The escape line of Karst Smit, marechausse (member of the Dutch Royal Military Police) and Eugene van der Heijden (a school teacher) operated from early 1942 until it was penetrated by the Germans on 15 November 1943.  It first aided escaped French prisoners of war who were trying to make their way home.  Next came Dutch Jews, Engelandvaarders (Dutch patriots trying to reach England to join the RAF or find other ways to continue the war against the Germans), onderduikers (young Dutch men who went into hiding to avoid the German labor draft), and Allied airmen.

To view a list of Allied airmen helped by the Smit-van der Heijden Line (including photos of many of them), click here.  The following are links to the main topics about the line.

• Connections to Other Escape/Intelligence Lines
• Aid Given to People in Need
  • Aid to Escaped French POWs
  •        The Four Sisters from Vorselaar
  • Aid to Dutch Jews
  •        Address by Sjef van der Heijden Before Yad Vashem
  • Aid to Onderduikers and Engelandvaarders
  • Aid to Dutch Families
  • Aid to Allied Airmen
• Chronology of the Smit-van der Heijden Line
• Members of the Smit-van der Heijden Line
  • Marechaussees in the Line
  • Civilians in the Line
• Cafés, Hotels – Centers of Resistance Activity
• Karst Smit – Reports by and About Him
  • Interview with Karst Smit by Baarle-Nassau Radio, 1994
  • Report by Karst Smit, July 16, 1945, NARA file
• Articles About the Line
  •  “By Trial and Error: The Experience of a Dutch Escape Line in the Second World War”
  • “Dutch and Belgian Heroism – Part I”
  • “Dutch and Belgian Heroism – Part II”

• Arrest, Prison, Concentration Camps
  • 1945 Letter to Bureau of Ex-Political Prisoners
  • 1945 Letter to Bureau Ex-Politeke Gevangenen
• Recognition for Their Achievements
  • Recommendation for Citation – Karst Smit
  • Decorations Received by Karst Smit
  • Recommendation for Citation — Eugene van der Heijden
• Interview with Karst Smit, July 6-7, 2002
• Memorials to Victims of the Nazis
• Research Help Requests
  • Photograph Identification
  • Requests for Help in Dutch Publications
• Eugene van der Heijden – Writings By and About Him Plus Interviews
  • Vacuum ’40 – ’41
  • Border Games
  • Slush Money (Smeergeld)
  • Oil Company Petonqua
  • The White Christmas Night
  • Verzetsmuseum (Resistance Museum) Interview with Eugene van der Heijden
  • Eugene van der Heijden: The Salt of the Earth
  • Interview with Eugene van der Heijden – Video Interview in Dutch
  • Hilvarenbeek and the Pilot Route
  • Tilburg Police Report