The House of the Fugitive - When a French Family Hid Escaped Prisoners

When a French family hid escaped prisoners.

Using archives and testimonies, Marie-Pierre Haem retraced the intertwined destinies of a hundred French, Belgian and Dutch prisoners who escaped from the stalags of the Third Reich. They were welcomed by the Saint-Ghislain de Wattrelos family from May 1942 to January 1944. Louis and Madeleine, as well as their four daughters, Marie-Madeleine (the author's mother), Jeannine, Marie-Paule and Marie-France, would in fact save these fleeing soldiers.

Louis, a railway worker, was in charge of customs inspections at the sorting yard and picked up the escapees from the trains while Madeleine housed and fed them. They stayed about four days at the Saint-Ghislains before going back home (ticket paid by the family and neighbors). The "fake" identity cards were provided by the town hall of Roubaix or Tourcoing.

Louis was denounced for a reward in January 1944, went to prison in Loos until July, then to a concentration camp in Beverloo until September, before being freed by the English. Madeleine went to prison and was released. Marie-Madeleine (16 years old) was interrogated several times by the Feldgendarmes.