After attending theAthenaeum and theEchternach Gymnasium, he studied law from 1927 to 1935 at the Cours supérieurs in Luxembourg and at the Universities of: Alger,Caen,Toulouse,Paris andBrussels. After his studies he took over the general agency of German companies in Luxembourg. WhenHitler came to power, he ended this business activity and became involved in the fight against fascism at theanti-fascist movement early on and by helping to set up a spy network for the French intelligence service.[1]
On 10 May 1940 (the day Germany invaded France, The Netherlands, Belgium andLuxembourg) he left Luxembourg and entered the service of the French military authorities. In June he moved to London, where he worked first as an editor for the INBEL agency [Belgian News Agency], then as a head of the department at the Belgian Ministère de l'Information. He was also responsible for the Luxembourg, Belgian and French programs at theBBC.[1] He "played an important role with the Luxembourg government in London."[6] There he met his wife, the illustrator Alison Kent (b. 1913 - d. 2006). (Alison Koch-Kent [lb]). Born Henri Kent,[1][2] in order not to be confused with a politician (1919-1987) of the same name, he adopted her family name and called himself "Henri Koch-Kent" from then on.
As theLuxembourg government in exile was criticized by members of theResistance and others for its lack of help towards Luxembourgers attempting to flee their occupied country during the war. Its inactivity persuaded two of its critics, the resistance members Henri Koch-Kent and Mac Schleich, the presenter of the Luxembourgish BBC programme, to found theAssociation des Luxembourgeois en Grande-Bretagne ("Association of Luxembourgers in Great Britain") in London, which counted 300 refugees from Luxembourg and men who had been forcibly conscripted into the German armed forces but had defected to the Allies.[7] It was founded on 10 May 1944.[8]
After the war, Koch-Kent was active in its founding of theUnion of European Federalists (Union européenne des fédéralistes) at Luxembourg meeting,[5][9] and worked as its deputy general secretary.[1]
He had worked as a journalist,[10] e.g. for internationalpress agencies. In 1959 he became editor of the liberalLëtzebuerger Journal[1] from 1961 to July 1964 he was its director. In the 1970s and 1980s, Koch-Kent wrote and edited several books on theSecond World War,[11] in which he critically examined the role of Luxembourg'sgovernment-in-exile.
He was also withAmicale des anciens des services spéciaux de la défense nationale. (AASSDN) [Association of veterans of the special services of national defense].[12][13]
In 1998, Henri Koch-Kent was the first winner of the Testimonial and Presence prize created by Nic Weber andLes Cahiers Luxembourgeois[2].[1]
10 mai 1940 en Luxembourg: Témoignages et documents, 1971.
Hitlertum in Luxemburg, 1933–44. Beiträge zur Zeitgeschichte, Luxembourg: Hermann, 1972.
Luxemburger als Freiwild (with Hohengarten, Andre), Luxembourg: Hermann, 1972.[14]
Luxemburg im SD-Spiegel, Luxembourg: Hermann, 1973.
Sie boten Trotz. Luxemburger im Freiheitskampf, 1974.
Doudot. Figure légendaire du contre-espionnage français, 1976.
Putsch in Luxemburg. Ein Schildbürgerstreich, 1980.
Ils ont dit NON au fascisme. Rejet de la loi muselière par le référendum de 1937, 1982
Vu et entendu. 2 Bde.:Souvenirs d'une époque controversée. 1912–1940, Luxembourg: Hermann, 1983;Années d'exil. 1940–1944, 1986.
Halte à la falsification de l'histoire : le Procès Gomand (1945-1947) : 114 témoins contre le gouvernement luxembourgeois en exil, Luxembourg: Hermann, 1988
Der parteilose Einzelgänger. Im Blick seiner Zeitgenossen, 1990.
His mémoires, accounts, (among other historians') including of a governmentAntisemitic incident against a student in 1933, was included in Luxembourg government's 2015 report:The "Jewish Question" in Luxembourg (1933-1941): The Luxembourg State in the Face of Nazi Anti-Semitic Persecution.[15] The report was unanimously adopted in the government and it apologized to the Jewish community.[16]
^Roemen, Rob."Als die Regierung ihre Kritiker einsperren ließ." In:forum, No. 251, November 2005, p. 29.[1].Das Verhalten der Exilregierung bewegte den Widerstandskämpfer Henri Koch-Kent und den Sprecher des luxemburgischen BBC-Programms in London, Mac Schleich, dazu, in der britischen Hauptstadt die Association des Luxembourgeois en Grande-Bretagne zu gründen. Die Vereinigung zählte bald 300 Mitglieder, Leute, denen die Flucht vor Gauleiter Simon und seinen braunen Vollzugsgesellen gelungen war, sowie Zwangsrekrutierte, die zu den westlichen Alliierten übergelaufen waren. Von vornherein hielten diese mit ihrer Kritik an der Exilregierung nicht hinter dem Berg und warfen den Ministern unverhohlen Verrat an den Landsleuten vor. Staatsminister Pierre Dupong versuchte, die Vereinigung einzuschüchtern, indem er zunächst Mac Schleich vom Posten des Sekretärs und schließlich auch als BBC-Sprecher verscheuchen wollte. Dies misslang jedoch. Auch sein Versuch, eine im Hyde Park-Hotel veranstaltete patriotische Kundgebung zu boykottieren, die bis auf den letzten Platz besetzt war, scheiterte kläglich. Interessanterweise hatte der Privatsekretär von Prinz Felix, Albert Stoltz, diese als Calvaire du Luxembourg angekündigte Veranstaltung eröffnet.Rob Roemen war bis Juli 2005 Chefredakteur des Lëtzebuerger Journal. 1995 erschien sein Buch Aus Liebe zur Freiheit über die Geschichte des Liberalismus in Luxemburg.
^La « question juive » au Luxembourg (1933-1941): L'Etat luxembourgeois face aux persécutions antisémites nazies. Rapport final remis au Premier ministre le 9 févirer 2015. Uni Lëtzebuerg, 2015.PDF Download atrtl.lu;PDF-Download atgouvernement.lu.
La question juive au Grand-Duché; in:woxx, No. 1210 (12/04/2013), pp. 6-7 (ill.).
