Régine Karlin-Orfinger
1911-2004
Régine Karlin-Orfinger, one of the first female lawyers in Antwerp, joined the resistance after being barred from the bar as a Jew, saving countless lives. After the war, she became a lifelong advocate for human rights, women’s rights, and social justice.
Régine Karlin-Orfinger (1911–2004) was born in Antwerp into a liberal Jewish family of diamond traders. She studied law at the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and, in 1934, became one of the first women admitted to the Antwerp bar. In 1941, as a result of the occupation regime’s antisemitic laws, she was removed from the bar register. This exclusion marked the beginning of her active involvement in the resistance.
She helped Jewish children escape deportation through the organisation Ezra and found hiding places with the help of non-Jewish friends. Régine combined her legal knowledge and organisational skills to save lives.
In 1942, Régine and her husband Lucien Orfinger (1913–1944) joined the Partisans Armés, the armed wing of the Independence Front. Together, they operated from Antwerp, producing false papers, transporting weapons, and helping Jews go into hiding. After Lucien’s arrest and execution by the Nazis in 1944, Régine continued the work on her own, now based in the Namur region. Often with her young son Pierre on the back of her bicycle, she transported materials and messages. Her courage and determination, even after the loss of her husband, made her a key figure in the resistance networks.
After the war, she did not return to the Antwerp bar but instead focused her efforts in Brussels on human rights, women’s rights, and social justice. She co-founded the Ligue Belge pour la Défense des Droits de l’Homme (Belgian League for the Defence of Human Rights) in 1954 and the Syndicat des Avocats pour la Démocratie (Lawyers’ Union for Democracy). She campaigned for the right to abortion and equal treatment in the workplace. In 1996, the “Prix Régine Orfinger-Karlin” was named in her honour—an award for those who defend the rights of vulnerable groups. Her life story stands as a symbol of moral integrity and resistance to injustice.
Sources:
- Jacqueline Wiener-Henrion, «Régine Karlin-Orfinger», Les Cahiers de la Mémoire Contemporaine, 5 | 2004, URL: http://journals.openedition.org/cmc/1102; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/cmc.1102
- European Holocaust Research Infrastructure. “Régine Karlin-Orfinger.” EHRI Portal, portal.ehri-project.eu/virtual/be-ara-b-b-6-orfinger-karlin-regine-orfinger-henri.
- Ligue des Droits Humains: https://www.liguedh.be/la-ldh/prix-regine-orfinger-karlin