Prosper Dezitter (also known as Prosper de Zitter, alias "the man with the missing finger") was a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

collaborator with

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Dezitter was born in

Passendale Passendale () or Passchendaele (; obsolete spelling, retained in English; vls, Passchendoale) is a rural Belgian village in the Zonnebeke municipality of West Flanders province. It is close to the town of Ypres, situated on the hill ridge separ ...

on September 19, 1893. In May 1913 he fled to Canada after being convicted of rape and sentenced to three years in prison. In 1918, he briefly joined the newly formed

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

, but his enlistment ended after a few months with the ending of World War 1. He returned to Belgium in 1926, where he worked as a car salesman, but spent six years in prison for embezzlement and ''escroqueries au marriage'' - "marriage fraud". During the

German occupation of Belgium during World War II The German occupation of Belgium (french: link=no, Occupation allemande, nl, Duitse bezetting) during World War II began on 28 May 1940, when the Belgian army surrendered to German forces, and lasted until Belgium's liberation by the Western ...

, Dezitter was able to pose as a

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...

airman on the run. Calling himself "Captain Jackson" he infiltrated a

resistance group A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objectives ...

led by Marcel Demonceau. He also ran an escape line for downed allied airmen, which was in reality a ruse to capture them and members of the resistance. Dezitter worked for money, and was paid a bonus for each Allied flier he helped capture. After World War II, Dezitter was arrested in Germany, extradited to Belgium, and condemned to death. He was executed at

Ixelles ( French, ) or (Dutch, ), is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located to the south-east of Brussels' city centre, it is geographically bisected by the City of Brussels. It is also bordered by the muni ...

on 17 September 1948.

The National Archives National archives are central archives maintained by countries. This article contains a list of national archives. Among its more important tasks are to ensure the accessibility and preservation of the information produced by governments, both ...

in London hold two files of papers on Dezitter, reference KV 2/1732 and KV 2/1733.

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Article with photographs
1893 births 1948 deaths 20th-century Belgian criminals Belgian spies Belgian fraudsters Belgian people convicted of rape Executed Belgian collaborators with Nazi Germany People convicted of embezzlement People extradited from Germany People extradited to Belgium People executed by Belgium by firing squad People executed for spying for Nazi Germany Gestapo personnel Royal Air Force airmen {{Belgium-bio-stub