Judocus Janssen

A loyal member of Feyenoord Rotterdam

"It is with great joy that we have learnt of your return to your homeland." - This was the beginning of the letter that Judocus Janssen received from Feyenoord Rotterdam football club at the beginning of June 1945. These touching words, sent just a few days after Janssen's return from Buchenwald, testify to the deep bond between Dook, as he was nicknamed, and the club.

Born in Rotterdam in 1903, Janssen joined Feyenoord as a youngster and played in several youth teams. It was not enough for the trained metal turner to pursue a career as a footballer. However, he remained a loyal member of his favourite club, which became Dutch champions for the first time in 1924. When German troops occupied the Netherlands in 1940, Judocus Janssen joined the resistance group "De Geuzen". The Gestapo arrested him in his home town at the end of January 1941. Three months later, he was deported to Buchenwald together with other members of the group. Janssen had to do hard labour in various construction detachments. He suffered life-threatening injuries on several occasions. But he survived.

The four years in the concentration camp had left him severely scarred. He never fully recovered from the consequences of his imprisonment. Above all, he suffered from tuberculosis, which he had contracted in the camp. However, his connection to Feyenoord remained unbroken. When Judocus Janssen died in 1957 at the age of just 54, the club honoured him in a moving letter of condolence to his widow Carla as "a Feyenoord member with heart and soul".