During World War II, a young Belgian schoolteacher named Andrée Geulen noticed something strange. Her Jewish students began arriving at school wearing yellow stars. Most teachers stayed quiet. But Andrée couldn’t.
She joined a resistance network and began secretly moving Jewish children into safe houses. At school, she quietly told them, “If someone comes for you, don’t say your real name.” She memorized each child’s identity to reunite them with their families after the war.
The Nazis eventually discovered her work. Soldiers raided the school and questioned her. She stayed calm and denied everything. As soon as they left, she risked her life again—sending more children into hiding before it was too late.
Years later, someone asked why she did it. She simply said, “What else could I do? They were children.”
You don’t have to be powerful to protect others. Sometimes courage is just refusing to look away. Even one quiet voice can save a life when it chooses to act instead of staying silent.