Andrée Geulen (1921–2022) was a Belgian schoolteacher living in Ixelles and a courageous member of the resistance during World War II, known for her efforts to save Jewish children from Nazi persecution. She began teaching in 1942 and was outraged by the treatment of her Jewish pupils. In 1943, she joined the Comité de Défense des Juifs (CDJ), becoming one of its few non-Jewish members. She coordinated the rescue of over 300 Jewish children, hiding them in monasteries, orphanages and foster families across Belgium. She meticulously kept coded records to help reunite the children with surviving family members after the war.
Her impact was amplified by her ability to collaborate across multiple clandestine networks, including teachers, religious communities, and resistance cells; which allowed her to extend her reach and save even more children. She was named as honorary citizen of Ixelles in 2022.
Andrée Geulen’s courageous resistance during the Nazi occupation reflects freedom of thought, human dignity and resistance to oppression. These values are deeply aligned with the VUB and ULB principles of critical thinking, social responsibility and the moral duty to stand up against injustice. But most of all she demonstrated that if we accept our differences and unite, we can have a far greater impact.