Date of birth:

April 22nd, 1923 (Rheine, Germany)

Date of death:

August 23rd, 1943 (Germany)

Nationality:

German

Journalist. Roman Catholic. Karel Norel (1*) describes the 20-year-old German soldier Karl Ernst Eickens in volume II of The Great Commandment as ‘a fierce and principled opponent of the Nazis’. In August 1942, according to the memorial book of the resistance in LO and KP, he came into contact with the illegality in Hoogeveen. He remained in military service for the time being. At the desk he was at, he had the opportunity to spy. This allowed him to pass important reports on airfields, fortifications and radar installations to the resistance. At some point, the ground became too hot for him and he decided to go into hiding. Together with Izak van der Horst (1*), Roelof Jan Dam (2*) and others, he compiled the magazine ‘Das freie Wort’. The first issue was set in Kampen and printed in Enschede. It appeared in a circulation of ten thousand copies. Some of it he smuggled across the Dutch-German border. However, the Germans arrested him in Cologne. Along with him, German friend and a collaborator were arrested. The latter two got off with a prison sentence, as Eickens took all the blame before the Kriegsgericht. He ended his life in front of a firing squad.
(1*) Karel Norel (9 November 1899 Harlingen - 4 May 1971 Amstelveen) writer, journalist and resistance fighter.
(2*) Izak van der Horst (4 March 1909 Aarlanderveen - executed 4 September 1944 Vught).
(3*) Roelof Jan Dam (18 November 1896 Barneveld - executed 10 April 1945).

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