to join the military, but he soon found himself in the midst of perhaps the most shocking part of the German invasion, the destruction of Rotterdam. 

Radboud's younger brother, Lourens, described those first days of Nazi aggression in his autobiography. Note that Lourens spells his brother's name "Radbout," while all the documentation I have for Radboud, including immigration documents and obituaries, shows the spelling "Radboud."

I stepped on my bike and decided to ride to Hillegersberg, a suburb on the Northern border of Rotterdam, where Radbout lived. I did not know what the situation would be on the road. It was May 15, my birthday. During the first part of the trip there was not too much excitement. Sure German trucks and cars and marching soldiers, but no big destruction. So, via Breda I peddled North towards the river and found that the long Moerdijk bridge was heavily damaged. It was still possible to cross by bicycle, but motorized traffic was impossible. So, I passed and continued on my way. About one hour out of Rotterdam I encountered other bicycle riders who shouted to me that Rotterdam did not exist anymore. I did not understand what they were talking about. I peddled on and saw a huge cloud ahead of me. The closer I came to Rotterdam, the larger the cloud. And then I crossed one of the bridges leading to the center of the city.

It was horrible, the fires, the stench, the confusion and I had to find a way to the Northern end of the city. I did not know what I would find there. Passing through the city was not possible. I had to detour eastward around town, through Kralingen and thus find my way to Hillegersberg. I was relieved to find that the Northern part of the city had not been bombed and happy to find Radbout and Tineke safe.

They were happy to see me alive and after exchanging our experiences we tried to call father Adriaan in Haarlem. But telephone connections were disrupted. So, we decided to go to Haarlem by bike. A friend of Radbout owned a bicycle for two, a "tandem" and we set out. To go to Haarlem we had to take the highway to the Hague. As I described earlier this road had been selected by German transport planes for landing troops and equipment. I am not kidding, but there were virtually hundreds of planes on and alongside this road. All of them had holes in the cockpit windows and were riddled by machine gun [fire] along the length of the fuselage. Of course German soldiers everywhere. We did not see bodies anymore. These had already been removed. But a lot of equipment was still in the planes and we were stopped several times to help unload equipment.

Nearly 900 people were killed in the bombing, and Rotterdam's city centre was completely destroyed.

Rotterdam after the bombing. Source

 

With the advent of war, Radboud and Tineke became involved the in Dutch Resistance. From Wikipedia:

The Dutch resistance developed relatively slowly, but the February strike of 1941 (which involved random police harassment and the deportation of over 400 Jews) greatly stimulated resistance. The first to organize themselves were the Dutch communists, who set up a cell-system immediately. Some other very amateurish groups also emerged, notably, De Geuzen, set up by Bernardus IJzerdraat, as well as some military-styled groups, such as the Order Service (Dutch: Ordedienst). Most had great trouble surviving betrayal in the first two years of the war. Dutch counterintelligence, domestic sabotage, and communications networks eventually provided key support to Allied forces, beginning in 1944 and continuing until the Netherlands was fully liberated. 

Lourens, in his autobiography, describes needing a work permit to avoid arrest by German occupying forces, and that he was able to obtain one through Radboud's resistance connections. Tineke's obituary states that Radboud and Tineke "were active in 'The Resistance' (the organized underground force fighting the Nazis). These life stories are legendary among family and friends." Lourens detailed the following story in his autobiography.

Radbout was also deep into resistance activities. The story goes that he and a couple of others dressed as German officers and drove a German truck (stolen by the underground) to a camp just across the border of Germany. In this camp were a number of Dutch resistance workers and civilians who had been arrested by the Germans. They drove to the gate and showed their "orders" and Radbout at once became a real "Nazi." He shouted orders, produced lists of names of prisoners and told the guards to load them in the truck. He would take care of those dangerous prisoners, etc., etc. They drove away and turned back across the border into Holland where the "criminals" were relocated with farmers in Friesland and Groningen, two provinces in the North of Holland. 

This story also appears in Lourens' autobiography.

One day, I returned to Radbout's house and saw a German staff-car parked close to his front door. I did not think anything of it, rang the bell and went up to their apartment. Entering the room, I almost fainted when I saw a fully uniformed German colonel sitting in a chair, conversing with Radbout. I was introduced, his name was Anton von Daatz, he was not only a true baron, but also the "orts-kommandant" or military commander of Rotterdam. I now learned that he was not a "Nazi" and was in frequent contact with people in the Dutch resistance. He would warn them if the Germans had plans for a raid in town, or, inform them when Germans would transport members of the resistance who had been caught. With this information, the "underground" could take action. I do not know what they had talked about, as he left soon after I arrived.

In early 1945, the Nazis became suspicious of von Daatz. Lourens related the following story.

Sometime during those 6 weeks the German colonel became suspect by German security. He was relieved of his post in Rotterdam and put in charge of a military camp near Amersfoort. But, he was afraid that this was a temporary assignment and that the Gestapo was getting information of his illegal actions on behalf of the Dutch resistance. He contacted Radbout, who went to Amersfoort. "Tony" von Daatz left his room as if he had taken a walk around the block and stepped on a "bicycle-built-for-two" which Radbout had arranged for. They peddled to Hillegersberg and Radbout provided Tony with civilian clothing. His uniform was cut in small pieces and went up in flames in the open fireplace. His leather boots were filled with stones and deposited in the lake. Then Radbout brought him to our house where we installed him on the top floor.

Tony von Daatz's wife and young daughter were also smuggled in from Germany. The wife was brought to live with Tony at Lourens' home, and the daughter was taken to a neighbor. Tony and the wife, who had not known each other long before the war had separated them, discovered that they hated each other and they fought constantly. However, Tony kept up his efforts for the resistance from Lourens' home, with assistance from Radboud.

Although we had a 6 o'clock curfew, one evening someone knocked on the door. After carefully investigating we opened the door to a few fellows from the resistance. We went upstairs and had a meeting with Tony. He provided them with a sketch and completed details of the Amersfoort camp he had briefly been in charge of. This provided exact placement of anti aircraft equipment, etc. Two nights after this meeting the camp was attacked from the air.

Tony would also look through a peep hole and point out some of the real dirty Nazis who were directly responsible for killing Jews and captured resistance members. Obviously this was of interest to the resistance group and they could take care of these Krauts.

I wish I knew more of these stories, but I'm not in touch with any of Radboud's descendants. I have checked various lists of Dutch resistance members online without finding any details about the Beukenkamps, but really hope to one day learn more about how Radboud and Tineke pushed back against the Nazis. 

During the war, Radboud and Lourens joined an amateur symphony group and played together once a week, which helped relieve some of the stress of the ongoing war and personal struggles. Amidst all of this, Radboud and Tineke became parents. They had three children during the war years, two daughters and a son, born in 1940, 1941 and 1944. 

Dutch citizens welcome liberating Canadian soldiers near Rotterdam at the war's end, May 1945. Source

After the war, Radboud's many influential connections helped change the shape of his future. He and his family were sent to Buenos Aires, Argentina, where Radboud served as a Dutch diplomat. In 1950, Radboud, Tineke and their children moved to Washington, D.C., where Radboud took up the post of Agricultural Counselor of the Dutch Embassy. Radboud and Tineke became Bob and Tina in America, and their fourth child was born there, in 1953. Radboud continued in his role at the embassy until 1956, when he took a job in the private sector that moved him to Portugal. For a year, served as the Managing Director of Fabrica Portuguesa de Fermentos Holandeses, a subsidiary of the Royal Dutch Yeast and Alcohol Works in The Netherlands. In 1957, Radboud and his family returned to Washington, D.C., where he assumed the role of Chief, U.S. Office of the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration.

In 1959, Radboud applied for U.S. citizenship. Congressman Francis E. Walter introduced a private bill to expedite citizenship proceedings for Radboud, and the paperwork that was filed in support of this bill makes for fascinating reading. The affidavits submitted on Radboud's behalf note that he spoke six languages (Dutch, German, English, Portuguese, French, and Spanish), and list his impressive educational and career accomplishments. The impetus for this citizenship push was the fact that American Machine & Foundry Co. wanted to hire Radboud and then send him to Europe to work in their foreign operations division. Frank X. White, Vice President of International Operations for American Machine & Foundry Co. wrote the following in a statement to Congress:

Dr. Beukenkamp, with a masters degree in engineering and a PH.D. in economics, has an outstanding record as an international trade expert, as well as a fine record as a diplomat for his country of origin, The Netherlands.

AMF wants to send Dr. Beukenkamp to Europe to be employed in our international operations, which at the same time are in the interests of the U.S. economy.

The possession of U.S. citizenship by Dr. Beukenkamp would render him considerably better qualified to perform his functions, which AMF has in mind for him, now and in the future.

As an individual, Dr. Beukenkamp is a man of highest character and I believe would be a definite asset the country as a whole.

Radboud was granted American citizenship. In the following years, he and his family lived in Geneva and Mexico City. In the 1960s, they returned to Washington, D.C., when Radboud accepted a role with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He was sent on diplomatic postings to Italy and Brazil in the years that followed, and lived in New Orleans for a time before retiring in Florida. 

Radboud died in Shalimar, Florida on January 5, 1993, at the age of 78. Tineke died in Shalimar on September 8, 2018, at the age of 103. They left behind children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, and undoubtedly a lot of amazing stories.