The Survival of the Documents of St. Titus Brandsma
Happy coincidence or Providence?
This
article on the papers of St Titus Brandsma was published in CITOC News Online
(Centrum Informationis Totius Ordinis Carmelitarum) on the 2nd of
June, 2022
Father Adriaan Staring, O. Carm., as postulator general of the Carmelite Order, was responsible for obtaining reliable and relevant documents to be used in the process of canonization of Titus Brandsma. These historically reliable documents were to be used to prove Fr. Titus’ martyrdom. Better than all testimonies, these documents offer us insight into the Nazi persecutors’ and Titus Brandsma's own views on matters of faith and Titus Brandsma's acceptance of martyrdom. Fr. Staring was particularly struck by the 'happy coincidence or providence,' that many important documents survived the war and its aftermath. Here is a summary from his account of the miraculous journey of these documents. It concerns three different files.
The file, Kirchliche Presse,
contains documents outlining the activities of Titus Brandsma: the letters from
Archbishop De Jong and his secretary Mr. Giese to Father Titus; the
interrogation of Fr. Titus on January 21, 1942; the verdict of the “judge” of
instruction of Hardegen and two reports on the matter. By the end of 1944, the
Sicherheitsdienst had built an oven in Glanerbrug in which all documents from
their archives in The Hague and other places were burned.
Carmelite Brocardus Meijer testified in
the trial: “The deeds of his condemnation were confiscated by the partisans and
sent to me and to the archbishop, who kept the originals, while copies were
sent by me to the various newspapers.” But how did these documents reach
Brocardus Meijer?
The Rev. Lambertus Smeets, rector of the
Zenderen Grammar School, wrote to his provincial on June 19, 1945: “Mr Hilbrink
in Zenderen, a member of the Dutch Internal Defense Forces, whose house
the Krauts blew up, killing his father and brother, is in
possession of the file of the S.S. concerning the accusations, etc., against
Titus Brandsma. The Krauts left these papers behind when they
left.”
Later, another official copy of the same
file (however not a complete copy), was obtained from the office of the Sicherheitsdienst
in Amsterdam. At the request of the Underground, this office was bombed and
destroyed by the English on November 26, 1944, while the Underground
themselves, acting as “firemen,” brought the documents out, saving them.
2. Documents about Fr. Titus’
Imprisonment
This file contains the letters of Titus
Brandsma, his diary of the first days, his statement of his defense entitled
“Why the Dutch People, Especially the Catholic Population, Resist the N.S.B. (the
Dutch Nazi party), a meditation on the Stations of the Cross, a life of Saint
Teresa, his lecture from Good Friday in Amersfoort, his poem written in
Scheveningen, a report on the state of his health, some letters from Archbishop
De Jong and from his cousin, the lawyer Brandsma, a doctor's certificate,
condolences and witness statements about his imprisonment. These documents shed
light on the feelings with which Father Titus accepted his imprisonment.
After the death of Father Titus, his
cousin, Mr. Assuerus Brandsma, wrote to the Dachau concentration camp,
requesting that Fr. Titus' personal belongings be returned. In fact, they were
actually sent back, including the writings from his imprisonment. This happened
just in time. A short time later, during a bombing of the S.S. barracks on the
night of October 3-4, 1942, a firebomb fell on the prison camp's clothing
warehouse. The possessions of 30,000 prisoners stored there were destroyed. The
prior of Nijmegen, Father Verhallen, kept this file in his room together with
the letters of Father Titus and the witness statements.
3. Saved by the Gestapo
On February 22, 1944 Nijmegen was bombed.
The Carmelite house, where Titus had lived, was hit but did not burn down. On
July 13, 1944, during a search of the house for something totally unrelated,
the Nazi police discovered these documents of Father Titus in the prior’s room.
This aroused their interest. Although Father Verhallen told them that these had
been sent back to the Carmelites by the Gestapo, they took everything with
them.
On September 17, 1944 the battle for
Arnhem started. The City of Nijmegen was deeply involved in this battle. The
Germans retreated into Nijmegen and on September 18, the Carmelites were
given 20 minutes to evacuate the monastery. It was then set on fire by the
Germans and totally destroyed. But the documents of Titus Brandsma had already
been confiscated by the police.
A Spirit So Pious, So Holy
A few days after May 5, 1945, the prior
in Nijmegen, Fr. Verhallen, heard that a well-known lawyer, Mr. van Velzen,
connected to the court of appeal in Den Bosch, was in possession of this file.
Van Velzen, by request of the Diocese of Roermond, had worked to aid some of
the clergymen who had been arrested. This is how he knew Professoor Nelis, the
successor to the Nazi interrogator, Hardegen. In the critical days of September
1944, van Velzen visited him in his villa at Zeist. During that meeting,
Professor Nelis was called to the telephone. He returned a little later, pale
and shocked. “We have to leave,” he said. “We now have strict instructions to
burn everything.” He brought out a pile of files. “I can burn all this because
it is all rubbish, but there is one that is something special. It expresses a
spirit so pious, so holy, that I shy away from burning it. I gather from the
file that they are trying to have him canonized. I don't know what to do with
it, I can't keep it and I'm afraid to destroy it.” Mr. van Velzen offered to
take it with him and hid it at his home under the carpet, where it remained
until the south was liberated. He handed everything over to Fr. Verhallen.
Although these do not relate to the
resistance and martyrdom of Titus Brandsma, they are of great value to our
knowledge of who he was, his activities, and his commitment to Dutch mysticism.
In the process of canonization, they comprise 136 volumes. They were located in
Father Titus' study, which was sealed by the Siecherheitspolizei on January 19,
1942. After the house search on June 13, 1944, these writings were taken to
safety. The seals of the room were broken and everything was taken to Boxmeer,
where an industrialist, Mr. Hendriks, stored them in the refrigerators of his
factory. For most of the winter of 1944-1945, Boxmeer lay on the war front like
a “no man’s land:” under the Americans by day, under the Germans by night. The
residents were evacuated, their property looted, but the writings of Titus
Brandsma remained unharmed and were returned after the war.
All these documents are now in the Dutch Carmelite Institute. Through miraculous ways they have been preserved: happy coincidence or providence?
