A Bound Volume of the Rare Journal “Cœurs Belges” (Belgian Hearts) – Entirely Dedicated to the Belgian Resistance Fighters During the Nazi Occupation. Distributed Mainly in the Liège Region and Surroundings. Complete Annual Edition – 23 Consecutive Issues from January 15, 1946, to December 15, 1946. Rare.
“Cœurs Belges” was a clandestine resistance newspaper. At the top of each issue, it reads: “An organ of the resistance founded under German occupation.” Established in 1943 during the Nazi occupation, the journal aimed to honor and commemorate the heroes, soldiers, and civilians who fell on the battlefields and under German firing squads. Its founding director, Laurent Lombard, was a writer and chronicler of both world wars. The issues presented here regularly document the bravery of Belgian resistance fighters who managed to escape the Gestapo’s grip and continued their underground activities. They include first-hand revelations after the war of heroic actions by resistance fighters who sabotaged the Nazi war machine, hid Jews from the Nazis, and provided testimonies from Belgian survivors of death camps such as Ravensbrück, Mechelen, Breendonk, and detention camps in Antwerp and Brussels. The journal features numerous photographs of patriots who fell in the determined struggle against the Nazis, accounts of resistance fighters accused of espionage and executed, activities of the Belgian partisan movement, and assistance provided by resistance members to Allied soldiers who escaped captivity after their planes crashed in Belgium. It also includes stories of rescue operations carried out by the Free Belgian Army before the war’s end. Distributed primarily in the Liège and Stavelot regions, where Lombard had strong connections, the newspaper reached a circulation of 2,000 to 2,500 copies by 1944. It continued publication after the liberation until 1951, maintaining its patriotic focus.
23 complete issues. Condition: Very Good.
