The Witte Brigade archives

• Access et consultation : The collection is open during the opening hours of the reading room. Its content is freely available.
• Reproduction :  The content of the collection can be freely reproduced in the reading room. For any reproduction request by the CegeSoma teams, practical information is available here.
• Research tools : Inventory AA2495. Supplements 2019. First installement of archives in 1966.

Collection description :

Archives du groupe de résistance armée Witte Brigade (Fidelio), 1941-1993

The Witte Brigade (Fidelio) is the only resistance movement of a national dimension founded in Flanders. Its archives have recently been donated to our institution. They are all the more precious because they cover not only the post-war but also the occupation period. Furthermore, a detailed inventory has been made which greatly facilitates accessibility. 

From the Antwerp Liberal Nucleus to the Non-political National Organization

The Witte Brigade was founded on 23 July 1940 during a meeting which brought together a number of friends of teacher and reserve officer Marcel Louette (1907-1978). They were members of the Jonge Geuzenwacht, an organization presided by Louette. Recruiting was first done among the acquaintances of the founders, but was rapidly extended to the administrations of the city, the port and the police. In 1940, the movement was only present in Antwerp and its immediate surrounding areas, but from 1941 onwards it gained members in the rest of Flanders, in particular the provinces of Antwerp, Brabant and East Flanders. There were also a few groups in Brussels and Wallonia.

A Multifaceted Resistance , a Late but Ferocious Repression

The organization mostly engaged in non-violent actions, such as the printing and distribution of  clandestine press, the gathering and circulation of intelligence, the creation of escape lines for allied airmen, the aid to Jews and to persons trying to avoid forced labour in Germany. Its armed activities were limited to small sabotage actions and a few attacks on collaborators. The repression which hit the organisation particularly hard from November 1943 and which resulted in the arrest of 700 members, including Marcel Louette in May 1944, prevented that the organization  played a significant role during the Liberation.

Recognition Procedures, Patriotic and Social Action

In the immediate post-war period, the organization tried to obtain recognition for its members as armed resistance fighters. This recognition was given to 3,305 persons. Via the recognition procedure of the Witte Brigade, some 900 members of the Kempisch Legioen were also acknowledged. This organisation was mostly active in the Kempen and Limburg, and only received a national and thus autonomous status in 1961. In April 1946, the non-profit organization Witte Brigade (Fidelio) was created to uphold the spirit of patriotism dear to the movement and to defend the moral- and material interests of the members. Finally, in June 1953, the private limited liability company Marcel Louette was founded to provide a holiday location for the members of the movement and their children.

The Archives

The inventory made by our former colleague Jan Laplasse gives a good overview of the contents of the collection, and also greatly facilitates accessibility. However, two important points must be made. First, two boxes of photographs and slides are not included in the inventory. Second, the personal files of the members of the Witte Brigade (Fidelio) are temporarily kept at the seat of the Witte Brigade (Fidelio) in Antwerp. The collection consists of some twenty linear meters, and is divided in four sub-sections (AA 2495 to AA 2498). For the study of the resistance in occupied Belgium one can use the documents dating from the period itself  (AA 2495/656-846) as well as the personal files of the members of the Kempisch Legioen (AA 2495/4745-5627). The thousands of other files are a rich testimony to the place of the resistance in Flemish society after September 1944.

An Essential Collection for the History of the Resistance in Flanders

For more informations :

• Arnolds, Ann. De communicatiesystemen van een weerstandsbeweging : de Witte Brigade (Fidelio), Antwerpen 1940-1944 Brussel: VUB, 1991
• Arnolds, J. P., J. Boeva en L. Boeva eds. Witte Brigade (Fidelio) 1940-194. Antwerpen : Witte Brigade (Fidelio), 1990.
• Adriaens, Ward eds. Kroniek van de Witte Brigade Fidelio, sektor 26, Lier en omliggende. Lier : Witte Brigade / Fidelio, 1983.