On this day in 1943, members of the Belgian Resistance Movement freed captive Jews headed for Auschwitz from the Mechelen transit camp in Belgium. It was the first and only time a transport train was stopped, and the only successful mass breakout from a convoy. The 20th transport leaving from Mechelen transit camp carried 1,631 Jews. The victims were transported in cattle cars with barbed wire covering the ventilation windows, in contrast to the third-class cars that had been used previously. As the train left, three resistance fighters, Youra Livchitz, Robert Maistriau, and Jean Franklemon, planned their attack. Equipped with a pistol, a pair of pliers, and a lantern wrapped in red tissue paper, the men stood on the tracks at Boortmeerbeek as Livchitz held up the lamp to signal danger ahead. Prior to departure, the Belgian Resistance had worked with the Jewish Defense Committee, who had successfully smuggled pliers and knives into the transit camp. When the train came to a stop, after a short struggle with German guards, the trio used their pliers to break open the cars. They were able to open one car and save 17 people before the train began moving again.Despite only being able to open one car before the train began moving again, 233 Jews were able to escape from the train. Of the 233 who escaped, 118 found freedom, 89 were recaptured, and 26 were killed. Of those who did not escape, only 150 survived the War. As for the resistance fighters, Youra Livchitz was arrested multiple times and was executed by firing squad in Schaerbeek on February 17, 1944. Jean Franklemon was liberated from Sachsenhausen and remained in Germany until his death in 1977. Robert Maistriau hid in the forest for months before he was found by the Nazi Security Police. After many transports, he was liberated from Bergen-Belsen. He was recognized as Righteous Among the Nations in 1994 and died in Brussels in 2008. A memorial was unveiled in 1993 to commemorate the attack.