Arnaud Fraiteur was a Belgian resistance fighter. He was born in Ixelles on 23 May 1924 and died on 10 May 1943 in

Fort Breendonk Fort Breendonk (, ) is a former military installation at Breendonk, near Mechelen, Belgium, which served as a Nazi prison camp (''Auffanglager'') during the German occupation of Belgium during World War II. Originally constructed between 1906 ...

. He was hanged by the Germans for assassinating the Belgian collaborator Paul Colin.

Before the war

Born into an upper-middle-class family on 23 May 1924, Arnaud Fraiteur went to secondary school at the Athénée Royal d'Ixelles. After graduating, he enrolled at the

University of Liège The University of Liège (), or ULiège, is a major public university of the French Community of Belgium founded in 1817 and based in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium. Its official language is French (language), French. History The university was foun ...

, where he successfully passed the entrance exams in

civil engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...

.H. Thiry-Van Buggenhoudt, ''Biographie nationale'', vol. 44, p. 496. In May 1940, the invasion of Belgium by the Nazis marked the end of his studies: the University of Liège as well as the

Université libre de Bruxelles The (French language, French, ; lit. Free University of Brussels; abbreviated ULB) is a French-speaking research university in Brussels, Belgium. It has three campuses: the ''Solbosch'' campus (in the City of Brussels and Ixelles), the ''Plain ...

(Free University of Brussels) had to suspend their courses on 24 November 1941.C. Laporte,
Il y a 50 ans, l’ULB rouvrait ses portes ; Une armée se vainc plus facilement qu'une idée
, ''Le Soir'', p. 18.

During the occupation

After the invasion, Fraiteur took underground undergrad classes in civil engineering at the Free University of Brussels.
,
ULB Résistance
', p. 21. In

1941 The Correlates of War project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 3.49 million. However, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program estimates that the subsequent year, 1942, wa ...

, he joined the Partisans Armés as a liaison officer 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 ...

Max. Just like many other young people affiliated to the University of Brussels that were gathered by

Groupe G The General Sabotage Group of Belgium (), more commonly known as Groupe G after its leader Jean Burgers's codename "Gaby", was a Belgian resistance group during the Second World War, founded in 1942. Groupe G's activities concentrated particularl ...

, he participated in multiple actions organized by a unit from Brussels that was specialized in the fight against intellectual collaboration. In April 1943,P. Struye, G. Jacquemyns, José Gotovitch, ''La Belgique sous l'occupation allemande, 1940-1944'', p. 232.

Jacques Grippa Jacques Grippa (March 30, 1913– August 30, 1990) was a Belgian politician, member of the resistance during World War II and communist. Biography Grippa was the son of the Italian immigrant Jean Grippa (1886–1945) and the Belgian woman St� ...

put Fraiteur in charge of killing the journalist and art critic Paul Colin, a well-known collaborator in the press,

editor in chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held account ...

of the weekly ''Cassandre'', and of the daily ''Le Nouveau Journal'', which he had founded in 1940.C. J. Zabus, ''Le secret: motif et moteur de la littérature'', On 13 April, accompanied by two other members of the resistance, André Bertulot and Maurice Raskin, Fraiteur shot multiple bullets at Paul Colin as well as at his bodyguard in a library at 87 Rue de la Montagne in Brussels,M. Pascal
Colin le collabo oublié
Le Soir, which was located under the offices of ''Nouveau Journal'' and ''Cassandre''. Fraiteur managed to flee, but Bertulot and Raskin were arrested shortly afterwards.According to some sources, Bertulot was picked up immediately and Raskin the next day, se
ULB Résistance
p. 21; according to others, both were arrested at the place of the attack, se

''Le Soir''. Even though the assassination only involved Belgians, the German authorities immediately took control of the investigation, which proved how important Paul Colin was for them. The

Feldgendarmerie The term ''Feldgendarmerie'' (; ) refers to military police units of the armies of the Kingdom of Saxony (from 1810), the German Empire and Nazi Germany up to the end of World War II in Europe. Early history (1810-1918) From 1810 to 1812 King ...

, the

Geheime Feldpolizei The ''Geheime Feldpolizei'' (; ), shortened to GFP, was the secret military police of the German ''Wehrmacht'' until the end of the Second World War (1945). Its units carried out plainclothes and undercover security work in the field. Their ope ...

and 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 ...

came to the crime scene and detained André Bertulot and Maurice Raskin: the Belgian police and justice were taken off the case. Arnaud Fraiteur was quickly identified due to the license plate on the bicycle that he had left at the crime scene,C. Laporte
Jours de guerre sous le signe de l'héroïsme, de Bruxelles à Varsovie, en passant par Boortmerbeek Fraiteur, symbole de la révolte
''Le Soir'', p. 13. and the family home was placed under surveillance on the same evening. As he was on the run, he did not go home and hid at the home of friends of his parents in

Uccle Uccle (French language, French, ) or Ukkel (Dutch language, Dutch, ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the southern part of the region, it ...

, while ''Réseau Zéro'', with the help of ''ALI-France'' (led by Joseph Dubar), were organizing his escape to England.E. Verhoeyen, '
Un réseau belge du Nord : Ali-France
'', pt. 4 juillet 1942 – décembre 1943 ''Réseau Zéro'' asked a driver of the Ministry of the Colonies to drive him to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. However, the driver (called Hoogeveen), assisted by Paul Herten, who had replaced Paul Colin at the head of the ''Nouveau Journal'', denounced him to the German authorities, which made it possible for the

to arrest him (as well as his guide and Drubar's direct assistant,A. Saint-Léger (Université de Lille), ''Revue du Nord'', volume 76, number 306-307, p. 557. Raymonde Marc of the ALI-France network, codenamed ''Carmen'',D. Pommier,
Raymonde Marc, elle a survécu à l'enfer des camps
'', Nord-Éclair) on 29 April 1943, a few miles outside of Halle, on the road towards the French border. After being interrogated, and tortured, Fraiteur, Raskin and Bertulot were sentenced to death by the Oberfeldkommandantur's

military court A court-martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the arme ...

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 ...

after a show trial that was supposed to serve as an example to the Belgian population. They were hanged on 10 May 1943 at

.They may have been the first put to face the gallows there, se
D Day Overlord, Forum
They were buried at the "Enclos des fusillés" in

Schaerbeek (French language, French, ; former History of Dutch orthography, Dutch spelling) or (modern Dutch language, Dutch, ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels, Brussels-Capital Reg ...

.The name of Fraiteur's burial site may have led to confusion concerning his death as C. Laporte wrote in ''Le Soir'' of 30 July 1994, p. 18, that "Fraiteur was shot". On 7 June 1945, Fraiteur's body was exhumed in order to be buried in the family vault on the cemetery of Saint-Gilles. On 3 October 1944, the two who had denounced Arnaud Fraiteur, Herten and Hoogeveen, were sentenced to death by the court-martial of Brabant. On 13 November 1944, they were shot in the back, the punishment for traitors, in

Saint-Gilles Prison Saint-Gilles Prison (; ) is a prison in Brussels, Belgium, that opened in 1884. It is located on the borders of the municipalities of Saint-Gilles, Belgium, Saint-Gilles, Ixelles and Forest, Belgium, Forest, next to and . Representative of th ...

. The two men were the first Belgians to be executed for wartime collaboration.

Commemoration

In 1947, Arnaud Fraiteur's family allowed a new centre specialized in helping disabled children to be named after the young resistance fighter: ''Le Centre Arnaud Fraiteur'' (Arnaud Fraiteur centre) in the municipality of

Molenbeek-Saint-Jean (French language, French, ) or (Dutch language, Dutch, ), often simply called Molenbeek, is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the western p ...

in Brussels.See the websit
Centre Arnaud Fraiteur
. It was the first Belgian centre of this kind. Afterwards, his name was given to an avenue, a bridge, and a

bus stop A bus stop is a place where Public transport bus service, buses stop for passengers to get on and off the bus. The construction of bus stops tends to reflect the level of usage, where stops at busy locations may have shelter (building), shelters ...

located on the intersection between the Boulevard du Triomphe and the Avenue Arnaud Fraiteur. A

commemorative plaque A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, bearing text or an image in relief, or both, ...

is attached to Fraiteur's family home at Rue de la Concorde 60.

Belgian Resistance The Belgian Resistance (, ) collectively refers to the resistance movements opposed to the German occupation of Belgium during World War II, German occupation of Belgium during World War II. Within Belgium, resistance was fragmented between many ...

References

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraiteur, Arnaud 1924 births 1943 deaths Belgian assassins Belgian people convicted of murder Belgian resistance members Belgian people executed in Nazi concentration camps People from Ixelles University of Liège alumni People convicted of murder by Germany People convicted of murder by military courts People executed by Nazi Germany by hanging People who died in Breendonk prison camp Resistance members who died in Nazi concentration camps Executed assassins People executed by Nazi Germany occupation forces Civilians who were court-martialed Child soldiers in World War II Wartime torture victims

Before the war

During the occupation

Commemoration

Related article

References

Notes