Memorial Pieter Jozef Dergent

Statue of Pastor Pieter-Jozef Dergent, murdered by the Germans on August 27, 1914.

The facts
On August 26, 1914, pastor Pieter-Jozef Dergent, together with carter Haeselaers, brought three injured parishioners from Gelrode to a medical aid post in Aarschot. Despite their safe conduct, they were arrested by German soldiers on their return and, together with hundreds of inhabitants from Aarschot and surroundings, imprisoned in the Church of Our Lady. Haeselaers was able to escape the next day. Pastor Dergent was abused, humiliated and shot after hours of suffering. The body was thrown into the Demer. Six days later, the body was found at the bridge of Betekom. Despite the war situation, Pastor Dergent was solemnly buried on November 14, 1914. An autopsy in April 1948 revealed that he had been shot with a revolver at close range: two bullets had pierced the skull, a third shattered a vertebra.

Pastor Pieter-Jozef Dergent (1870-1914) is the most famous war victim from Gelrode. The admiration of the inhabitants was so great that even attempts at canonization were made.

The statue
This bronze statue is by the artist Prosper Feyaerts. It was inaugurated in 1989.

Do you have more information about this location? Inform us!