For the story of the three Brussels resistance heroes, we have to go back to April 19, 1943. On that day, the so-called XXth train transport with 1,636 Jews departed from Mechelen’s Dossin barracks, the former army barracks used by the German occupiers as a transit camp to deport Jews to the concentration camp in Auschwitz.
Robert Maistreau, then 22, Youra Livchitz (25) and Jean Franklemon (also 25) knew about the transport and had arranged to meet in the evening at Place Meiser in Brussels to ride their bikes towards Boortmeerbeek, says Mark De Geest. “There they hid in the bushes and waited for the train to arrive.”
The three succeeded in making the train in question stop. “They actually did that very simply,” explains Mark De Geest, “by putting a kerosene lamp on the tracks, with a bit of red paper around it.” Other than that, they were armed only with a small-caliber pistol.
Youra, who was hiding at the spot where the locomotive came to a stop got into a gunfight with the Schutzpolizei, who were guarding the train. Jean stood at the level of the rear of the train where Nazi guards were also standing and Robert stood in the middle. “That was actually the safest place,” Mark De Geest recounts.
“At that point Robert walked to the first wagon in his neighborhood, managed to use pliers to open the door of the freight car – because it was the first transport done with freight cars – and started telling the people in the car to jump out. He had learned a German phrase for this: “Fliehen sie, fliehen sie!” “Flee!”
At first the prisoners did not dare to jump out of the wagon, for fear that the Germans would retaliate. For they had said, “If anyone escapes, the whole wagon goes.”
In the end, 17 people did jump out of the wagon. They were taken to safety by the three young men in the bushes, were all given a 50 franc bill there, with which they could go back to Brussels the next day.
Of the 17 people who were able to escape, 7 were picked up again and deported to Auschwitz after all, Mark De Geest knows. But “10 people survived the war, thanks to the three young men.”
Where did these three young men get the courage for this extremely dangerous mission? The original plan came from a Jewish resistance fighter, Mark De Geest explains. “He had tried to persuade the official resistance, the Independence Front, to raid that train,” he says.
“But they brushed it off, because it was too dangerous, because they didn’t have the manpower for it, and because it would happen in a region where many Belgian young men were already in hiding to escape mandatory labor service. It was feared that after the raid the Germans would comb the region.”
Mark De Geest explains that the trio then took matters into their own hands, “partly out of youthful hubris, but also out of conviction.” “All three of them were convinced that they had to oppose what was happening in Belgium at the time.”
They also had their personal motivations: Youra was of Jewish descent, Robert had a Jewish half-brother and had already expressed a desire to become active in the Resistance, and Jean was a convinced Communist who had already fought in the International Brigades in Spain.
What happened to the three?
The three young men survived the liberation operation, but all three were arrested afterwards. Youra was sentenced to death by the Nazis and executed at the national shooting range, where the VRT building now stands.
Robert remained in the Resistance for a while and took part in a major operation in Hainaut. He was arrested and ended up in a German concentration camp. He survived, then left for Congo and started a plantation there. Later in life he came back to Belgium and died in 2008.
And Jean, as a convinced communist, also ended up in a concentration camp. He too survived and moved to the GDR where he became a musician in a philharmonic orchestra. He died in 1977.
Good to see there’s more recognition coming for resistance heroes.
“Very right but much too late” is the Belgian government style by default.
I think it’s great their story does get told now, I had never heard about them. People like this really give a face to events you only really hear about from a distance.
After the war the belgian govt cracked down hard on heroes that resisted the nazis. meanwhile the collaborators retained all their influential positions.
20 jaar geleden is er al een boek verschenen over deze daad van verzet, geschreven door een Duitse journaliste.
Marian Schreiber: Stille Rebellen. De overval op de 20ste deportatietrein naar Auschwitz.
Must be done , beginning the 1950 . No-one knows them anymore . But well deserved .
Very cool. I live right next to this train track between Boortmeerbeek and Haacht. There already was a monument for these guys (and the victims) near the train station in Boortmeerbeek, which has been moved to the city hall of Boortmeerbeek a couple of years ago now.
Also the pictures of all the Jewish people on the transport were displayed near the city hall from Boortmeerbeek too. They’ve recently disappeared, but I think it’s a maintainance type of deal.
8 comments
For the story of the three Brussels resistance heroes, we have to go back to April 19, 1943. On that day, the so-called XXth train transport with 1,636 Jews departed from Mechelen’s Dossin barracks, the former army barracks used by the German occupiers as a transit camp to deport Jews to the concentration camp in Auschwitz.
Robert Maistreau, then 22, Youra Livchitz (25) and Jean Franklemon (also 25) knew about the transport and had arranged to meet in the evening at Place Meiser in Brussels to ride their bikes towards Boortmeerbeek, says Mark De Geest. “There they hid in the bushes and waited for the train to arrive.”
The three succeeded in making the train in question stop. “They actually did that very simply,” explains Mark De Geest, “by putting a kerosene lamp on the tracks, with a bit of red paper around it.” Other than that, they were armed only with a small-caliber pistol.
Youra, who was hiding at the spot where the locomotive came to a stop got into a gunfight with the Schutzpolizei, who were guarding the train. Jean stood at the level of the rear of the train where Nazi guards were also standing and Robert stood in the middle. “That was actually the safest place,” Mark De Geest recounts.
“At that point Robert walked to the first wagon in his neighborhood, managed to use pliers to open the door of the freight car – because it was the first transport done with freight cars – and started telling the people in the car to jump out. He had learned a German phrase for this: “Fliehen sie, fliehen sie!” “Flee!”
At first the prisoners did not dare to jump out of the wagon, for fear that the Germans would retaliate. For they had said, “If anyone escapes, the whole wagon goes.”
In the end, 17 people did jump out of the wagon. They were taken to safety by the three young men in the bushes, were all given a 50 franc bill there, with which they could go back to Brussels the next day.
Of the 17 people who were able to escape, 7 were picked up again and deported to Auschwitz after all, Mark De Geest knows. But “10 people survived the war, thanks to the three young men.”
Where did these three young men get the courage for this extremely dangerous mission? The original plan came from a Jewish resistance fighter, Mark De Geest explains. “He had tried to persuade the official resistance, the Independence Front, to raid that train,” he says.
“But they brushed it off, because it was too dangerous, because they didn’t have the manpower for it, and because it would happen in a region where many Belgian young men were already in hiding to escape mandatory labor service. It was feared that after the raid the Germans would comb the region.”
Mark De Geest explains that the trio then took matters into their own hands, “partly out of youthful hubris, but also out of conviction.” “All three of them were convinced that they had to oppose what was happening in Belgium at the time.”
They also had their personal motivations: Youra was of Jewish descent, Robert had a Jewish half-brother and had already expressed a desire to become active in the Resistance, and Jean was a convinced Communist who had already fought in the International Brigades in Spain.
What happened to the three?
The three young men survived the liberation operation, but all three were arrested afterwards. Youra was sentenced to death by the Nazis and executed at the national shooting range, where the VRT building now stands.
Robert remained in the Resistance for a while and took part in a major operation in Hainaut. He was arrested and ended up in a German concentration camp. He survived, then left for Congo and started a plantation there. Later in life he came back to Belgium and died in 2008.
And Jean, as a convinced communist, also ended up in a concentration camp. He too survived and moved to the GDR where he became a musician in a philharmonic orchestra. He died in 1977.
Translated with Deepl.
———————-
Extra note: it’s correct that there is no monument *in Brussels*, but there has been a small one in Boortmeerbeek since a loooooooong time (at least as long as I remember): https://www.google.be/maps/place/Vredesmonument/@50.9818576,4.5726664,20z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x47c3e1f836b4003d:0x642d8ed59d7824a7!8m2!3d50.9819316!4d4.5725062?hl=en
Good to see there’s more recognition coming for resistance heroes.
“Very right but much too late” is the Belgian government style by default.
I think it’s great their story does get told now, I had never heard about them. People like this really give a face to events you only really hear about from a distance.
After the war the belgian govt cracked down hard on heroes that resisted the nazis. meanwhile the collaborators retained all their influential positions.
20 jaar geleden is er al een boek verschenen over deze daad van verzet, geschreven door een Duitse journaliste.
Marian Schreiber: Stille Rebellen. De overval op de 20ste deportatietrein naar Auschwitz.
Must be done , beginning the 1950 . No-one knows them anymore . But well deserved .
Very cool. I live right next to this train track between Boortmeerbeek and Haacht. There already was a monument for these guys (and the victims) near the train station in Boortmeerbeek, which has been moved to the city hall of Boortmeerbeek a couple of years ago now.
Also the pictures of all the Jewish people on the transport were displayed near the city hall from Boortmeerbeek too. They’ve recently disappeared, but I think it’s a maintainance type of deal.