The Secret Routes To Escape Nazi-Occupied Europe During World War 2 | The Last Passage | Timeline

[Music] [Music] there was a time when life was like a suspense novel when these rooms hid Passing Strangers on their long and dangerous journey home when many never knew how it would end it was a wet Winter's Night when yet another group arrived at a farmhouse in an isolated Valley they would not be the first to come but they would be the last we had to walk and rain the whole time we got very wet anyway when we got to the found it was a nice fire there and we got dry in front of the fire and we had hot soup all of them were there together for different reasons to survive to escape to help but they all wanted the same thing to avoid being [Music] captured tomorrow we will try again tomorrow did you ever think what if it hadn't been raining oh yes I've often thought that we would have we would have gone that night and I'd have been in Spain the next day instead of being caught by the Germans yes yes I'd have got home I see them I see them Stanley's story began a few months earlier when he was returning from a reconnaissance mission over occupied territory [Music] my pilot decided to let me bail out first and then I jumped out and landed in Belgium quite near to where my mother had lived anyway I got help and I went to Brussels and I went saw a little uh Cafe and I went in the cafe and uh asked for a beer and she said to me you're not you're not Belgian I said no I'm Dutch she then spoke to me in Dutch she knew some Dutch and of course I didn't know what she said so I said I'm no I'm Eng I'm all right go and sit over there she said did that and Maurice came in and made me absolutely welcome said come over and spend the night with with us and then I'll uh fix you up with my father and mother and I spent a whole month in Brussels until uh they wanted to move us to Paris where at the for the first time I met DayDay Andre D young Coden named DayDay was 23 years old when Belgium was invaded by Hitler's Germany after the Allied evacuation at Dunkirk thousands of people found themselves trapped in occupied territory desperate to escape and many of those included the Allied soldiers who had been left behind very for it was around this time the day day met another Belgian Arnold depe a young man who was already involved in clandestine activities Arnold depe had the idea of helping people escaped to England and Day Day wanted to help him the question was how with the Germans controlling much of the coast of Western Europe it was impossible to cross the channel heading south towards Spain and eventually jalter was the answer so Arnold depay looked to his contacts in Southwest France and was soon sent to a house near byon the home of a Belgian family who had fled to France a few months earlier the degraves living under the same roof was grandmother Madame and Miss de grave and the two children Freddy and [Music] Janine goo is dead the name of the family dog was the secret password that opened the door the degraves agreed to help and soon strangers became friends in the summer of 41 DayDay and Arnold depay set off from Brussels with another group of skps however Arnold depe was immediately caught by the Germans and DayDay was left to carry on the journey to the South she managed to make it all the way to Spain in Bilbo DayDay showed up at the British Consulate to ask for help but the British were suspicious who was this young woman who claimed to have traveled from Brussels to bilau with three escapers on her own it took a while to confirm that DayDay really was part of a network of helpers across Belgium and France it was then that the British realized ized how useful this young Belgium woman could be for the war effort back in London the intelligence Services had formed a new section called mi9 it was run by a small group of British officers many of whom had Direct experience of Escape Mi 9 was formed at the beginning of the war and its primary function was uh escape and evasion to try and organize for Airmen who'd been shot down in occupied Europe to get back to the UK my father got involved in mi9 when he returned to the UK in about 1941 um he was wounded at Dunkirk I always got the impression he was one of the first people to start working on this escape and evasion uh on that section of mi9 they were there to help the lines to give them information and then deal with people who came back after they had uh agreed uh the D could work uh and bring over these um uh these escapes from occupied Europe I think I think the one condition was that she'd try and bring over as many Airmen as she could I think that's what they really wanted the British had a problem and that was that Allied Airmen were crashing into occupied territory and had few means of escape on their own Mike's burning if a series of people could help them cross down from northern Europe across France and Spain all the way to jalter where they could get back to England then the British would support them by whatever means the comet line was born the sole interest and demand was to know the steps to be taken to avoid capture obtain help from a friendly inhabitant friendly inhabitant within months hundreds of people became part of the Comet line a vast network of helpers of all ages and background that included entire families from grandparent to child the desire to help was Universal if an Airman was lucky enough to fall into the hands of KT he was often surprised to find himself faced with a young teenage girl many came from families whose parents were already part of KET and now their daughters wanted to join the line would begin in Belgium with girls like Elsie a man came to see if we were suitable if the house was uh okay for having people he said next time you'll have the visit of a young girl and this young girl was adre right from the beginning uh as soon as we had men at home uh I was busy um you know helping with little things like buying the necessary things for the men uh like uh comb brush uh razors you things like that also in Brussels was Nadine for if the Airman needed help in Paris there was Diane discover the past with exclusive history documentaries and adree podcasts presented by world-renowned historians all from history hit watch them on your smart TV or on the go with your mobile device download the app now to explore everything from the wonders of ancient Pompei and the Mystery of the princes in the tower to the life of Anne bin and D-Day sign up via the link in the description and in the far Southwest of France even the daughter of Madame degrave 15-year-old Janine decided to get involved [Music] by the end of 1941 if an Airman crashed in northern Europe all he had to do was find someone who could put him in touch with a helper from the comet line [Music] it was easy to find the Airman but not so easy for the Airman to find a willing helper Bob Frost was a gunner in a plane that was shot down over the Belgian Countryside we crashed in an aircraft and survived and I came on the outskirts to a farmhouse and I just like the look of the place and I went and knocked at the door there was a light I went into the farm house in capellan east of russels and I stayed there for 3 or 4 days and I was taken still wearing my uniform to a small town in the direction of Brussels I stayed with them for a few days and was then taken by tram to Brussels we had to First go into Villages and try and find uh the teacher or the priest and uh just speak gold a conversation with them and then try and see of what board they were if they were on the German side or not and that that way we said that we asked that if ever they heard of uh air man uh falling round about their Village that they would uh let us know from all across Belgium and Holland Airman would be brought down to [Music] Brussels in the byways and the lanes every stranger has challenged identified and I was a seaman so I was obviously working with the Germans to a ship in Bordeaux and so I was going back to my ship if I was arrested other Airmen such as Stanley found themselves spending Christmas a long way from home when I was with Morris I used to go to a cinema I went to a football match at Andel and then we we had a wonderful Christmas dinner at his uh apartment and I spent a whole month in [Music] Brussels they kept us in Brussels until uh they wanted to move us to Paris we only stayed there two nights but uh day was based in Paris then she wasn't in Brussels anymore she thought it was too dangerous so she and her father would had moved to Paris and operated from there and I was met there and taken to a house well it was a shop actually they had a bedroom there there was a brother and sister that used to run this shop and uh they kept me for about two nights I remember going to the cinema one night with them they always I always looked Afters very well life was difficult there was a curfew you had to be indoors by a certain time each night and you couldn't go out in the morning until the curfew was lifted and if a German Soldier was walking on the pavement you walked in the road from Paris they headed south a journey fraught with dangers one of these was keeping the Airmen from accidentally speaking in their own language something that would quickly reveal who they were when we were on the train going from Paris to sanj deluse the train was overnight and it was full Dell woke and saw a lady standing in the corridor open the door and said say ma'am would you like my seat and she said Thank you in English and sat down and we all waited and thought somebody would have heard and Janine didn't move at all she remained absolutely calm [Music] if all went well the Airmen would arrive in the southwest of France and the next stage of their Journey from the degrave family the network of helpers had grown early on Madame degrave had found an important collaborator a Spanish Exile who had contacts in the shadowy world of smuggling this man was Alejandro Alisal it was here in sanand Delo that Alejandro would meet with his group of friends across the nearby border Spain had only recently emerged from a bitter and bloody Civil War in every corner of the country neighbor fought neighbor even Hitler's Germany would play its part sending planes loaded with bombs over a small bask town with General Franco's Victory secure those who had fought on the losing side had nowhere to hide and so they fled leaving their Homeland behind many Exiles headed north To Where the bidasoa River divided France and Spain surrounded by mountains once in France they would survive in different ways two of these Exiles were Florentino and Manuel both men came from a town near the border Florence Ino was a mountain man and made his living from smuggling the other Exile was Manuel lauru Manuel escaped the Spanish side leaving his family behind and found work as a farmand it was at a farm very close to the border the home to a young Widow franchia and her three small children but soon after Manuel started working at the farm war broke out in the rest of Europe it wasn't long before his fellow Exile Florentino became involved helping people escape the other way across the border and into Spain it was only a matter of time before franchia agreed to help Manuel had warned her not to get involved it was too dangerous but francha had to survive and so did [Music] Manuel The Farmhouse of frania was used as a last stop in France for the comet line it was the beginning of the last passage in their long journey one that would take them over the mountains and across the basoa river into Spain late in the night Florentino would arrive ready to guide his next group of Airmen and their helpers Florentino came as the guide to take five of us over the Pyrenees he led the party dead Edie young brought up the rear of the party and we walked one behind the other and kept going and going and going [Music] [Music] when we all got together in a heap on the other side you could see the lights of Spain and I felt then I'm getting home they had traveled for hours through the night cold and wet from crossing the river the men and their helpers arrived exhausted there were still 30 km left to their next destination San Sebastian but in between were numerous houses willing to provide some food and rest despite the risks [Music] foree [Music] and a car came to collect us a big Mercedes motor car with CD plates on it called diplomatic and we got into the car and went and said goodbye to Florentino and D D young the Spanish side was unpredictable and dangerous but if the group of escapers could make it to San Sebastian the British would take over everything fine and dandy safe at Gibralter home soon love to all Bob Frost Airmen such as Bob had traveled more than a th000 kilom for some it took more than 3 months and for others Less Than 3 weeks it was a huge boost to the morale of their fellow Airmen giving them hope that if they were to crash maybe they would be lucky enough to make it home but most of the time the Airmen were not aware of the suffering that was going on behind the scenes with so many people involved it was impossible to know who was part of KT for the right reasons and who was not whether for bribes blackmail or pro-german sympathies there were always those willing to turn traitor and so it was that the same young girls that that helped the Airmen escape to England were soon to suffer the [Music] [Music] consequences [Music] Nadine Elsie and Diane were of many who would be arrested just as those in Kat use disguises and false identities to avoid getting caught so the Germans use the same same [Music] tricks Jean franois codame Franco seemed the ideal man for the job fris from Paris to the Pyrenees Franco become Day Day's right-hand man and so it was that in January 1943 they accompanied three Airmen one of whom was Stanley hope all the way to the next stage of their Journey a hiding house in Bayon I don't remember who took me to to the house where I stayed overnight I think it was a girl a young girl I think I think we got the train to S Johan from Bayon and then we got out and we walked and it was uh was late in the evening and it was rain the whole time I remember that and we just walked along some track up to the [Music] farm [Music] I ever seen that how lentino he came in and the weather had been very bad it rained all the time and he said the river was was overflowing it was very bad and uh he would come back we'd stay there overnight and come back the next day and let us know if the river had gone down because we had to for for the river so he went off and we stayed the night he [Music] [Music] on [Music] [Music] and then we were taken downstairs and lined up against the wall they as well and threaten to be shot because we were they told us we were sabots and uh then as I say one of the one of the boys pulled out his identity tags and said we were RAF so they didn't shoot us it was such and go though in a nearby Farm to franchia lived the Lara family who often passed on secret documents for franchia to keep they could never imagine the danger their neighbor was in foree foreign foreign fore [Music] r six people were arrested that Winter's day day day Stanley franchia Manuel and two other Airmen what happened at the farm would have almost immediate repercussions [Music] the Germans had managed to track down Lulu and her parents and they were arrested within weeks they were put on a train heading for Paris oh yes we traveled up together but they kept us apart we weren't allowed to talk to each other I tried to talk to Bill Bill Greaves and they stepped in said shut up you know you weren't allowed to talk to each other and de as I say she she was separate as well she just did that to us you know she didn't she couldn't [Music] speak they arrived in Paris scared wondering what would happen to them next London call in the home overseas and European Services of the BBC when ddy uh dong was arrested and her father shortly afterwards they were very despondent mi9 but they knew the line would reform so whilst it was a pretty black day um I don't think they ever felt it was the end of the comic line I've read would send people out um help with the lines and everything um and I dare say they helped they helped some of the lines you know with radios and with money and what have you jacqu lrel was a left tenant in the Belgian Army when war broke out he left his young children behind and headed for England from the beginning he was trained as a wireless operator for KT and sent back to Europe to act as the main link between mi9 in London and KT in Paris for [Music] the comet line kept going each wave of arrests seemed to have the opposite effect when one person disappeared another would take their place and so it was that Franco and LEL found themselves working alongside a new generation of helpers at a time when KT was needed more than ever with the arrest of her sister Nadine and their parents Mishu Deon was the only one in the family to continue their work in commit [Music] for it was a new morning in the South it had been two years since the degrave family began leading a double life and tant go was busy with her work overseeing the Smugglers and Basque helpers who according to her always had to be held in hand the Belgian woman might have considered the local helpers as unruly but despite the constant arrests on both sides of the Border there was never a shortage of helpers willing to keep the line going one of these was Florentino who decided to return to the family who had seen what happened that day at francher Farmhouse Franco and LEL had succeeded in reorganizing the line from north to south Ked ran like a well-oiled machine working at full capacity the last 6 months of 1943 were the most successful time ever for [Music] KT however for every one Airman who escaped 10 helpers would be arrested this was the harsh reality of working for KET it seemed like a pattern had formed for a while things would go well but sooner or later something would happen and the question was always [Music] when [Music] for back in Paris the inevitable would happen it was almost exactly a year to the day since DayDay was arrested at the farm and now the work of her successor Franco and his partner L would come to an end [Music] Franco was brought to the Gestapo offices in Paris where he saw L had already been interrogated now it was Franco's turn to be interrogated and he was scared suddenly Franco had an idea he remembered the night it was Christmas Eve when he was helping a group escape across to Spain a group that included the chief of the Brussels sector a man code named ja cier the river was overflowing and they thought they could make it but halfway across gunshots rang out and in the Panic Jack CER was Swept Away to his death Franco thought of a way out for himself [Music] no everything Franco told the Germans seemed to be true two bodies had been found on the banks of the river the first turned out to be one of the Airmen a young American the description of the other matched that of a 50y old Belgian Man antoan Dell code name Jac Cartier for ex 4,000 ships combat and Landing CRA carry the war to the enemy within six months of their arrests the work of KT was finished with the Allied Landings and many of the French Railways bombed the decision was made to abandon the Escape Route to Spain however with their work done many of the helpers decided to escape themselves they had made it to the British Embassy in Madrid but it was to be a Bittersweet reunion [Music] for for all of those left behind it was always a question of how long would they have to wait for Liberation and more importantly would they be able to last that long whereas the Airmen were sent to prison of War camps their helpers were treated differently they would end up in concentration camps de was in uh uh ravensbrook and Nadine was in several concentration camps yeah they had a terrible time I didn't exactly enjoy my solitary confinement I did 114 days solitary but I managed to keep Saye I don't know how for [Music] [Music] for in rorf six women were found alive among thousands of corpses the day had finally come for many they had entered KET as idealistic young people but now as they returned to their lives their memories would always stay with [Music] them fore [Music] Kil in francher Farmhouse the rooms lay empty the farmand Manuel was right working for KT was a dangerous business out of the six people arrested two would never return home Manuel died in a concentration camp and frania met her fate a year [Music] [Music] later French's three young children would never see their mother [Music] again [Applause] ladies and gentlemen those that are uping [Music] stand [Music] they shall not grow old as we who are left grow old age shall not weary them nor the years condemned at the going down of the Sun and in the morning we will remember them Absolut Absolut nothing else counted at that [Music] time for foreign spee for the thing that I think of most is Maris being shot for helping me they wanted to know more about where i' stayed in Brussels and they already had a good idea because I I'd kept the address and I had it on me and that was stupid his grave is in Brussels I've been to his grave and I always regret that he suffered because of me he helped me and he paid the price for me I'll never forget that [Music] never if he had lived it would have been all so much worthwhile you know he [Music] didn't [Music] go

Channel: Timeline - World History Documentaries

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Keywords: Timeline World History, Timeline, Full Length Documentary, History Documentary, World History, learn history, history facts, world war 2, POW, French Resistance, freedom trail, belgium, SS

Id: 4fYYj1O5muY

Length: 53min 56sec (3236 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 15 2024