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Biography
Early Life
Jos was born on 5 July 1922 in Maastricht. His parents were Josephus Henricus Johannes Nijssen (1890–1928) and Louise Hubertine Laurense Marie Evers (1891–1967). When he was about 6 he was sent to a boarding house due to his uncontrollable behaviour. At first he went to High School Roldue, but just after a year he moved to Belgium with his mother due to her second husband’s job, he was the financial director of a Belgian coal company. He later went to school in St Bartholémy in Liège and then to the Atheneum, where he learned French.
Education and Occupation
His first job was as a night receiver in a Hotel called “Hôtel Britannique” in Liège, while his family moved to Gent. He followed later and started studying commercial class in “Provincial Technisch Institut”. Because he stole radios from people, he landed in prison. There, he became an accountant through distance learning. In 1945 he worked in a lemonade company, where he would steal sugar to resell on the black market. When he went to Southern France he worked as a wood cutter and later in Fürth as an expeditionist for Danler. After the war he became the personal driver of an American Colonel and later chief dispatcher for Nuremberg and its surrounding regions. Later in North Germany he worked for UNNRA. Back in Gent he worked as a freight forwarder at FA Chemar and later in East Belgium as deputy chief and later director.
Family
Jos had 5 siblings. Born before him were Willy, who died young, Marie José and Lilly. Born after him were Gilberte and Jules. Jos father died when he was just 6 years old, his mother married a second man with whom she had one more child, Alfons Maernoudt. On 6 July 1946 he married Hanne Paul in Fürth. They had one daughter:
- Gerty Charlotte Nijssen (born on 27 May 1948; alive).
He also raised Karin Nijssen.
Timeline
He was born in Maastricht, moved to Brussels for his fathers job but they went back to Heerlen not much later. Due to the second marriage of his mother he moved to Liege where he went to school and started his first job in a hotel. For his studies he moved to Gent, where he also landed in prison. When Germany invaded Belgium on 10 May 1940, they were freed from prison and he fled to Ostende to avoid bombing. He went back to Gent shortly later, when the Germans started bombing the Belgian beach.
On January 1946 he decided with a few friends to try to flee to the United Kingdom and join the British Army. Firtsly, they went to Paris, where they were sent to Vichy. They were held back multiple times by the German Army. When their plan didn't suceed, he went back to Gent, where he didn't stay long because the Gestapo was looking for him there. He then tried to find work in Liege but was then send to Aachen and later Fürth. That is also where in mid-July 1943 he met his future wife Hanne Paul in an outdoor pool. Shortly after he was badly hurt by Napalm-bombs, it took him many weeks to recover. Interestingly, he got a Merit Cross as the first foreigner in the region around Nuremberg. While he was in Fürth, he would again steal a lot, that eventually landed him in the Nuremberg Gestapo prison. One week later he was moved to the Fürther prison,which he would say was a hotel compared to the prison in Nuremberg. There he had to work on dynamite for the German Military which he would sabotage. On 20 July 1944 he was convicted to 14 months to the concentration camp in Dachau but in September he was moved to the fortress prison in Landsberg. While many people there died of hunger, he found his way around to get priviliges. He was eventually freed by the Allied Army. For a while he moved to North Germany. He landed in prison two more times but got out again quickly. He went back to Fürth, when he got a letter from Hanne Paul that she was pregnant from an American soldier with Karin Nijssen. He then moved back to Gent for some time and eventually Eynatten and Eupen for work and after his resignation in 1993 in Malmedy.
Death
He passed away on 27 August 2001 at 3 in the morning in Borgoumont 104, Stoumont.
Sources
- Marriage: Joseph Nijssen and Johanna Paul, marriage certificate, 6 July 1946, personal family collection (photographed); Noah Creutz, Eupen. Available here
- Death: Josephus Nijssen, death certificate, 27 August 2001, personal family collection (photographed); Noah Creutz, Eupen. Available here
- Jos Nijssen; autobiography; December 1999; Malmedy; Personal document folder
