Amanda "Mouchka" Stassart (1923–2013) was a member of the

Resistance during World War II During World War II, resistance movements operated in German-occupied Europe by a variety of means, ranging from non-cooperation to propaganda, hiding crashed pilots and even to outright warfare and the recapturing of towns. In many countries, r ...

and later a president of the Belgian Association of Air Hostesses.

Life

Stassart was born in

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

, Switzerland, to Belgian parents on 17 February 1923. She was sent to a Saint Vincent de Paul school in Belgium, living with a grandmother in

Ixelles (French language, French, ) or (Dutch language, Dutch, ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located to the south-east of Pentagon (Brussels), Brusse ...

, while her parents worked in the United States. In 1936 she moved to live with her parents in Paris, where her father was working for

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

. She enrolled at the

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

as a law student, but never graduated. In 1943 she joined the resistance, working as a courier and guide for the

Comet Line The Comet Line (; 1941–1944) was a Resistance organization in occupied Belgium and France in the Second World War. The Comet Line helped Allied soldiers and airmen shot down over occupied Belgium evade capture by Germans and return to Great ...

escape network under the

nom de guerre A ''nom de guerre'' (, 'war name') is a pseudonym chosen by someone to use when they are involved in a particular activity, especially fighting in a war. In Ancien régime, ''ancien régime'' Kingdom of France, France it would be adopted by each n ...

"Diane." She and her mother were betrayed in 1944. She was interrogated and tortured in the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

headquarters in the

Rue des Saussaies The Rue des Saussaies is a short (50 m long) street in the 8th arrondissement of Paris that adjoins the Ministry of the Interior. It begins at the Place Beauvau and finishes at the Place Saussaies. At number 10 lived the comte de Ségur, Napoleon ...

, held in Fresnes Prison, and then deported to

Ravensbrück concentration camp Ravensbrück () was a Nazi concentration camp exclusively for women from 1939 to 1945, located in northern Germany, north of Berlin at a site near the village of Ravensbrück (part of Fürstenberg/Havel). The camp memorial's estimated figure of 1 ...

, where her mother died in February 1945. Stassart was transferred to

Mauthausen concentration camp Mauthausen was a German Nazi concentration camp on a hill above the market town of Mauthausen, Upper Austria, Mauthausen (roughly east of Linz), Upper Austria. It was the main camp of a group with List of subcamps of Mauthausen, nearly 100 f ...

, where she was liberated by the

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

on 22 April 1945. Only in 2000 did she discover that her father, who had also been involved in the resistance, had died in

Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp Mittelbau-Dora (also Dora-Mittelbau and Nordhausen-Dora) was a Nazi concentration camp located near Nordhausen in Thuringia, Germany. It was established in late summer 1943 as a subcamp of Buchenwald concentration camp, supplying slave labour f ...

. In 1946 Stassart became a senior hostess for Sabena. In 1948 she visited the

Freedom Train Two national ''Freedom Trains'' have toured the United States: the 1947–49 special exhibit ''Freedom Train'' and the 1975–76 ''American Freedom Train'' which celebrated the United States Bicentennial. Each train had its own special red, white ...

in New York and was flown to

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

, to meet with airmen she had helped escape from occupied France. In 1954 she was in charge of running the Lady Sabena Clubhouse at the Sabena Air Terminus in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

. In 1955 she accompanied

King Baudouin Baudouin (; 7 September 1930 – 31 July 1993) was King of the Belgians from 17 July 1951 until his death in 1993. He was the last Belgian king to be sovereign of the Congo, before it became independent in 1960 and became the Democratic Republi ...

to the

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (, ; ) was a Belgian colonial empire, Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960 and became the Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville). The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Repu ...

, and she became Princess Paola's stewardess of choice on royal flights. Throughout her career at Sabena she was active in pushing for better conditions for female employees, in particular the right to keep their jobs after marriage, not be subject to a "beauty panel" for employment, and for parity of pay with male flight attendants. Retired from Sabena as a hostess upon her marriage to pilot Marcel Désir in 1969, in 1971 she co-founded

Trans European Airways Trans European Airways, usually referred to by its initials TEA, was a Belgian airline that operated from 1971 to 1991. It had its head office in Building 117 on the grounds of Melsbroek Airport in Steenokkerzeel, Belgium. History TEA was fo ...

, where she worked as Head Supervisor of Cabin Service.''Airline, Ship & Catering Onboard Services Magazine'', 20 (1988), p. 49. In 1984 she was involved in

Operation Moses Operation Moses (, ''Mivtza Moshe'') was the covert evacuation of Ethiopian Jews (known as the "Beta Israel" community or the derogatory "Falashas") from Sudan during a civil war that caused a famine in 1984. Originally called ''Gur Aryeh Yehuda ...

, evacuating Ethiopian Jews to Israel. In her later years she worked to maintain the memory of persecution and resistance during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. She died in

Woluwe-Saint-Pierre Woluwe-Saint-Pierre ( French, ) or Sint-Pieters-Woluwe ( Dutch, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the eastern part of the region, it is bordered by Etterbeek, Auderghem and Woluwe-Saint-Lambe ...

on 4 January 2013, and was buried a week later.

References

External links

* Testimony on warveterans.be YouTube Channel (2013)
Part 1Part 2
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stassart, Amanda 1923 births 2013 deaths People from Lausanne University of Paris alumni Belgian resistance members Ravensbrück concentration camp survivors Flight attendants Belgian expatriates in Switzerland Belgian expatriates in France

Life

Further reading

References

External links