Customer Reviews

The Quest for Freedom: Belgian Resistance in World War II

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is an easy and well written book and first hand biography by a couragious woman, resistance fighter in Belgium during World War II. I am glad to have found this work and finally have been able to read about the Belgian resistance. The simplicity of the biography is what makes it so interesting. The work is filled with small and valuable details. I wish that other Belgians would have found the courage to publish their wartime experiences. Thank you Yvonne de Ridder

Easy to read story of the little known Belgian resistance in ww2. Real life stories can be amazing, and fill you full of envy, delight, fear. However, this book is so understated that although the writer did some courageous and amazing things, risking her life daily, she does not portray this, and leaves the reader dissatisfied. Sometimes modesty is not such a virtue.

I met Yvonne deridder deFiles while my kids were in middle school. She came to the school on an invitation to excite kids that had difficulty in school. She was a jewel. I was given a signed copy of her book as a gift, after talking to the kids and was invited to a private conversation with the author, teacher and myself about the time she was in the resistance and in prison. She was a strong, funny, intelligent woman I was honored to have met and if time would have permitted I would have spent more time with her. The book was very interesting. A little above the middle school age but I found it interesting especially after meeting the author. If you are interested in WWII a must read.

"The Quest For Freedom" by Yvonne de Ridder Files. Subtitled: "Belgian Resistance In World War II". (which is the subtitle on my copy of the book).
Fithian Press, Santa Barbara, 1991.

Since retirement as an engineer, I have tried to use my MA in History, leading me to the history of World War II. In my limited experience, there appears to be plenty of books on French Resistance in world War II, with the quantity of books on Polish Resistance being in second place (perhaps). It appears that the number of works on the Resistance in Belgium, Denmark and The Netherlands are few and far between. Therefore, I was happy to see the subtitle, "Belgian Resistance In World War II" on this book. I was disappointed. This book does not address the overall Belgian Resistance, but, rather, is the autobiography of one woman who fought hard and long inside the Belgian Resistance.

Having expressed my disappointment, I would not want to belittle nor denigrate the sufferings and sacrifices of Yvonne de Ridder Files. I know that I could never suffer the way that she did and I thank God that as a little boy in world War II, I never had to make real sacrifices.

This book is actually an autobiography of Yvonne de Ridder Files, written in the first person, tracing her life from the early stages of World War II through her last divorce and her latest marriage to Lt. Colonel Roger Files, (USAF), in 1970. The book is replete with photos of the author at various stages of the War, along with photos of some of the Allied fliers (e.g. Max MacGregor and Louis Rabinowitz, page 77) that she and the Resistance helped. Time wise, the author's story begins with May 1940, when the "Sitzkrieg" again became a "Blitzkrieg", and Belgium and The Netherlands rapidly capitulated. Yvonne records how she and her husband fled from Belgium into France, and, one night parked near two big, seemingly brand-new barns. She was afraid that the barns would be mistaken for aircraft hangars, although she spelt the "hangar" as "hanger"(page 12). . Her 1940 husband was a Jew with American citizenship and he flees to America and quietly disappears from the remainder of the book. Most of the book, from page 25 up to page 145, deals with her Resistance efforts, including the hiding of explosives, the protection of Allied airmen and, finally, betrayal, capture and torture by the Nazis. Yvonne never gave away any secrets. From page 145 to the end of the book (p. 171) the author recounts her post war activities, serving the Allied forces as an interpreter.

I found the writing to be sometimes vindictive here and there, as she describes the actions of her step mother and some of her Belgian neighbors. For a misleading title, one star;
for excellent writing and personal reminisces, five stars; for interesting digs at Nazi propaganda, four stars and, finally, for leaving out too much (where's the first husband?) and putting in too many other details, one star. Average 3.5 stars.