Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
A DUTCH Catholic institute for disabled girls said yesterday it will review 40 deaths at the children’s home in the early 1950s.
The review comes days after prosecutors began a criminal investigation into 34 deaths at a former Catholic boys’ institute in the same town and the same time period.
The mysterious rash of deaths in the two children’s homes nearly 60 years ago came to light during a search of Catholic church archives by a commission investigating possible sexual abuse.
There is no evidence that the unusual number of deaths over a three-year period in the small southern town of Heel was ever investigated for common threads or links to each other.
Archives
Guus Feron, director of the St Anna’s girls institute, said his organisation will scour its archives for information about the girls, though he was unsure of what might be found. The institute routinely destroyed dossiers 15 years after residents left or died.
“We thought, gosh, there’s so much attention to this, we should have a look at our archives,” Feron told The Associated Press by telephone.
He said one possibility would be finding records of a contagious illness.
Eugene Baak, spokesman for the regional public prosecutor’s office, said the girls’ deaths are not currently thought to be suspicious, despite the higher numbers.
“Those numbers have been presented without any context,” he said. But he couldn’t rule out a criminal investigation if new information is discovered.
Death rate
Baak said the investigating commission tipped his office with “specific information” that the death rate at St Joseph’s boys institute spiked sharply to more than 10 per year in 1952-1954, while only one or two died in the years before and afterward.
Dutch media have reported that the priest who oversaw the sick ward of St Joseph’s during those years was dismissed abruptly after a complaint by a doctor. Baak would not confirm that, or reports that the priest was then transferred to another Catholic institution in Belgium.
Advertisement
The priest has not been identified publicly.
Feron said that although the absolute number of deaths at St Anna’s was higher, the number of women and girls housed there was also higher — around 1,000 compared with 400 boys at St Joseph’s. So the death rate was lower in percentage terms, and more stable.
Both institutions were for the mentally handicapped, though the girls at St Anna’s often were younger and had more serious health problems, he said.
Thea de Boer, whose twin sisters died at St Anna’s, said it was too early to draw conclusions, “but I do find it damned suspicious.”
She said in an interview on NOS television that the family had been told at the time that one of the twins died of a lung infection, and she couldn’t remember about the other sister.
“That’s what they said. You could wonder about whether it’s really true,” she said, hoping for a thorough investigation soon.
St Joseph’s was closed in 1969. Successor organisations of both institutions retain links with the church, but are not staffed by priests or nuns.
Possible prosecution
Prosecutors said that even if they find evidence of crimes at St Joseph’s, they are unlikely to be prosecuted due to the passage of time. Suspects may have died, and statutes of limitations apply to crimes other than murder.
They said they have informed the dead boys’ next of kin when they could be tracked down and were still alive.
The Roermond Diocese, which oversees Heel, said it welcomed the investigations, in line with an openness policy in the wake of sex abuse revelations that have rocked the church around the world in recent years.
David Clohessy, Executive Director of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said that his group was “grateful that an investigation is happening, but disappointed that authorities are already assuming no prosecutions will result.”
In an email, he wrote that “many law enforcement officials have been able to find novel ways to pursue criminal cases against at least some of the wrongdoers, even if some of the specific charges may have to be or seem to be lesser charges.”
The commission that uncovered the deaths in Heel is conducting a church-funded investigation into some 2,000 sex abuse allegations in the Netherlands. It is expected to present its final report by year’s end.
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article.
Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
Maybe you should have read the article before posting that comment Louise. 40 kids suddenly dead on your watch will get you bad press. Should we look the other way just becuase the church is involved. (again)
So let me get this straight – the Dutch authorities horrified by the possibility some twisted person was killing off poor, unfortunate and unwanted kids in 1955 and yet poor, unfortunate and unwanted kids continue to be ‘terminated’ in their mother’s wombs – looks like we have a case of double Dutch logic
And just possibly this may solve the “mystery” (although no doubt some people will claim that the doctors who signed the death certs, were in league with the Catholic Church to cover up the murder of children)!
For a decade or so after 1996 there was a witch-hunt in Ireland involving claims that the Christian Brothers and the Sisters of Mercy had deliberately killed children in their care. As in the present case, most of the alleged victims were boys and the killings were supposed to have taken place mainly in the 1950s – a nice long time ago and therefore difficult to investigate. UNLIKE the current allegations, many of the accusations related to times when no child died of any cause!! Accordingly I coined the phrases “Murder of the Undead” and “Victimless Murders” – try Googling these. (However some related to children who actually existed and had died.)
The Gardai spent a large amount of time investigating these allegations and came up with no evidence to support them. I know that one current Garda Superintendent is angry at the “waste of time” caused by his predecessors actions in having ground dug up etc. Of course if his predecessor had said “This is rubbish” and refused to commit men to the investigation, he would probably have been denounced as a pawn of the Catholic Church!
'A road to nowhere': Parents' despair and anger at broken system for kids with additional needs
1 hr ago
718
7
Paying Tribute
'He tried': Trump softens tone as Starmer seeks to tie him down to Ukraine and tariff pledges
1 hr ago
3.2k
42
New Mexico
Police 'keeping everything on the table' in deaths of Gene Hackman and wife Betsy Arakawa
Updated
3 hrs ago
95.7k
75
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 152 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage .Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 104 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 136 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 106 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 78 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 77 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 37 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 33 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 127 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 60 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 75 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 82 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 38 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 43 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 25 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 86 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 96 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 68 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 50 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 84 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 64 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say