Album Cœurs Belges – Nos Fastes Militaires Grandes Figures et Hauts Faits de la Résistance – Volume of issues of the rare journal “Belgian Hearts” – entirely dedicated to resistance fighters in the territory of Belgium during the years of Nazi occupation. Distributed mainly in the Liège area and its surroundings by the national publishing house Vox Patriæ. Complete annual volume – 24 consecutive issues from January 1, 1947 to December 15, 1947. Rare.
Album Cœurs Belges – an underground newspaper, with each issue headed by the line: “Organ of the Resistance founded under German occupation.” The newspaper was established in 1943 under German occupation, intended to publish and commemorate the memory of the heroes, soldiers and civilians, who fell on the battlefields and under the fire of German firing squads. The founding editor was Laurent Lombard, a writer and chronicler of both world wars. The issues before us consistently recount the heroic stories of Belgian resistance fighters who managed to escape the grip of the Gestapo and continue resistance operations, and include the first postwar revelations of heroic acts carried out by the resistance to sabotage the Nazi German war machine; efforts to hide Jews from the Nazis; testimonies from Belgian survivors of the death camps Ravensbrück, Mechelen, Breendonk, and the detention camps in Antwerp and Brussels; accounts of resistance fighters who escaped Nazi persecution at the last moment, and more. Also included in the issues: the stories of resistance fighters accused of espionage and executed by the Nazis; the operations of the Belgian partisan movement; assistance provided by resistance fighters to Allied soldiers who escaped captivity after their planes were downed over Belgium; rescue operations carried out by the Free Belgian Army before the end of the war; and more.
The issues are accompanied by numerous photographs of patriots who fell in the determined struggle against the Nazis. All front covers are in color.
The newspaper was distributed mainly in the Liège area and in the Stavelot region, where Lombard had connections. In 1944, its circulation reached 2,000 to 2,500 copies. It continued to be published even after the liberation, until 1951, while maintaining the patriotic line that had guided it from the start.
See also Dynasty auction 28, item 116.
23 complete issues. Very good condition.
