Draft:Piet van den Biggelaar

Petrus (Piet) van den Biggelaar (Beek en Donk, January 8, 1918 - Bafwasende, November 27, 1964?), monastic name Father Jozef, was a Dutch priest and missionary in Congo.

Piet van den Biggelaar is related to Eustachius van Lieshout through his mother (Mie van Lieshout). Mie van Lieshout was the sister of him.

Family and home situation
Piet's parents were Eduard Egidius (Eduard) and Theodora Maria (Mie) van Lieshout.[1] Piet had two older brothers, Martien and Willem, and a younger brother Engelbert who died at the age of one.

Piet completed his priestly studies and was ordained as a priest in Nijmegen on March 19, 1946.

On November 2, 1951, mother Mie van Lieshout died at the age of 70. Father Eduard van den Biggelaar died on August 28, 1954 at the age of 66. Brother Willem continued to live there until the demolition of the farm on Trentstraat. He was then assigned a house on Rogier Monicxlaan. Martien died before the farm was demolished.

Mission work
Piet belonged to the Congregation of the Priests of the Sacred Heart. On January 22, 1947, Piet left for the Belgian Congo to do his first missionary work.[2]

In 1958, Piet van den Biggelaar applied for Belgian nationality. The reason given was 'To serve the colony better '. On July 31, 1958, the Dutch Consulate General sent a letter stating that Piet had lost his Dutch citizenship due to naturalization in another country. In this case Belgium.

In 1963, Piet returned to Beek en Donk for a holiday, mainly to recuperate after the hard work in the mission. He gave himself completely to the mission work that was visible to him. At home, Piet was able to gain enough energy before returning to Congo.

When Piet indicated that he wanted to return to Congo, despite all the unrest, his relatives and the pastor advised against this. However, Piet felt that he could not be missed and ignored the good advice.

On April 8, 1964, Piet left Brussels for Leopoldville and traveled on to Stanleyville on April 9. To finally reach his mission, one had to drive to Bomili from Stanleyville. His obituary shows that his last departure was difficult for him.

Simba rebellion
After the former Belgian Congo became independent on June 30, 1960, major unrest soon broke out. There was a mutiny in the army and the relatively rich copper province of Katanga tried to secede. In 1964 the Simbas (Swahili for Lions) took over a large part of eastern Congo. The rebels were driven by anti-Western and anti-postcolonial motives. The Simba rebels received support from the Soviet Union. During the occupation by the Simbas, numerous Catholic and Protestant mission posts were closed off from the outside world. In addition, terrible massacres have occurred in several places.

Mr P.B. Balleur has written a report about this entitled 'Nothing to fear for us: In the eastern province, in Stan. (Stanleyville) they can never come...'

Father Piet van den Biggelaar is first mentioned in the report on November 1, 1964. On this date he was brought to Bafwasende from his mission in Bomili. Under the occupation of the Simbas, Piet and his brothers tried to resume parish life as much as possible. Holy mass was held every day.

On November 24, reports came that paratroopers had landed in Stanleyville. The Simbas responded by taking all the fathers and sisters to a prison by truck. Upon arrival, the fathers and sisters must hand over all objects. This includes glasses, crosses, rosaries, medals and necklaces. All the fathers and sisters are placed in a small, dirty room where they have to spend the night.

On November 25 they will have a slightly more spacious room. The fathers are also told that they had been sentenced to death by the Simbas. They are very upset. All night long the Simbas tried to take the sisters out of the room. The Simbas didn't succeed.

On November 26, a plane flies over Bafwasende. This causes some consternation.

On November 27, the fathers worked for several hours in the courtyard. They cut grass. At 11 o'clock a group of Simbas arrives. They demand that all fathers and sisters undress. The fathers do this, but the sisters refuse and are beaten. Then a good lieutenant comes in and has the fathers put their clothes back on.

That same afternoon, the same Simba comes back in and takes three nurses and a father and brother aside. "We still need them," he said. The other fathers and sisters have to undress to be executed. This causes a lot of chaos and the Simbas hit the sisters with their clubs. However, it doesn't help. In the meantime, the 7 fathers (including Father Piet van den Biggelaar) have been brought outside to the Lidi river. The sisters who protested are also brought outside. On the way to the river they meet the good lieutenant again. He demands that the sisters be taken back to prison. On the way back to the prison they hear machine gun shots from the direction of the river.

However, the bodies of the 7 fathers were never found. This day is probably the anniversary of the death of Father Piet van den Biggelaar. November 27, 1964.

Unfortunately, the report of mr P.B. Balleur see that it did not stop with these 7 fathers.

In total, 100 Belgians, 37 Dutch, 11 Italians, 10 Congolese, 8 Luxembourgers, 5 Spaniards, 4 French, 2 Germans, 1 Englishman, 1 Austrian, 1 American were murdered during the Simba uprisings. This brings the total to 180 murdered missionaries.

The family during the Simba rebellion
The family of Piet van den Biggelaar, his two brothers, Martien and Willem, remain in uncertainty for a long time. On August 17, 1964, they received a letter stating that 'favorable' reports were coming from Congo.

On January 8, 1965, the news arrived in a letter to Martien and Willem. The letter stated the following:

''Information regarding the fate of 12 Dutch missionaries and 3 Belgian missionary sisters, who have long been considered missing in the Congolese rebel zone, shows that people fear the worst. According to Kongolose and other statements, these 15 people were killed. However, their death has still not been determined with certainty. Then the names follow, including the name of your son or brother.''

The letter further asked to wait for official messages and not to take any measures for the time being. Holding a funeral service is still premature.

Memorial Kongolo Gentinnes (Belgium)
The Chapelle-Mémorial Kongolo de Gentinnes, Belgium, has become a memorial place for all victims since the independence of Congo (June 1960) and the 'troubles' that followed between 1962 and 1964. It is a chapel with the names on the outside wall of the perished missionaries.

The first idea was to create a memorial for the 19 missionaries who died in 1962. However, it was later decided to make it a memorial for all missionaries who died in Congo, regardless of nationality or religion. A total of 217 names are on the outside wall of the chapel, including Father Piet van den Biggelaar.[11]

The memorial site was inaugurated by King Baudouin on May 7, 1967. Martien and Willem van den Biggelaar were invited to the ceremony and the brothers accepted the invitation and were present.

Memorial stone Beek en Donk
In the cemetery at the Sint Leonardus Church there is a memorial stone in memory of Father Piet van den Biggelaar. It is not known who commissioned the making and placing of the stone. In the municipality of Laarbeek this is what reminds us of the disappearance of Father Piet van de Biggelaar.