Durme, van, Josephine "Josée"

Date of birth:: January 5th, 1914 (Waterloo, Belgium)
Date of death:: December 28th, 2009 (Malle, Belgium)
Nationality:: Belgian (1830-present, Constitutional Monarchy)

Biography

During World War II, a professional teacher was drafted into the Belgian resistance under the influence of her fiancé Jules Colle, the leader of the resistance in Waterloo. This was called the secret army (l'Armëe Secrète in French). On behalf of the resistance in Waterloo, she took care of the men who were in hiding there; together with her sister, she prepared food and went shopping. The resistance in Waterloo was armed because they went to pick up arms dropped by the British which were subsequently hidden in the water tower of Waterloo. In addition to her work for the resistance, she was also part of the Comet Line. She was national guide and aided 3 Allied airmen. Apart from other things, she forged identity papers and provided them with shelter, food and clothing. The airmen were: 5-6-42: RAF William R Griffiths 1212794 (sole survivor of Lancaster R5613, which had crashed on Ter Hulpen (La Hulpe); 2-8-42: RAF Sylva Jef 6B/159-5296/40 and RAF Wittetz 6B/159-11935/00.
After their group had been betrayed, the Gestapo launched a razzia on their hiding place in Waterloo on November 3, 1943 (according to eyewitnesses by some 150 Gestapo men). Along with her fiancé and 2 others she mananged to flee to Brussels were she was apprehended a week later on November 10. A Luftwaffe court sentenced her to death. She was incarcerated in the Saint Gilles prison from November 10, 1943 until May 10, 1944. During her stay in Saint Gilles, she was frequently transferred for interrogation to Gestapo headquarters on Avenue Louise, where prisoners were tortured and questioned. She was also called to Breendonk for a day to be confronted with her fiancé Jules who was imprisoned there. Next she was deported to Cottbus, Germany as a Nacht-und-Nebel prisoner where she stayed from May 24 to September 15, 1944. She was no longer considered a NN prisoner and her death sentenced was changed to 8 years hard labor in Waldheim, Germany. She stayed there from September 9, 1944 until her liberation by the Russians on May 6, 1945. An order came in for her to be transferred to Buchenwald on February 12 but Buchenwald did not accept any more prisoners so she was sent back to Waldheim. Following her liberation, she returned to Waterloo, the sole survivor. As late as 1946 she learned her fiancë had been executed in Germany on September 30, 1944.
After the war, she returned to the school where she taught and eventually she became head of the Ecole de Saint Anne in Waterloo. She never married and never spoke about the war either.

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Presidential Medal of Freedom

Period:: Second World War (1939-1945)
Awarded on:: February 7th, 1947

"Josephine van Durme, Belgian Civilian, fought most courageously for the cause of liberty by rendering aid of exceptional importance to members of the American and British armed forces who were evading capture in the enemy-occupied countries of Europe. The courage, bravery, and exceptional devotion to the common cause of freedom displayed by this person in undertaking such hazardous duties, knowing the price to be paid if apprehended, were a definitive contributing factor to the termination of hostilities in this theater, meriting the highest degree of praise".