Quatre années de résistance (Four Years of Resistance)

Over the past summer, four new episodes were released of the RTBF podcast series “Quatre années de résistance”, launched in December 2024. This series, which constitutes the fifth “season” of the RTBF-La Première podcast collection “Sombre Belgique” written by journalist Eric Loze, draws on the scientific expertise of CegeSoma. Several current and former members of CegeSoma’s scientific team, such as Alain Colignon and José Gotovitch, featured regularly in the 18 episodes already released. The same goes for Fabrice Maerten, who appears in two of the last four episodes; find a brief overview of these episodes below, along with the links for listening to them in full.

After D-Day, hostilities between Resistance fighters and collaborators intensified in Belgium. The assassination of Oswald Englebin, the Rexist mayor of Charleroi, and his family led to horrific reprisals: Rexist militia looted and set fire to homes before murdering 27 people. This episode, known as the “Courcelles Massacre”, illustrates the extreme violence that marked the final months of the Occupation.

In twelve days, Allied forces—primarily American and British—liberated most of Belgium. This rapid advance was facilitated by the hasty retreat of German troops. By 14 September 1944, victory seemed assured across most of the country. What role did the Resistance play in this liberation? What influence did it exert after the war, and what place does it hold in the collective memory? The final episode, titled “After the Fight”, attempts to answer these questions.