Maria Hernalsteen

Maria Hernalsteen (born September 1, 1901 in Molenbeek , † 1986 in Leuven ) was a Belgian Jehovah's Witness and a victim of National Socialism .

Life

Maria Hernalsteen grew up in Molenbeek near Brussels and married Léon Floryn, with whom she moved to Tervuren . She was baptized one of Jehovah's Witnesses on July 15, 1939, and then began the field service. The occupation of Belgium by the German Reich and the subsequent persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses forced her to operate underground , so she continued to preach in secret in Antwerp .

Her husband was arrested on June 8, 1941. One year later, on May 23, 1942, Maria Hernalsteen was finally arrested by the Gestapo and interrogated for several months at the headquarters in Louisalaan. However, she made no statements. On November 1, 1942, she was transferred to the Ravensbrück concentration camp without conviction . Half a year later she came to St. Lambrecht Abbey , a monastery that was converted into a sub-camp of the Dachaus concentration camp . On May 9, 1945, she was liberated there by British troops and took part in the monastery 's adoption ceremony.

She then returned to Tervuren. Maria Hernalsteen died in Leuven in 1986.

See also

• Jehovah's Witnesses during the Nazi era

literature

• Maria Hernalsteen . In: Irmgard Aschbauer, Andreas Baumgartner, Isabella Girstmair (eds.): Freedom is in fact alone. Resistance to National Socialism for religious reasons. Biographies and contributions to the 2009 International Symposium . Edition Mauthausen, Vienna 2010, ISBN 978-3-902605-17-7 , p. 99 f .