Henri Story
Encyclopedia
Henri Albert Oscar Lucien Marie Ghislain Story (Ghent
Ghent
Ghent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...

 27 November 1897-Gross-Rosen, 5 December 1944) was a Belgian
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 businessman and liberal politician in Ghent
Ghent
Ghent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...

. He was born on 27 November 1897 in a prominent liberal family of textile
Textile
A textile or cloth is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands...

 business people. The Story family was connected with other families such as, Mechelynck and Rosseel. Henri himself married with Cecile Boddaert, a cousin of the President of the Ghent Liberal Association Henri Boddaert.

Early life

His mother died when Henri Story was one year old and five years later his father also dies. Together with his three sisters he is raised by his grandmother, Marie Voortman. He attends the Institut de Gand but early during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, from 1915 until 1918 he serves in the war, and in 1918 he serves in the occupational force in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

. After his return to Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

, he starts working in the family business in and serves in several mandates in companies such as the Financière Industrielle Belge, de NV Louisiane, de Union Cotonnière, Brufina en de Banque de Bruxelles. He becomes director-general of the Filature Renson and treasurer of the Ghent Chamber of Commerce.

Political career

In the twenties his political career starts and he follows in the footsteps of its father and grandfather. Both served in important functions within the liberal association and were prominent people within progressive wing of the party. His grandfather Henri Abraham conducted opposition within the Liberal Party against the doctrinary Charles de Kerchove de Denterghem
Charles de Kerchove de Denterghem
Count Charles de Kerchove de Denterghem was a Belgian engineer and liberal politician. He was a son of the Ghent burgomaster Constant de Kerchove de Denterghem. His son Oswald would become Provincial Governor of Hainaut....

. His father Albert, a close collaborator of burgomaster Lippens, had been involved actively the Société libérale pour l’Etude des Sciences et des Oeuvres Sociales and of the Gentsche Volkskeuken (E: Ghent People Kitchen). Both were also members of the Council of management and of the redaction of the Ghent journal Flandre Libérale (where Henri would succeed them).

Henri will clearly emphasize the same political ideas as his father and grandfather. He becomes a convinced Social Liberal, who endorses the emancipatory roots of traditional liberalism and dreams of a broad People's Party
People's Party (Belgium)
The People's Party , abbreviated to PP, is a conservative liberal political party in Belgium. Primarily a French-speaking party, it considers itself to be to the right of the Mouvement Réformateur, Belgium's main centre-right French-speaking party....

 which includes all layers of the population. He himself is a follower of Albert Mechelynck
Albert Mechelynck
Albert Josse Louis Mechelynck was a Belgian liberal politician. He was a son of Louis Mechelynck and Pauline Delehaye, daughter of the former mayor of Ghent, Judocus Delehaye...

 who in the 1920s as national President of the Liberal party brought the heart of the party to the streets and districts, away from the private salons and elitist clubs. In 1926, Henri became a member of the party office of the Liberal Association of Ghent, and immediately became a delegate for the arrondissement to the national Council of the Liberal Party
Liberal Party (Belgium)
The Liberal Party was a Belgian political party that existed from 1846 until 1961, when it became the Party for Freedom and Progress, Partij voor Vrijheid en Vooruitgang/Parti de la Liberté et du Progrès or PVV-PLP, under the leadership of Omer Vanaudenhove.-History:The Liberal Party was founded...

.

In 1928 he becomes a member of the provincial Council of East Flanders
East Flanders
East Flanders is a province of Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on the Netherlands and in Belgium on the provinces of Antwerp, Flemish Brabant , of Hainaut and of West Flanders...

, and is re-elected in 1932, but in 1936, he declares himself no longer eligible. In the same year he becomes President of the Liberal Association of Ghent where he succeeds Jean Van Impe. The Ghent association at that moment was severely divided and many saw in Henri Story, who was a relative newcomer, a new force which could renew and restructure the party and ensure its unity. The members of his first governing board made things more clearly: all sections of the liberals of Ghent were given a voice. Armand Colle joined the governing committee as a representative of the trade union, Carlos Flamant for the Volksbond Vrijheidsliefde, others from the Liberale Voorwacht and Help U Zelf (E: Help Yourself). Several representatives of the different district departments also got a seat. He also introduces Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...

 as the language of the party governing board. The Story family belongs, just as the major part of the Ghent party leaders], to the French-speaking bourgeoisie
Bourgeoisie
In sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...

. Story's ideas for democratisation and his striving towards a people party require the acceptance Flemish as an equivalent language to French. Liberalism is for Henri the key to more prosperity and freedom for the entire population, and therefore it is obvious that the language of the majority of the people must prevail. The new party booklet which was published in 1937, Op Nieuwe Wegen (E: On New Roads), would be written in Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...

. In this he follows the vision of his own father, who between 1880-1890 had been an active member of the Vlaamsche Liberale Kiesbond (E: Flemish Liberal Voters League).

Henri Story redefines the working of the Ghent department of the Liberal Party. Between 1936 and 1940 the political, social and economic positions of the liberal party are being redefined. He emphasizes the strict independence of magistrate
Magistrate
A magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...

s, the protection of minorities by means of a representation in the parliament, the rights and the equivalence of women or the combination of a tempered free market
Free market
A free market is a competitive market where prices are determined by supply and demand. However, the term is also commonly used for markets in which economic intervention and regulation by the state is limited to tax collection, and enforcement of private ownership and contracts...

 economy
Economy
An economy consists of the economic system of a country or other area; the labor, capital and land resources; and the manufacturing, trade, distribution, and consumption of goods and services of that area...

 with social security
Social security
Social security is primarily a social insurance program providing social protection or protection against socially recognized conditions, including poverty, old age, disability, unemployment and others. Social security may refer to:...

 for everyone. He pleads for the establishment of a State Council which must protect the citizen against abuses by the state, the abolition of the provincial senators, a simplification of the tax system and a new financing scheme for the municipalities.

In 1938, he is elected as municipality Council member and becomes Alderman
Alderman
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council...

 for the large urban public enterprises, which he manages as a professional manager. Due to the threat of war, he did not get much time to roll out his plans. The increasing threat of war in Europe leads to a range activities which have to do with protection of the people of Ghent, such as supplies and support to the families of the mobilised, etc.. Story, who as an Alderman is also responsible for the so-called passive maintaining of the city, is closely involved in the prewar preparations. During the first months of 1940, representatives of the political parties, the industry, the social organisations and the university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...

 meet on a regular base under his chairmanship to prepare Ghent for a possible war. At the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, burgomaster Vander Stegen flees to France but Story stays in Ghent as head of civil protection, he is drafted 16 May and has to join his regiment. He reaches his regiment just after the capitulation of the Belgian army and returns to Ghent. He is reinstated as Alderman, but does not succeed to resume his office. In 1941, the war burgomaster Elias dismisses him from office.

World War II

He returns to his business and becomes more active than ever. He continues to serve his mandates in several enterprises, and becomes a director of the Bank van Brussel on the Kouter in Ghent and becomes chairman of the Intifil cooperative and attempts to navigate the textile industry of Ghent through the war. At the surface he behaves as a strictly neutral citizen, but form the start of the Nazi occupation he commits himselve to help the prisoners of war, the deportees and the people forced to work in Germany. He refuses to pass on the lists of his employees to the Nazis, what brings him in 1942, for the Court martial. His commitment to resisting the occupation goes even further. Already in 1940, he joins the local resistance. He founded the Ghent department of the information service Zero and is provincial agent for the Socrates group which supports people hiding from the Nazis and organised flight routes. He helps his future son-in-law, Charles Waegemans, to escape to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. Through Albert Maertens he gets involved in the distribution of underground newspapers such as The Belfort and at the activities of the Onafhankelijkheidsfront (E: Independence Front). His contacts in the financial and industrial world and his leading position within freemasonry
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...

 (as chairing master of Le Septentrion) also mean an important support for the resistance movement
Resistance movement
A resistance movement is a group or collection of individual groups, dedicated to opposing an invader in an occupied country or the government of a sovereign state. It may seek to achieve its objects through either the use of nonviolent resistance or the use of armed force...

.

Also in the policy domain he continues his work in the underground. Against the German prohibition on political activities, the liberal party shortly after the outbreak of World War II starts to the make plans for a blueprint
Blueprint
A blueprint is a type of paper-based reproduction usually of a technical drawing, documenting an architecture or an engineering design. More generally, the term "blueprint" has come to be used to refer to any detailed plan....

 for a new post war liberal party. As from 1941 Henri plays an increasingly important role in the preparations. Under supervision of wartime Presidents Jane Brigode
Jane Brigode
Jane Brittle was a Belgian liberal and politician. From 1940 until 1945 she was co-president of the Liberal Party...

 and Fernand Demets
Fernand Demets
Fernand Charles Gustave Demets was a Belgian liberal politician, burgomaster and minister. Demets was industrialist and became municipality Council member and burgomaster in Anderlecht and liberal senator in the district Brussels. Demets was co-president of the Liberal Party...

 and with a whole range of post-war Liberal leaders such as Van Glabbeke, Mundeleer and Buisseret they reflect on a modernised liberal party and in the texts which were prepared, one can clearly see the ideas which Henri stood for and had implemented in Ghent. The new party programme for the Liberal Party which was presented by Roger Motz
Roger Motz
Roger Jean Henri Motz was a Belgian liberal and politician. Motz was a mine-engineer and governor of companies...

 in 1945-1946, was clearly inspired by Henri Story.

His work for the underground resistance during the war would lead to his capture and death. On 22 October 1943 he is arrested in his office at the Kouter in Ghent. He becomes a member of the Masonic Lodge
Masonic Lodge
This article is about the Masonic term for a membership group. For buildings named Masonic Lodge, see Masonic Lodge A Masonic Lodge, often termed a Private Lodge or Constituent Lodge, is the basic organisation of Freemasonry...

 Liberté chérie
Liberté Chérie
The French association ' , created in March 2001 under the name , first came to public prominence on June 15, 2003, when, after its call to demonstrate "in favour of reforms and against blockings" and against government employees who were striking, an estimated 80,000 protesters gathered on the ...

 (French: "Beloved Liberty") inside Hut 6 of Emslandlager VII (Esterwegen
Esterwegen
Esterwegen is a municipality in the Emsland district, in Lower Saxony, Germany.In 1933 a concentration camp was established in Esterwegen. In 1936 the camp was dissolved and used till 1945 as a prisoner camp, for political prisoners and later for prisoners of the decree Nacht und Nebel.- Well known...

). Attempts to get him released fail and in March 1944 he is transported to Germany. Henri Story dies in the Nazi concentration camp
Nazi concentration camps
Nazi Germany maintained concentration camps throughout the territories it controlled. The first Nazi concentration camps set up in Germany were greatly expanded after the Reichstag fire of 1933, and were intended to hold political prisoners and opponents of the regime...

 of Grosz Rosen near Breslau on 5 December 1944.

Remembrance

He is remembered in Ghent by the playground Henri Story, the foundation Henri Story, the Henri Story Circle and the Textile school Henri Story.

Source

  • Lehoucq, Nicole en Valcke, Tony, in : De fonteinen van de Oranjeberg, Politiek-institutionele geschiedenis van de provincie Oost-Vlaanderen van 1830 tot nu. Deel 2 : Biografisch repertorium, Gent, Stichting Mens en Cultuur, 1997, p. 337-338.
  • Henry Story (1897–1944). Inventaris van het archief (1937–1944), Gent, Liberaal Archief, 2005, 21 p. (Inventaris nr. 6)
  • Henri Story (Dutch)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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