Organisation Militaire Belge de Résistance

Belgian Military Organisation of Resistance OMBR
Organisation Militaire Belge de Résistance Participant in the Second World War
Active	1940-1944
Strength	3,112 personnel
Opponents	German Occupying Forces

The Belgian Military Organisation of Resistance (French: Organisation Militaire Belge de Résistance) or OMBR was an organization of the Belgian resistance to the Nazi occupation during the Second World War. It remained a reasonably small organization throughout the war, comprising a total of 3,112 men and women.^[1]

The acronym of the group was deliberately chosen as a homophone of the French word "Ombre" meaning "Shadow".

History

Founded in 1940, the group only adopted the acronym OMBR in July 1942.^[2] The group's motto was "Better to die than to betray"^{[note 1]} and its vow "I swear to be faithful to the country, to observe the laws and constitution of the Belgian people, to obey my superiors and never to betray."^[3]

Notable members

• Herman Bodson - Belgian mineralogist, later author of a number of books about the Belgian resistance.

Notes

1. « Mieux vaut mourir que trahir »

References

1. "Souvenir et Memoire" (PDF). www.bel-memorial.org. p. 2. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
2. Le livre d'or de la Résistance belge, publié par le Ministère de la Défense nationale, Les éditions Leclercq, Bruxelles, 1949, p.144
3. Le livre d'or de la Résistance belge, publié par le Ministère de la Défense nationale, Les éditions Leclercq, Bruxelles, 1949, p.147