Steve (Works at public land grant university UC Berkeley) Katz
@stevenkatz.bsky.social
Twenty five years or so raising money for indy and nonprofit journalism and now at UC Berkeley doing the same for the Journalism School. Picked up a PhD in sociology along the way. Pals with a fish named Bob.
And today, I honor the memory of my Uncle Mony, his crew mates, and their Belgian resistance friends, for everything they put on the line. These people fought fascists. 31/end
November 11, 2025 at 6:23 PM
And today, I honor the memory of my Uncle Mony, his crew mates, and their Belgian resistance friends, for everything they put on the line. These people fought fascists. 31/end
The courage and simple humanity of the Vos family and the Alterman sisters resonates down through the years to today. My family is forever grateful to them for the risks they took, and the example they provide, for how to live. 30/x
November 11, 2025 at 6:23 PM
The courage and simple humanity of the Vos family and the Alterman sisters resonates down through the years to today. My family is forever grateful to them for the risks they took, and the example they provide, for how to live. 30/x
During these 8 months, my grandparents Max and Irene and my mother Betty did not know if their son and brother was alive or dead. It was only when he returned to London for his intelligence debriefing that the US Army Air Force sent a telegram to let them know. 29/x
November 11, 2025 at 6:23 PM
During these 8 months, my grandparents Max and Irene and my mother Betty did not know if their son and brother was alive or dead. It was only when he returned to London for his intelligence debriefing that the US Army Air Force sent a telegram to let them know. 29/x
Here are the Alterman sisters, their dog Flicka, and airmen Lester Smith, Bob Walther, Don Dahlin, Gerald Miller, my uncle, and Paul Herring. Miller and Herring had flown with 2 different crews and with assistance from the Belgian resistance had made their way to the Alterman's house. 28/x
November 11, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Here are the Alterman sisters, their dog Flicka, and airmen Lester Smith, Bob Walther, Don Dahlin, Gerald Miller, my uncle, and Paul Herring. Miller and Herring had flown with 2 different crews and with assistance from the Belgian resistance had made their way to the Alterman's house. 28/x
At the Alterman's home, Mony was reunited with the 3 other crew mates who'd escaped and evaded capture - Walther, Smith, and Dahlin. They were hidden by the Altermans for 8 months, February to September 1944, when the US First Army liberated western Belgium from Nazi rule. 27/x
November 11, 2025 at 6:23 PM
At the Alterman's home, Mony was reunited with the 3 other crew mates who'd escaped and evaded capture - Walther, Smith, and Dahlin. They were hidden by the Altermans for 8 months, February to September 1944, when the US First Army liberated western Belgium from Nazi rule. 27/x
My uncle was then moved by the resistance via horse and cart 30 kilometers to the village of Blaregnies, Belgium, close to the French border. Two sisters, Julia and Adelie Alterman, members of the resistance, took him in. 26/x
November 11, 2025 at 6:23 PM
My uncle was then moved by the resistance via horse and cart 30 kilometers to the village of Blaregnies, Belgium, close to the French border. Two sisters, Julia and Adelie Alterman, members of the resistance, took him in. 26/x
Here is a picture of Nan, her mother Renee, along with Louisa Vos and her daughter Renee. The two daughters remained friends their entire lives. 25/x
November 11, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Here is a picture of Nan, her mother Renee, along with Louisa Vos and her daughter Renee. The two daughters remained friends their entire lives. 25/x
Fortunately, the Germans never looked up. Mony and Nan were safe. 24/x
November 11, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Fortunately, the Germans never looked up. Mony and Nan were safe. 24/x
"At the barn, we climbed the ladder” and pulled it up behind them. “After a while,” she wrote, “the barn door opened, and some armed Germans entered” and stabbed “the hay sheaves scattered on the ground floor of the barn” with their bayonets. “We hid without almost daring to breathe" 23/x.
November 11, 2025 at 6:23 PM
"At the barn, we climbed the ladder” and pulled it up behind them. “After a while,” she wrote, “the barn door opened, and some armed Germans entered” and stabbed “the hay sheaves scattered on the ground floor of the barn” with their bayonets. “We hid without almost daring to breathe" 23/x.
Now, with the Germans on their way, she went with Uncle Mony to the barn. "He was very tired and his leg and chest hurt him and he was also very worried about being discovered in civilian clothes," she later wrote 22/x
November 11, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Now, with the Germans on their way, she went with Uncle Mony to the barn. "He was very tired and his leg and chest hurt him and he was also very worried about being discovered in civilian clothes," she later wrote 22/x
"I was the only one to speak and understand a little English and I managed to make him understand that he was with friends who were going to take care of him.” 21/x
November 11, 2025 at 6:23 PM
"I was the only one to speak and understand a little English and I managed to make him understand that he was with friends who were going to take care of him.” 21/x
Many years later, Nan recounted what happened when my Uncle Mony parachuted into her life: “When I saw him, I realized that the man in uniform was an American
airman and I must admit that I threw myself into his arms to kiss him.” 20/x
airman and I must admit that I threw myself into his arms to kiss him.” 20/x
November 11, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Many years later, Nan recounted what happened when my Uncle Mony parachuted into her life: “When I saw him, I realized that the man in uniform was an American
airman and I must admit that I threw myself into his arms to kiss him.” 20/x
airman and I must admit that I threw myself into his arms to kiss him.” 20/x
With a German military unit on the way, the Vos family needed to hide both my uncle, and especially Renee and Nan. The Germans were killing the men found harboring Allied crewmen or Jews and shipping the women to concentration camps in the east. Everything was at stake. 19/x
November 11, 2025 at 6:23 PM
With a German military unit on the way, the Vos family needed to hide both my uncle, and especially Renee and Nan. The Germans were killing the men found harboring Allied crewmen or Jews and shipping the women to concentration camps in the east. Everything was at stake. 19/x
Before the war ended, the Vos family arranged for 17 members of the Miliband family to be sheltered and hidden throughout the village of Montignies-lez-Lens. In September 2024, they were recognized as "righteous gentiles” by Yad Vashem. 18/x
November 11, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Before the war ended, the Vos family arranged for 17 members of the Miliband family to be sheltered and hidden throughout the village of Montignies-lez-Lens. In September 2024, they were recognized as "righteous gentiles” by Yad Vashem. 18/x
His sons Ed Miliband and David Miliband became leaders in the Labor Party. David is now CEO @RESCUEorg. 17/x
November 11, 2025 at 6:23 PM
His sons Ed Miliband and David Miliband became leaders in the Labor Party. David is now CEO @RESCUEorg. 17/x
In Britain, Adolphe changed his name to Ralph, served in the Royal Navy, and later became internationally recognized as one of the most influential Marxist political scientists of the postwar period (I read him in graduate school). 16/x
November 11, 2025 at 6:23 PM
In Britain, Adolphe changed his name to Ralph, served in the Royal Navy, and later became internationally recognized as one of the most influential Marxist political scientists of the postwar period (I read him in graduate school). 16/x
When the time came in 1942, Renee and Nan headed to Montignies-lez-Lens. Nan's father Sam and her brother, then known as Adolphe, walked from Brussels to the port of Ostend. Sam talked their way onto the last boat to leave occupied Belgium for England. 15/x
November 11, 2025 at 6:23 PM
When the time came in 1942, Renee and Nan headed to Montignies-lez-Lens. Nan's father Sam and her brother, then known as Adolphe, walked from Brussels to the port of Ostend. Sam talked their way onto the last boat to leave occupied Belgium for England. 15/x
In 1940, after the German occupation of Belgium, and knowing how dangerous the situation was for Jews like the Milibands, Louisa Vos rode her bicycle three hours from Montignies-lez-Lens to Brussels to tell Renee that they were welcome to stay with the Vos family should they need to. 14/x
November 11, 2025 at 6:23 PM
In 1940, after the German occupation of Belgium, and knowing how dangerous the situation was for Jews like the Milibands, Louisa Vos rode her bicycle three hours from Montignies-lez-Lens to Brussels to tell Renee that they were welcome to stay with the Vos family should they need to. 14/x
Renee Miliband and Louisa Vos had met in the 1930s when they were both selling their wares at markets near Brussels to help their families make ends meet during the Depression. The families had come to love one another. 13/x
November 11, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Renee Miliband and Louisa Vos had met in the 1930s when they were both selling their wares at markets near Brussels to help their families make ends meet during the Depression. The families had come to love one another. 13/x
It happened that the Vos family was also sheltering Renee Miliband and her daughter Nan. The Milibands had emigrated to Belgium from Poland in the 1920s. 12/x
November 11, 2025 at 6:23 PM
It happened that the Vos family was also sheltering Renee Miliband and her daughter Nan. The Milibands had emigrated to Belgium from Poland in the 1920s. 12/x
Before they could move him, word came that the Germans were on their way. 11/x
November 11, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Before they could move him, word came that the Germans were on their way. 11/x
The Vos family hid my uncle in their barn for 3 days. Gustave, a member of the Belgian resistance, made arrangements to move him to a safe house away from the crash site. They knew the Germans would come looking, soon. Here is my uncle with Louisa Vos, on 5 Feb 1944 10/x
November 11, 2025 at 6:23 PM
The Vos family hid my uncle in their barn for 3 days. Gustave, a member of the Belgian resistance, made arrangements to move him to a safe house away from the crash site. They knew the Germans would come looking, soon. Here is my uncle with Louisa Vos, on 5 Feb 1944 10/x
My uncle's parachute landed him in a field next to the farm of Maurice and Louisa Vos, near the village of Montignies-lez-Lens, about 50 kilometers southwest of Brussels. Their son Gustave and his friends brought him back to the farm. He was suffering from broken ribs and a sprained ankle.9/x
November 11, 2025 at 6:23 PM
My uncle's parachute landed him in a field next to the farm of Maurice and Louisa Vos, near the village of Montignies-lez-Lens, about 50 kilometers southwest of Brussels. Their son Gustave and his friends brought him back to the farm. He was suffering from broken ribs and a sprained ankle.9/x