November 1937: Some Belgians in training at the officers' school of the Brigades in Pozorrubio (now Pozorrubio de Santiago). From left to right: Fernand Stevens of Ghent, Ernest Herckenrath of Brussels, Henri Agon of La Louvière, and Jean Van Hamme of Koekelberg.
Captain Raoul Baligant(d) of Roux/Courcelles. During the occupation, Baligant became active with the partisans and organized several spectacular operations. By the end of the war, he was the commander of the Partisans Armés of Western Wallonia. After the liberation, he became a member of parliament of the Communist Party.
Lieutenant Piet De Moor of Brussels. De Moor studied Political and Economic Sciences at Ghent University. Using a pseudonym, he worked as a journalist for the communist newspaper La Voix du Peuple (The Voice of the People). He left for Spain only in 1938 and was killed there on September 22 of that year as commander of a machine gun company.
Lieutenant Ernest Herckenrath of Laken. He was active in the Independence Front during the occupation. He was arrested and executed in Breendonk in November 1943.
Lieutenant Pharmacist Ruchla (Rachel) Eksztejn of Antwerp. She was the wife of Jacob ‘Jacques’ Gunzig (Dolly), a leader of the Jewish communists in Antwerp. In Spain, he was a captain in the Masaryk Battalion. Ruchla managed the pharmacy at the Brigades' base in Albacete.
Lieutenant Isidoor Springer of Antwerp. Springer graduated as an engineer at Ghent University and was for some time the president of the student club ’t Zal Wel Gaan (It Will Work Out). During the war years, he was part of the Red Orchestra, the Soviet intelligence network led by Leopold Trepper. After his arrest, Springer committed suicide in Fresnes prison.
