Corrections by former members to the manuscript by René De Lathouwer on the history of the Jewish Defense Committee. Collection

Andrée Geulen was born in Brussels in 1921. She became a teacher. When in late 1942 more and more Jewish pupils didn’t show up for school anymore, she became aware of their situation and she joined the Jewish Defense Committee (JDC or Comité de Défense des Juifs). Andrée became a courier for the resistance network which hid between 3,000 and 4,000 Jewish children and adults all over Belgium. Andrée accompanied hundreds of children from their home to a hideout. Among Andrée’s colleagues were Yvonne Jospa (Hawa Groisman), Maurice Heiber, his wife Estera Fajersztejn, and Maurice Bolle. In the late 1960s, they assisted in a book project, developed by René De Lathouwer between 1947 and 1951, who tried to document the history and actions of the JDC. Andrée married Mr Herscovici and was recognised by Yad Vashem as Righteous among the Nations in 1989. She still lives in Brussels.

Between 1947 and 1951, René De Lathouwer wrote a book on the history of the Jewish Defense Committee (Comité de Défense des Juifs), a resistance and hiding network. The manuscript was edited by four former leading members of the committee : Yvonne Jospa (Hawa Groisman), Maurice Heiber, his wife Estera Fajersztejn and Maurice Bolle. All four of them distributed a stenciled copy of their comments among former collaborators of the JDC, including Andrée Geulen.

Andrée Geulen, 2014