Dijkstraat 114
Dendermonde
Determined and always optimistic in the fullest sense of the word, this man understood - unequivocally - the need of his overwhelmed country, and acted as his hard duty commanded.
At Chèvre airport, where he worked until shortly before his arrest, he gathered intelligence for the Allies. In addition, he assisted Allied airmen, sailors, soldiers and paratroopers and traveled numerous times to the coasts of Belgium, France and Holland to carry out espionage assignments. We may never learn how versatile and important his activity was underground. But the Germans found out and on September 26, 1942 he was arrested by the Gestapo. Then everything went quickly. After five weeks imprisonment in Ghent, René Verleyen and his associates were transferred to Bruges, to appear before the German court as the co-culprits in one of the largest espionage plots in Belgium. A few days of trial were enough to declare them the death penalty. In the woods of Loppem the sentence was executed on the 10th of November 1942.
In his last letter to his family we read: "Farewell - Hold on like me - One day we'll see each other again".
It is the language of a man who has rightly been called heroic. When he wrote down the words "One day we'll see each other again" - that was several hours before his death - he could not have imagined how these words would become true. His wife did indeed see him again. It is thanks to her that the body of her husband and that of his companions were found in the winter of 1944. All alone she set out for Haechtel, in the region of Leopoldsburg. Numerous graves of those executed were in a forest, which was closely guarded by the Germans during the occupation and into which no human could enter. After many adventures, Mrs. Verleyen found there the remains of her beloved husband, who could easily be recognized by his wavy blond hair and clothes. Fearless and with admirable courage, she continued her research and succeeded in finding the graves of those who had been shot with him, among others of the Venerable Father De Meirsman and of Mr. A. Hannoset.
Thanks to her, on April 14, 1945, the solemn transfer and funeral of these courageous inhabitants of our city could take place.
René Verleyen has passed away from us in the prime of his life. His sacrifice has not been in vain, his memory lives on in us.
Text provided by Chris Phare
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