Dutch Charity in Maastricht during the First World War

The Netherlands was neutral in WWI, but that did not mean it was not involved in one way or another. After German troops crossed the Belgian border on August 4, 1914, just south of the Dutch-Belgian border, the first wave of Belgian refugees followed, crossing the Dutch border towards the small town of Eijsden, near Maastricht. There, they were provided with shelter and food by the local population. The driving force behind this aid was the wife of the mayor of Eijsden, Countess de Geloes-van Lannoy. As more and more people crossed the border from Belgium and soldiers of the warring parties were interned, the services were expanded. This consisted of, among other things, sending letters and packages to people who had been left behind, as well as to prisoners of war held in camps. Locating ordinary civilians and prisoners of war was also one of the tasks undertaken by the volunteers. There was such a great demand for these services that a more efficient method was desirable. This led to the founding in Maastricht in the spring of 1915 of the 'International Charity for the Wounded and Prisoners of War' (International Liefdewerk voor Gewonden en Krijgsgevangenen). Some information about this organization can be found in digitized newspapers. However, for an in-depth study, I refer to the publication by Hans van Lith (see the references). My copy was supplied by www.bol.com in the Netherlands. At the peak of the project, approximately 250 volunteers were working in the Maastricht-based organization. Sending packages and correspondence was expensive, so ways were sought to save costs. The organization succeeded in obtaining free postal privileges and was thus able to save a great deal of money. When one realizes that a total of approximately 2.000.000 (!) packages were sent, one can imagine the savings resulting from free delivery. 69.000 requests for information were also processed, of which about 29.000 were successfully answered. Another saving (in time and money) was achieved when part of Maastricht station was made available to the 'Liefdewerk' organization. All packages were collected there and sent from there. Packages sent by others were also collected there by the 'Liefdewerk' office and had to be checked before being sent to ensure the contents were legal. Packages were not allowed to weigh more than five kilograms, and items such as newspapers and weapons were prohibited. Every package was accompanied by a form. (The front and back of the French version are shown here). If the card was not returned, no new package was sent. Let us now look at the envelope shown above. The text on the envelope is in German. As the 'Liefdewerk' volunteers had to deal with many different nationalities, subgroups were formed, as the address side shows. We show the German version here. This envelope was sent from Maastricht on December 5, 1915, and was addressed to “de Kommandantur Kriegsgefangenenlager Mecheln, Deutschland”. At the top right is a two-line stamp “Kriegsgefangene / Prisoniers of war” (prisoners of war).

The addressee of this letter was likely an Allied prisoner of war held in a German prisoner-of-war camp. However, on the back of the envelope is a handwritten note “nicht Mecheln” (“Not Mechelen”) (Mechelen is Flemish/Dutch, the German name is Mecheln). There is also a small village called Mechelen in the Netherlands/Limburg, but I do not believe this is being referred to.

What happened to this letter? Most likely, it was a letter requesting information about a prisoner of war. But who placed the handwritten note “nicht Mecheln Belgien” on the back of the letter? Was it a postal clerk who knew that there was no city named Mecheln in Germany, even though it clearly states “Deutschland”? Mechelen is a fairly well-known city in Belgium; every postman in the Netherlands knows that, I would assume.

I believe that this specific letter was indeed sent to Mechelen in Belgium.

In Mechelen, there was an “auxiliary office of the Belgian Intelligence Bureau for Prisoners of War and Internees.” The Dominican Monastery was also located in Mechelen, which was converted into a Military Hospital in 1809 (= Lazaret, see “Lazaret 3” on the front of the cover). However, it is most likely that we are dealing with an Allied prisoner of war who was not staying in Belgium. Our letter was subsequently returned to Maastricht. On the back is a partial imprint of a postmark. I read it as “Maastricht 9”. This stamp was also used for parcels and incoming mail. Only about half of the stamp is visible. Was a stamp removed? Perhaps it was a stamp for the returned letter that was removed? What exactly happened here: we will never know, at least unless someone has another idea. Why was the Red Cross not involved? The Dutch authorities had to react quickly and there was some apprehension regarding the enormous bureaucracy of the Red Cross; it would take too long to set this machinery up. The Red Cross was notorious for its bureaucracy; quick decisions could not be expected. However, as the burden of the “Labor of Charity” increased more and more (the number of parcels being sent had grown dramatically), the question of responsibility and oversight became increasingly pressing. The Dutch Minister of Finance asked the Red Cross to participate and ensure that everything proceeded correctly. The 'Liefdewerk' organization in Maastricht and the local branches (the Belgian, French, and Russian sections) based in The Hague tried to prevent this until the end of 1916, when they had to give up their independence and accept the Red Cross as the supervisory organization. A charming solution was found for the 'Liefdewerk' correspondence.

They retained their own stationery and envelopes, but a Red Cross logo was stamped onto them by hand. This demonstrates once again that, with some effort, much can be learned about Dutch history. Literature and references: 1. Hans van Lith, Twee miljoen Pakketten (via internationaal liefdewerk), Soesterberg, Uitgeverij Aspekt, 2011 2. A. van de Ven, WM Wassenaar, Nederlandse langebalk-stempels, Ermo Rijnwoude, 1997 3. http://poststempels.nedacademievoorfilatelie.nl/index.php 4. Hans van Lith, Persoonlijk informatie 5. Cees Janssen, Persoonlijk informatie Read the full here April number of the association magazine of Philatelist Association 't Fakteurke. (pdf 0,8mb).