Bertha Serreyn
The Serreyn family originated in Ghent but lived in Sint-Andries, where they ran a knitting business and a construction company. When World War II broke out, Albert Serreyn was 25 years old and worked as an accountant at the Abbey of Zevenkerken, where the Organisation Todt (the German organization for building fortifications) was based. This situation allowed Albert to obtain valuable information, which he could use to participate in sabotage actions and attacks for the resistance.
Her brother Albert was part of the Front of Independence, where he joined the Partisan Army that focused on armed resistance. The actions started small, but soon became more significant, with attacks on trains, the elimination of collaborators, and the transportation of weapons. In the fall of 1943, the leader of the partisans was arrested, and Albert was asked to take over the command.
During the resistance actions, real names were not used, and place names were often replaced with codes. Nevertheless, some matters were discussed in groups. In May 1944, Albert was given the task of sabotaging a train in Aalter. However, the mission went wrong because the Gestapo had been tipped off by an *infiltrator and was waiting for them. Of the twenty resistance members, most were captured on the spot, but Albert managed to escape and quickly biked home. However, the Nazis were monitoring the addresses of the resistance members.
On May 26, 1944, his sister Bertha stood lookout from the tower of their house to warn Albert, but Albert saw the threat too late. He was shot in the leg and crawled into a cornfield, but was still captured. He was taken to the Ghent prison, where he, as a partisan and communist, endured severe torture. Witnesses later testified that he was horrifically beaten, but he had not revealed any names. Normally, he would have been sent to a concentration camp, but on June 2, 1944, he was selected with other prisoners for a reprisal action. The Germans wanted to take revenge for a resistance attack on their officers. Albert, along with a few other prisoners, was taken to Oostakker, where they were made to stand in front of a pit with a target on their chest. Without mercy, they were executed. Albert was only 29 years old.
After the war, American troops discovered the mass grave where Albert and other resistance members were buried. His sister Bertha went to retrieve her brother’s remains. Among his personal belongings was a small package with the number 37, containing clothing, a lock of hair, a penknife, and a piece of a tooth. Of the twenty resistance members who had been arrested on May 26, 1944, only seven survived the war. The others were executed, died in the camps, or perished during the death marches.
Bertha Serreyn, Albert's younger sister, was 15 years old when the war broke out. She had to leave school to help with the family business. One day, she discovered her brother Albert at the kitchen table, working with weapons. Albert explained that he was part of the resistance, and after seeing what she had, Bertha felt compelled to join as well. Thus, at the age of 17, Bertha began participating in resistance activities in 1942. Her youth and striking appearance made her an ideal courier for the resistance.
At one point, Bertha was tasked with picking up a load of "cod" in Zeebrugge. She never knew exactly what she was transporting, but she quickly suspected that it involved weapons or sticks of dynamite. Her assignments grew larger over time, and she even assisted in sabotaging trains.
Bertha had a boyfriend, Albert De Soete, but he was unaware of her resistance work. In turn, he was also active in the resistance, but for the Secret Army, and Bertha was unaware of his involvement.
On the fateful 26th of May, 1944, the Gestapo returned to the Serreyns' house to arrest the rest of the family. Because their mother was ill, she was released, but both their father, Frans Serreyn, and Bertha were taken. Frans was not heavily involved in the resistance, but he had hidden weapons beneath the wooden floorboards of their house. Bertha was imprisoned in the Pandereitje prison in Bruges, where her beauty gave her the “opportunity” to work as a companion for the Gestapo. However, she refused and was severely beaten. Despite the torture, she did not reveal any names, just like her brother Albert.
Bertha was later transferred to Sint-Gillis in Brussels, where the torture continued. She was thrown naked and alone into a cell, not knowing whether it was day or night. Occasionally, the guards would come by and scream, "We'll make you die!"
On September 1, 1944, the Germans decided to quickly evacuate Sint-Gillis. Transport trains left for Germany, but due to a resistance action by the railway workers, the train became stuck on a siding. The Red Cross negotiated with the Nazis for a prisoner exchange, and after a few days, Bertha was released. When she stepped off the train, she saw her father, Frans Serreyn, among the other released prisoners. They traveled back to Brussels together, which had not yet been fully liberated. From there, they went to Sint-Andries, where the town was in an uproar upon their return.
After the war, Albert De Soete, Bertha's boyfriend, was also arrested and detained. He was taken to Brugge and then to Brussels, where he was to be deported. However, due to the rapid end of the war, this was prevented. His and Bertha's reunion was emotional. They promised each other never to be apart again and later married.
Bertha, deeply scarred by her wartime experiences, was only recognized as a political prisoner years later. She found it too difficult to appear before a committee and testify about what had been done to her. The honors that were awarded to her, she initially refused to collect. It was only later that she began to see them as a form of recognition, as proof of everything she had done for her country. Only for her brother Albert did she accept the decoration that was posthumously awarded to him.
Bertha lived to the age of 88 and is buried in Sint-Andries, Brugge.
Block No: 30A
Grave No: 30A17
Concession end date: December 31, 2038, Sint-Andries, Brugge.
*Infiltrator* – this refers to André Vanbeveren, the brother of the Bruges partisan Norbert Vanbeveren. André Vanbeveren was a notorious Sipo-SD agent. He was executed by firing squad on May 29, 1948, as the last war criminal from West Flanders.