Front de l'Indépendance
Encyclopedia
The Front de l'indépendance (FI) (Independence Front, in Dutch
: Onafhankelijkheidsfront – OF) was a Belgian resistance
movement during World War II
, founded in March 1941 by Dr. Albert Marteaux of the Communist Party of Belgium
, Father André Roland, and Fernand Demany, another communist. The aim of the organisation was to unite Belgian resistance groups of all opinions and political leanings; nonetheless the only political party that that was affiliated as such was the Belgian communist party.
By the end of the war, the Front de l'indépendance contained representatives from a large number of organisations, including:
Through these various organisations, the Front de l'indépendance established sabotage
operations, escape routes and a false document
service, and distributed 250 different underground publications. This essential part of the war, in the area of information, found a culmination of sorts in the publication by the Front on 9 November 1943 of Faux Soir
, a spoof version of the Le Soir
newspaper circulated under the noses of the occupation authorities.
In February 1943, the Front de l'indépendance sent the sociologist Victor Martin
on a spying mission in Germany to search for reliable information about what happened to the Jews deported to Germany. He came back in May with the first reliable report on their fate, as well as with detailed information on the functioning of the Auschwitz concentration camp.
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
: Onafhankelijkheidsfront – OF) was a Belgian resistance
Belgian resistance
Belgian resistance during World War II to the occupation of Belgium by Nazi Germany took different forms. "The Belgian Resistance" was the common name for the Netwerk van de weerstand - Réseau de Résistance or Resistance Network , a group of partisans fighting the Nazis...
movement during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, founded in March 1941 by Dr. Albert Marteaux of the Communist Party of Belgium
Communist Party of Belgium
Communist Party of Belgium was a political party in Belgium. The youth wing of KPB/PCB was known as the Communist Youth of Belgium. The party published Le Drapeau Rouge in French and De Roode Vaan in Dutch.- History :It was formed at a congress in Anderlecht on September 3-4 1921...
, Father André Roland, and Fernand Demany, another communist. The aim of the organisation was to unite Belgian resistance groups of all opinions and political leanings; nonetheless the only political party that that was affiliated as such was the Belgian communist party.
By the end of the war, the Front de l'indépendance contained representatives from a large number of organisations, including:
- The Partisans armés (PA, armed partisans),
- The Milices patriotiques (MP, patriotic milita),
- Solidarité (Solidarity, founded in 1942 as the social service of the F.I. to help victims of the Nazi repression and their families, those who refused to go in Germany under the Service du travail obligatoireService du travail obligatoireThe Service du travail obligatoire was the forced enlistment and deportation of hundreds of thousands of French workers to Nazi Germany in order to work as forced labour for the German war effort during World War II....
, foreign illegals etc.; the Belgian section of the Secours RougeInternational Red AidInternational Red Aid was an international social service organization established by the Communist International...
continued within this clandestine organization), - The Comités de lutte syndicale (Unions' committee for the struggle)
- Wallonie LibreWallonie LibreWallonie Libre or Free Wallonia is a small political movement in Belgium. It is believed to have been founded on June 18, 1940 on the battlegrounds of Waterloo in the Brabant province, the place where Napoleon was defeated in 1815 by the British, Prussian and Russian armies...
(Free Wallonia), - The Comité de Défense des JuifsComité de Défense des JuifsThe Comité de Défense des Juifs was an organization of the Belgian Resistance, affiliated to the Front de l'Indépendance, founded by the Jewish Communist Hertz Jospa and his wife Have Groisman of the Jewish Revolutionary organization Solidarité juive in September 1942.The CDJ had thirty-odd...
(Jews' defense committee) - LOMO , whose leader Aloïs Gerlo (1915-1998) was an activist of the Communist Party between 1940 and 1956
- Front, the underground newspaper
- The Österreichische FreiheitsfrontÖsterreichische FreiheitsfrontThe Österreichische Freiheitsfront was an antifascist organization created by Austrian and German communist refugees in Brussels during the Second World War occupation of Belgium by Nazi Germany...
, an antifascist organisation created in BrusselsBrusselsBrussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
by communist refugees from AustriaAustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
and GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
Through these various organisations, the Front de l'indépendance established sabotage
Sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions. One who engages in sabotage is...
operations, escape routes and a false document
False document
A false document is a literary technique employed to create verisimilitude in a work of fiction. By inventing and inserting documents that appear to be factual, an author tries to create a sense of authenticity beyond the normal and expected suspension of disbelief for a work of art...
service, and distributed 250 different underground publications. This essential part of the war, in the area of information, found a culmination of sorts in the publication by the Front on 9 November 1943 of Faux Soir
Faux Soir
Faux Soir was a spoof issue of the Belgian newspaper Le Soir published on 9 November 1943 by the Front de l'Indépendance, a Belgian resistance organisation...
, a spoof version of the Le Soir
Le Soir
Le Soir is a Berliner Format Belgian newspaper. Le Soir was founded in 1887 by Emile Rossel. It is the most popular Francophone newspaper in Belgium, and considered a newspaper of record.-Editorial stance:...
newspaper circulated under the noses of the occupation authorities.
In February 1943, the Front de l'indépendance sent the sociologist Victor Martin
Victor Martin
Victor Martin was a Belgian sociologist, alumnus of Louvain Catholic University. During World War II he embarked on a spying mission in Germany for the Front de l'Indépendance Belgian communist resistance organization, bringing back the first reliable information about the fate of Jews deported to...
on a spying mission in Germany to search for reliable information about what happened to the Jews deported to Germany. He came back in May with the first reliable report on their fate, as well as with detailed information on the functioning of the Auschwitz concentration camp.