Ida Sterno

Ida Sterno (1902-1964) was a Jewish social worker well known for her work with the Comité de Défense des Juifs (CDJ) in World War II.

Early life She was born in Bucharest, Romania in 1902. Sterno was Jewish. She immigrated to Belgium in 1914. She met Andree Geulen in the CDJ.

Ida was arrested by the Gestapo in May 1944 and imprisoned in Malines. She was tortured for months, but she never revealed the names of the relocated children. Sterno was finally freed when the Allies liberated Belgium in September 1944, but the months of torture left her health compromised.

Post-war life and death Both Sterno and Geulen reconnected through the years with many of the children they had rescued.

She died at the age of 62 on 14 May 1964 in Brussels, Belgium, of a heart attack.