Jacque DeSoubrie
Jean Masson
Pierre Boulain
Despised by every Comet Line member who knew him for all the members of the line he had arrested by the Gestapo over a period of three years, DeSoubrie eluded capture by the Allies and the Belgian resistance throughout the entire war.
He was responsible for hundreds of escape line members’ demise, and even ran his own highly successful ‘false line’ in northern France called the Jean-Jacques Line, which was responsible for the arrest of one hundred sixty-eight airmen in Paris.
As the liberation of France approached, DeSoubrie fled to Germany. Being always the deceptive person he had been used to being, he nonchalantly offered his services to the Americans in Nuremberg. Were it not for being denounced by his ex-mistress, his photograph would have never reached Michou at London’s MI9 headquarters.
Jacque DeSoubrie was arrested shortly after Michou identified him in the photos from Harold Cherniss and imprisoned until his trial in 1947 at a French military tribunal in Lille.
Jean-Francois Nothomb (Franco) was summoned to testify at the trial. He described the events that led to the deaths and imprisonment of more than one hundred of his Comet comrades.
“These are all lies,” DeSoubrie replied to all the events recounted by Jean-Francois. “I’ve never met this man before today. Surely, he has me mistaken for someone else.”
Jean-Francois stood face to face with DeSoubrie, looked him straight in the eyes, and said, “You are nothing but a traitor, and I despise everything you have done.”
The decision at the trial was quite clear.
Jacque DeSoubrie, you are hereby found guilty in the capture and assassination of members of the resistance and for sending Allied military prisoners to their death in violation of the Geneva Convention. You are to be executed by firing squad at a date to be determined according to the terms of the Allied War Tribunal.
As DeSoubrie was imprisoned, Jean-Francois remembered his own incarceration at Fresnes and later at several German prisons and felt compassion for DeSoubrie despite his evil ways. He sent DeSoubrie money to buy cigarettes and food at the prison canteen. He even offered to visit his children and give them money also.
Jean-Francois’ actions were deeds of charity, symbols of who he had become in his last months in German cells. Jean Masson, the name he knew DeSoubrie by, deserved the death sentence he had received, and yet Jean-Francois wanted him to receive mercy from the courts. He went so far as to seek commutation of his death sentence in a letter to President Charles de Gaulle. That request was instantly rejected, so he then wrote a letter directly to DeSoubrie.
Monsieur Jacque DeSoubrie
Fort Montrouge
Arcueil, France
Dear Monsieur DeSoubrie,
The reasons you betrayed so many of your Belgian comrades, who went either to their deaths or to intolerable prisons because of your treason, had to be a worthy cause in your mind. Was it for money, for fame, for love of Germany and the sick mind of Adolf Hitler and what he represented?
Whatever your ultimate reason, I hope you find peace in your remaining days here on earth. God forgives us for doing horrible things during our time here, and I pray that He will find compassion and forgive you for all your crimes against your own people. I will pray for you as I pray daily for the lives of my friends and comrades that you were responsible for taking.
Sincerely,
Jean-Francois Nothomb “Franco”
A few months later, Jean-Francois received a reply from DeSoubrie.
Monsieur Nothomb,
Thank you for writing to me here in Fort Montrouge. I do not receive many letters from anyone. I am much hated as a Belgian for having sided with the Fuhrer and his goals for Europe. My views are not shared by many here now that Germany has fallen. But I still believe that my work for Germany was something I had to do, and I am proud to have served Germany in any way. Please do not write to me any further. We do not share the same views and your letters would be pointless.
Jacque DeSoubrie
In early December 1949, in Fort Montrouge, Arcueil, Jacque DeSoubrie, alias Jean Masson, alias Pierre Boulain, was executed by a firing squad.
Just before he was shot, DeSoubrie shouted one last time, ‘Heil Hitler.’