Panel 6 Mortsel Bombing 5 April 1943

Text on panel 6
April 5, 1943
Bombing of Mortsel

What happened here?
On this street corner was the Brandts family's café. The Verhelst optic was located on the opposite corner. To their left lived the Vloebergen family, who ran the vegetable shop 't Sterreke. To the right in the Heilig-Kruisstraat was the Brandts family's café. The stories of the children tell how the families were badly hit by the bombs.

The daughter of the Brandts family [/ i]
"My father had fled into the cellar. In 't Sterreke were just a lot of customers present, they also fled in the cellar. The cellars were next to each other and my father heard them calling, shouting and silently nothing more. They were all dead. My father saved his life with beer from the pub. He felt himself choking and tried to drink with his finger in his throat. He called for help, but nobody heard him. "

The son of the Vloebergen family
"I walked home from my school in the Eggestraat, but saw no house anymore, only a heap of stones. I stopped for a moment. Then I walked to Aunt Bertha's house in the Eggestraat. No more house again, just a lot again. stone. For a moment I thought I was alone in the world. Back in the Antwerpsestraat I saw my father standing on top of the rubble. Phew, there were already two of us. I crossed the street and father threw me a black bag with all our important documents. "Keep that well," he said. So I was the guardian of that black bag. Father was looking for our mother, who was still lying down somewhere.

This walk was realized by the city of Mortsel in collaboration with Pieter Serrien.

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Source

• Text: Mia van den Berg
• Photos: Mia van den Berg