Belgian resistance

When the Germans marched into Belgium on 10 May 1940, memories of the brutal German occupation of Belgium during the First World War were still very much alive. The crimes committed by the German troops between 1914 and 1918 – such as the mass shootings of civilians – caused hundreds of thousands to flee to France. This gives the background for understanding the Belgian resistance against the Germans.

The first mass demonstration against the German occupation took place on 11 November 1940, the day of the armistice of 1918, and the first resistance groups, which emerged after May 1940, were re-using World War I structures. Thanks to their espionage, the Belgian government in exile in London was very well informed about the situation in Belgium during the entire period of occupation.

In autumn 1941, the Communist Party of Belgium formed the Onafhankelijkheidsfront/Front de l’indépendance (Independence Front, FI). With its specific aim of forming a broad anti-German movement reaching beyond any political borders, the FI was very successful. Its activities were wideranging: partisan units sabotaged German transport and communication routes and eliminated collaborators. The FI was responsible for about 250 of a total of roughly 650 underground newspapers in Belgium during the occupation period. As it was, the FI was the only resistance organisation that was regularly calling on all Belgians to help and to hide the Jewish population.

The coat of arms of the Onafhankelijkheidsfront/Front de l’indépendance (Independence Front, FI)

This red column in the Belgian town of Boortmeerbeek commemorates the only attack on a deportation train that ever took place. It was carried out by three friends, Youra Livchitz, Jean Franklemon and Robert Maistriau. During and also after the attack more than 200 people managed to escape from the XXth transport, 119 of whom survived.

Simon Gronowski tells his story in a children's book: When the XXth transport is attacked, he – being a boy of twelve - escapes from the deportation train and survives.

Solidarity and sabotage

When the wearing of a yellow star was decreed in May 1942, the Belgian population showed solidarity with the Jewish people. The mayors of Brussels refused to hand out the stars: “It is our duty to let you know that you cannot force us to participate in [the] implementation,” they told the military administration.

During the war, Belgian resistance fighters smuggled over 1,500 British and American pilots who had been shot down from Belgium to England.

The biggest sabotage was carried out by the so-called Group G, comprised of members of the polytechnic faculty of the Free University of Brussels. On 15 January 1944, it blew up a total of 28 carefully selected high-voltage pylons. The resulting loss of energy meant that a large number of companies important to the war had to be closed immediately. The German occupiers struggled with the consequences of this attack until the liberation of Belgium. ÄW