Cycling Route Maashees - Destroyed Church

Like many villages around this period, the church played a major role in the daily lives of the residents of Maashees. Also during the war and even when Maashees had to deal with the violence of war in October and was literally between two fires.
On October 2, 1944, the Germans carried out a raid after Mass. They were looking for men for the labor force. However, Pastor Swinkels ensured that the boys and older men could escape through a back door.
It is therefore clear that when the church was blown up on October 15, 1944 at noon, it was a great shock for the inhabitants of this village. Around this period the inhabitants had already been evacuated, but many were still staying there
the forests surrounding the village. The explosion must have been clearly audible to these people... It is a pity that only the church tower was probably loaded by the "sprengkommando". The numerous shellings on Maashees caused the rest of the damage. Had this not been the case, the old church would probably have been restored.
The Sacred Heart statue miraculously survived this explosion, only the right hand was missing.

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Source

• Text: TracesOfWar
• Photos: Martin Damen