Jan Remco Theodoor Campert (

Spijkenisse Spijkenisse () is a large town in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, Netherlands. Following an administrative reform in 2015, it is part of the List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of Nissewaard, and ha ...

, 15 August 1902 – 12 January 1943) was a Dutch journalist, theater critic and writer who lived in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. During the

German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II Despite Dutch neutrality, Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands on 10 May 1940 as part of '' Fall Gelb'' (Case Yellow). On 15 May 1940, one day after the bombing of Rotterdam, the Dutch forces surrendered. The Dutch government and the royal f ...

Campert was arrested for aiding

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

s. He was held in the

Neuengamme concentration camp Neuengamme was a network of Nazi concentration camps in northern Germany that consisted of the main camp, Neuengamme, and List of subcamps of Neuengamme, more than 85 satellite camps. Established in 1938 near the village of Neuengamme, Hamburg, N ...

, where he died. Campert is best known for his poem "" ("The Song of the Eighteen Dead"), describing the execution of 18 resistance workers (15 resistance fighters and three communists) by the German occupier. Written in 1941 and based on an account published in ''

Het Parool ''Het Parool'' () is an Amsterdam-based daily newspaper. It was first published on 10 February 1941 as a resistance paper during the German occupation of the Netherlands (1940–1945). In English, its name means ''The Password'' or ''The Motto' ...

'', the poem was clandestinely published in 1943 as a poetry card (''rijmprent'') by what became the

De Bezige Bij De Bezige Bij ("the busy bee") is one of the most important literary publishing companies in the Netherlands. History The company was founded illegally in 1943, during the German occupation of the Netherlands by ; its first publication was a po ...

publishing house to raise money to hide Jewish children. He was the father of the novelist and poet

Remco Campert Remco Campert (28 July 1929 – 4 July 2022) was a Dutch author, poet and columnist. Early years Remco Wouter Campert was born in The Hague, son of writer and poet Jan Campert, author of the poem ''De achttien dooden'', and actress Joekie Bro ...

. The

Jan Campert Prize The Jan Campert Prize (in Dutch: Jan Campert-prijs) is a Dutch literary prize established in 1948, which is awarded annually for works of poetry by the Jan Campert Foundation. The foundation was created in 1948 to honour Jan Campert, considered ...

is named after him.

References

Further reading