The Belgian Woman Who Helped 118 People Escape from German-Occupied Europe During the Second World War

Andrée de Jongh was a 23 year old woman from Belgian who helped Allied airmen to escape from occupied Europe during the Second World War. She was known as Dédée and she helped to organise an escape route that would become known as the Comet Line.

Andrée was born on the 30th of November 1916 in Schaerbeek, near Brussels. Before the war, she worked as a commercial artist and trained as a volunteer ambulance worker. When the Germans invaded Belgium in May 1940, she began helping wounded Allied soldiers who had been left behind. She soon became involved in finding ways to get them out of the country.

In 1941, Andrée and Arnold Deppé began organising an escape route through Belgium and France to Spain. They relied on local people who were willing to hide servicemen in their homes, provide false papers and help them on their way. There was quite a lot involved, as the men had to travel through German-occupied territory before crossing the Pyrenees into neutral Spain.

Andrée went on many of these journeys herself. She would accompany the men by train and then help guide them across the mountains. Considering the risks involved, I was surprised to learn that she kept returning to Belgium to collect more men. She is credited with personally helping 118 people reach safety, including around 80 Allied airmen.

On the 15th of January 1943, Andrée was arrested near the Spanish border after someone betrayed her to the German authorities. She was interrogated and later sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp, followed by Mauthausen. Her father, Frédéric, was also involved in helping the Resistance, but sadly he was arrested and executed by the Germans.

Andrée survived her imprisonment and was liberated in 1945. The Comet Line had continued operating after her arrest, with other volunteers taking over the work. After the war, she trained as a nurse and spent many years working with people suffering from leprosy in Africa.

She died on the 13th of October 2007, aged 90.

Something I keep coming across when researching the Second World War is how many ordinary people became involved in helping others, often knowing very well what would happen if they were caught. Andrée was one of them, although the number of people she personally helped is quite extraordinary.

Had you heard of Dédée and the Comet Line before?

Image info:

Andrée de Jongh, February 1946. Photographer unknown. Public domain (UK Crown copyright), via Wikimedia Commons.