The flag of Belgium will fly over East Hampton Village Hall next Thursday to mark Victory in Europe Day, the day celebrating the surrender of Germany’s armed forces in World War II.
Hugh King, the village historian, told the village board at its meeting on Friday that the Belgian Resistance against the German occupation was instrumental in the Allied victory in Europe. It was estimated that 5 percent of the country’s population was involved in some kind of resistance, he said, and that some 19,000 people, approximately 25 percent of the resistance membership, were killed.
“The resistance was particularly important in the liberation of Antwerp, assisting the British and Canadian forces in capturing the port before the Germans could sabotage it,” Mr. King said. “And how did we get the Belgian Resistance? We got it because of the next person I’m going to talk about: John LaGrappe Dominicus.”
Dominicus, the maternal grandfather of Dominique Cummings, the village treasurer, “was deeply involved in the resistance in Antwerp, Belgium, during World War II,” Mr. King said. He “took significant risk to help those prosecuted by the Germans. He forged identity cards for Jewish children and smuggled them safely into Holland. Additionally, he rescued downed English pilots, hiding them in a chicken coop in his yard until they could travel safely.”
“So when you see the Belgian flag flying over Village Hall on May 8,” Mr. King concluded, “that’s the reason.”
