Last night, 81 years ago, the night of April 19-20, 1943, the 20th train convoy departed the Dossin barracks (Kazerne Dossin) in Mechelen (Belgium) with 33 cattle cars crammed with 1631 Jewish men, women and children for Auschwitz.
The in Belgium captured Jews were mostly ‘foreigners’ (with no Belgian nationality) who either when war broke out or (many) years earlier had fled from mainly Eastern Europe, Germany and Holland to Belgium.
Half an hour after the departure of this Transport XX three young men from Brussels, Youra Livschitz, Jean Franklemon and Robert Maistriau stopped the train between Boortmeerbeek and Haacht, opened one of the cars and liberated 17 prisoners.

Before the train reaches the German border 220 other prisoners had also decided to attempt to escape and jump out of the cars. A total of 237 people attempted to escape, and 121 did succeed to permanently escape deportation. Unfortunately 26 were killed, and 90 recaptured and interned or put on future trains to Auschwitz. This 20th transport arrived at Auschwitz on April 22. Only 151 of those on board survived this death camp.

Yesterday , April 19, 2024, the memorial ‘4-Life’ was inaugurated in Korbeek-Lo with a speech by the initiator, researcher, Jo Peeters — curator of the nearby Museum House of the Belgian-French Resistance — on the history of the second attack later that night at Korbeek-Lo, 81 years ago :

(translated from dutch, excerpt, edited by Michel van der Burg* )

[Later] that night the resistance fighters Pieter Schepers, Romain Baplu, Albert Poncelet and Marcel Hollanders* also stopped the train with a wooden barricade just in front of the Korbeek-Lo railway bridge, which allowed the escape of several prisoners from several cars.
The 13-year-old Eva Resler jumped with her brother Mircea, but she was hit by bullet fire and Mircea was recaptured.
Eva’s body was left next to the railway until the Brothers of Charity (Broeders van Liefde) from St. Kamillus received the order from Flemish SS man Faignaert to bury the body 2 days later in the cemetery of the institute. But there was no rest for Eva – her body had to be exhumed again by the superior in Ghent and she ended up in an anonymous grave on the outer wall of the cemetery of Korbeek-Lo.
Further investigations also revealed the deaths of 3 other Jewish escapees: Ruckla Wald-Mansklayd, Frida Mayer-Fischbein and Josef Patron.
During the conflict with the SiPo Security Police on the train, Pieter Schepers was fatally injured. The other resistance fighters managed to escape the scene, but thought their attempt had failed and were unaware of the other escapees. Romain, Albert and Marcel will later be arrested for treason and die in 1944 in the Breendonk prison and at the Schaerbeek shooting range by the bullet…

*Notes

4-Life. Photo: Jo Peeters | Museum Huis van het Belgisch-Franse Verzet | 20240419

Inhuldiging gedenkteken Eva Resler en slachtoffers van XXste transport te Korbeek-Lo. Jo Peeters | Museum Huis van het Belgisch-Franse Verzet. URL https://www.hbfv.be/l/inhuldiging-gedenkteken-eva-resler-en-slachtoffers-van-xxste-transport-te-korbeek-lo/

Romain Baplu & Youra Livschitz • News From Belgium | 20230407 | Miracles•Media

Apart from Pieter Schepers, Romain Baplu, Albert Poncelet , 2 other names have been reported recently by the Museum : M. Swinnen (Marcel or Maurice), and Marcel Hollanders

Citation info : 4-Life | Miracles•Media | 20240420