Memorial Civilian Casualties WW1 Leenstraat Aarschot

Commemorative monument for 75 civilians who were shot by the Germans who were shot during the First World War.

The facts
On August 19, 1914, in the morning, despite heavy resistance from the 9th and 26th Line Regiments, the German superior force occupied the city of Aarschot. Although the Belgian troops had retreated to the fortress of Antwerp, a shootout with alleged Francs terrorists took place in the late afternoon and the German commander Stenger was killed in the confusion. Take the retaliation immediately. Houses were looted and set on fire. Men, women and children were driven from their homes and taken to the Grote Markt.
Around 7 p.m., about eighty men were led out of the city from the Grote Markt by the German Feldgendarmen of rhythm master Karge, hands up, in silence. Some were released along the way. One kilometer outside the city, in the current Leenstraat, the prisoners were chased into a field. The three of them have to come out of the group, "nicht laufen, gehen", holding each other's hand. The gendarmes shot the men in the back unmoved. Three men escaped, into the darkness, into freedom. Seventy-five were executed. Anyone who showed another sign of life was killed with the bayonet.

Almost four months later, the bodies were recovered from the mass grave. The bodies lay in and over each other in disorder. Not all men had gunshot wounds. Priest Carette's corpse sat right in the corner of the mass grave with the fingernails blue and screwed tightly into the top sand layer 20 cm from the ground floor.

About the monument
The current monument is ten meters from the execution site. Even when the bodies were excavated in December 1914, a wooden cross was placed here and a weeping willow planted. When the city expanded and the first houses were built on this street in 1936, the cross and weeping willow were removed. Due to the protest, the city decided in 1937 to erect a new monument in bluestone. The building line on the spot was placed slightly backwards to create the impression of a small square. The style of the memorial column is sober and angular: Art Deco style, like the houses in the neighborhood. The shape suggests a cross with the lily of Aarschot's coat of arms at its base. Above that the word: "martyrdom".

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Source

• Text: Jan Rymenams
• Photos: Jan Rymenams