Elisabeth Van Der Noot D'Assche
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Elisabeth, Countess van der Noot, Countess of Assche (July 22, 1899 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 ...
– March 27, 1974) was a Belgian aristocratic lady. 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 became friendly with the highest circles of the German occupation authorities, whilst in a few occasions helping the resistance.


Descent and family

Elisabeth was the first child of the 9th
Marquess of Assche Marquess of Assche is a title belonging to the Belgian nobility, Assche is the old writing of the city of Asse. The Margraveships still stands today and belongs to the House van der Noot, House ''van der Noot''. Today the current Marquess of Assc ...
, Edouard Dimitri van der Noot (1860–1928) and Adrienne Barbanson (1875–1944). On December 19, 1923, Elisabeth married the Roman aristocrat Costantino Ruspoli de Poggio-Suasa, who was making a diplomatic career. They had met each other while his father, Mario Ruspoli, 2nd Prince of Poggio Suasa, was an ambassador in Brussels (1919–1924). The spouses established themselves in the city, where they had three children: Marcantonio (°28.11.1926–2003), Edoardo (°February 17, 1928) and Giovanni Marescotti (°06.03.1935). On January 8, 1930 they attended the wedding of the Italian crown prince Umberto and the Belgian princess Marie José. At the outbreak of the war, Costantino joined the Italian army and became captain of the 11th Folgore Parachute Company. He was killed on October 25, 1942 at the
Second Battle of El Alamein The Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October – 11 November 1942) was a battle of the Second World War that took place near the Egyptian Railway station, railway halt of El Alamein. The First Battle of El Alamein and the Battle of Alam el Halfa ...
, while defending Hill 77, the most advanced Italian position, during operation ''Lightfoot''.


Double role during the war?

The widow of the posthumously decorated commander had remained in Brussels. She became intimate with the occupying authorities in Belgium, amongst whom the military governor
Alexander von Falkenhausen Alexander Ernst Alfred Hermann Freiherr von Falkenhausen (29 October 187831 July 1966) was a German general and military advisor to Chiang Kai-shek. He was an important figure during the Sino-German cooperation to reform the Chinese army. In ...
and his close collaborators, chief of the Command Staff Bodo von Harbou and civilian administrator Eggert Reeder. ''
Freiherr (; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , ) and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and in ...
'' von Falkenhausen had taken up quarters in the ''Palais d'Assche'', where Elisabeth had grown up. "Elisa" became the unofficial 'public relations' of Falkenhausen. Falkenhausen had made his career in the
Reichswehr ''Reichswehr'' (; ) was the official name of the German armed forces during the Weimar Republic and the first two years of Nazi Germany. After Germany was defeated in World War I, the Imperial German Army () was dissolved in order to be reshaped ...
and was somewhat mistrustful of and distrusted by the
nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
's. During week-ends he hosted at
Seneffe Castle Seneffe (; ) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. On 1 January 2006 Seneffe had a total population of 10,743. The total area is 62.77 km² which gives a population density of 171 inhabitants per km². ...
, left behind by the Jewish bankers' family Philippson and now declared "ownerless, non-Arian Capital". With Elisabeth by his side, he would invite the highest Belgian nobility: prince Albert de Ligne, duke de Croÿ, and also princess Marie José, sister of king Leopold. High-ranking officers, such as
Gerd von Rundstedt Karl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt (12 December 1875 – 24 February 1953) was a German ''Generalfeldmarschall'' (Field Marshal) in the ''German Army (1935–1945), Heer'' (Army) of Nazi Germany and OB West, ''Oberbefehlshaber West'' (Commande ...
and
Carl-Heinrich von Stülpnagel Carl-Heinrich Rudolf Wilhelm von Stülpnagel (2 January 1886 – 30 August 1944) was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II who was an army level commander. While serving as military commander of German-occupied France and as com ...
, would also join in frequently. Hunting parties were held there, or in the castle ''Ter Rijst'', where Elisabeth leased the hunting and fishing rights. In this period Elisa is mentioned in Falkenhausen's diary almost on a daily basis. At the same time Elisabeth played a small part within resistance activities. She is said to have provided food for allied pilots, who were hidden by the Comet line, group organizing routes to Spain. According to her son, she would receive each day dozens of requests for "humanitarian interventions".


Arrest

In the beginning of December 1943, Elisabeth was arrested in the ''hôtel Bristol'' (Paris) by the SD and taken to
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
. The city was being bombarded and at one point she and her
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 ...
guard Hertha Schulz had to run for hours through the streets, searching shelter. After interrogation and accused of currency smuggling, she was deported to the concentration camp of Ravensbrück. Harbou had been arrested on the same grounds and died a few weeks later in a Berlin cell, under unclear circumstances. Several months earlier, in July, Ulrich von Hassell had warned that the
NSDAP The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor, the German Workers ...
considered Falkenhausen's relations with the Belgians all too intimate and that he was being watched by the Gestapo. When what he had feared came true, a disapproving Von Hassell wrote in his diary that her phone had been tapped and that the accusations against her were not political but moral (black money market and immorality). With the aim of discrediting Falkenhausen, it was even being rumoured that Elisabeth and Alexander were lovers and had married in the Antwerp Cathedral. Falkenhausen asked
Wilhelm Keitel Wilhelm Bodewin Johann Gustav Keitel (; 22 September 188216 October 1946) was a German field marshal who held office as chief of the (OKW), the high command of Nazi Germany's armed forces, during World War II. He signed a number of criminal ...
for her release, but in vain: he was told that she had been arrested on the personal orders of
Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...
. In Ravensbrück, Elisabeth became friendly with, amongst others, countess Lagi von Ballestrem, a resistance fighter who had been with the Solf Circle. They had been assigned with sorting confiscated jewellery.
Helmuth James von Moltke Helmuth James Graf von Moltke (11 March 1907 – 23 January 1945) was a German jurist who, as a draftee in the German Abwehr, acted to subvert German human-rights abuses of people in territories occupied by Germany during World War II. He w ...
, whom she had got to know in Brussels, gave her a copy of
Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much ...
's ''If''. Elisabeths arrest was a prelude to the fall of Falkenhausen himself, who was dismissed on July 18, 1944 and replaced by a ''
Reichskommissar (, rendered as "Commissioner of the Empire", "Reich Commissioner" or "Imperial Commissioner"), in German history, was an official governatorial title used for various public offices during the period of the German Empire and Nazi Germany. Ger ...
'': Josef Grohé. A few days later he was arrested for his suspected role in the
20 July plot The 20 July plot, sometimes referred to as Operation Valkyrie, was a failed attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler, the chancellor and leader of Nazi Germany, and overthrow the Nazi regime on 20 July 1944. The plotters were part of the German r ...
against Hitler. He was deported to Dachau. At this point the relationship between Falkenhausen and Ruspoli, and similar relations of German highranking officers with Belgian citizens, provoked a comment by
Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
.


Return

After a few months in Ravensbrück, Elisabeth was retained in a forced residence in Thüringen. Freed in May 1945, she made her way back to Brussels. The American ambassador's wife Lydia Kirk recounted how, after the war, she discreetly mingled again with the higher circles. Her beauty and adventurous life exerted fascination. Kirk called her "a miniature Marlène Dietrich" and "a pocket Venus". Neither did she fail to mention the rumour that Elisbeth had received high-ranking German officers while taking a bath, or Elisabeth's boast that she had converted her German camp guard to
catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
. Meanwhile, Falkenhausen was imprisoned, first in Neurenberg and later in Belgium. He corresponded extensively with his "Sainte-Elisabeth". At the Falkenhausen trial, Karl Otto von Kameke gave testimony on his relationship with Elisabeth Ruspoli.Declaration of 23 oktober 1950, Protokoll p. 250. See also: (1990), ''Het proces von Falkenhausen en Reeder'' (unpublished Masters thesis, Leuven University) Falkenhausen was sentenced to twelve years of hard labour, but released a few days afterwards. The widow Ruspoli died, thirty years after the Liberation, in her home town. She had not been recognized as a member of the Resistance, but was accepted as a political prisoner.


References


External links


Photo's of Princess Ruspoli at CEGESOMA
{{DEFAULTSORT:Van der Noot d'Assche, Elisabeth 1899 births 1974 deaths Belgian countesses Belgian people of World War II Women in World War II