Fernande Volral
1920-1944
Fernande Volral was a young resistance fighter from Charleroi who led sabotage missions and served as a liaison for the Armed Partisans. In 1944, she was executed by beheading by the Nazis; her brother campaigned for her public recognition until his death.
Fernande Volral, a young seamstress from Charleroi, joined the resistance in 1941. Through communist resistance leader Raoul Baligand, she became a liaison for the Partisans Armés (Armed Partisans). In 1942, she joined a resistance cell based at Rue de la Perle 10 in Molenbeek, Brussels, affiliated with the Independence Front. By the end of that year, she was leading bold sabotage missions.
On 23 February 1943, she was betrayed and arrested at home. She tried to defend herself with a firearm, injuring one of the two Gestapo officers sent to capture her, but was eventually overpowered. Via Saint-Gilles prison, she was deported to Germany on 11 September 1943 and imprisoned in Leer, awaiting trial before the Volksgerichtshof (People’s Court).
On 26 March 1944, she was sentenced to death along with fellow resistance fighter Marguerite Bervoets. Both women were transferred to WolfenbĂĽttel prison and executed by axe on 7 August 1944.
In her final farewell letter, dated 7 August 1944, Fernande wrote to her mother:
“My little mother, I have sad news to share—please be brave. I have been sentenced to death. I will probably be executed this evening. You must think of my brother and bear this trial with courage. As for my little brother, tell him he must be a man. That’s all I ask of him. Soon, the world will be free, and it is for him, my little Claude, that I will have fought.”
Her younger brother, Claude Volral, honoured her memory throughout his life. Until shortly before his death in 2020, at the age of 92, he campaigned for public recognition of his sister. In August 2020, a street in Charleroi was named after Fernande Volral—joining others in Jette and even a bus stop in Brussels bearing her name.
Sources:
- Sudinfo, 20 februari 2020
- Krant De Morgen, 14 december 2024
- Ledenmagazine Helden van het verzet, maart 2025