Alter Chil Pasternak

Alter Chil Pasternak was a Polish-Jewish resistance fighter who joined the Belgian Partisan Army in 1942, a faction of the left-leaning Independence Front. He quickly rose to a leadership position and was given the rank of deputy company commander.

Pasternak actively participated in sabotage missions, operations against collaborators, and rescue attempts for imprisoned resistance fighters. On 4 May 1943, he was part of a commando team that attempted to rescue wounded Jewish prisoners from the Sint-Jan Hospital in Tienen. These individuals had recently tried to escape during the legendary liberation of the 20th transport convoy from Mechelen to Auschwitz—an action led by ULB alumni Youra Livschitz, Robert Maistriau, and Jean Franklemon. The wounded escapees had been transferred to the hospital, and Livschitz pushed for a second rescue mission, in which Pasternak was involved.

In 1944, Pasternak was injured during another operation and treated by Dr. Conreur. Not long after, in the summer, he was arrested by the Nazis, interrogated at the Gestapo headquarters on Avenue Louise in Brussels, and imprisoned at the Dossin Barracks in Mechelen—a notorious SS collection camp for Jews, Roma, and Sinti. He spent the final weeks of the war as a prisoner there. On 4 September 1944, during the hurried SS evacuation of the camp in response to the approaching Allies, Pasternak was freed. His testimony about this liberation was later recorded.

Alter Chil Pasternak survived the war. He was recognised and registered with the Union of Polish Patriots in Belgium and was honoured by Poland for his courageous actions in the fight against the Nazi occupiers. Little is known about his later life, but his role remains a lasting part of the history of Jewish resistance in Belgium.

Sources:

• Herinnering Memoire – Getuigenis Alter Pasternak (Dossinkazerne)​
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• Cegesoma – Interviews VRT: Gewapende Partizanen (1985)​
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