Friday 23rd September 2022 a stumbling stone was placed in Puurs for Clement Dielis

W. de Vochtstraat 14, Puurs-Sint-Amands

CLEMENT DIELIS

In the attic radio messages were sent to London in 1940-1941 with a secret transmitter to inform the Allies about the doings of the Nazis and the military activities of the Germans.  In 1941, 109 of the 111 members of De Zwarte Hand were arrested and deported to Fort Breendonk; only 37 of them survived the camps. It was striking that De Zwarte Hand was a group of young resistance fighters, on average 25 years old and almost half even younger than 20. On 7 August 1943, 12 leaders (9 from Puurs) were shot in Lingen. Two of them worked at the town hall: Emiel De Cat as receiver and Clement Dielis, the leader of the group, at the land registry. The town hall was also the headquarters of the resistance movement.

Clement Dielis is 22, works at the town hall, plays football at Excelsior Puurs and has a sweetheart called Josephine. But Clement is also co-founder and leader of De Zwarte Hand, one of the first resistance groups in Belgium.

Afterwards there was a book launch.