{"id":48108,"date":"2021-03-31T12:47:49","date_gmt":"2021-03-31T12:47:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.museum-aarschot.be\/iv-martyr-of-aarschot\/"},"modified":"2021-03-31T12:47:49","modified_gmt":"2021-03-31T12:47:49","slug":"iv-martyr-of-aarschot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.museum-aarschot.be\/en\/iv-martyr-of-aarschot\/","title":{"rendered":"IV Martyr of Aarschot"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<< III From Christ to God<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Deze<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Richard and Louisa Vermaelen<\/strong> Van Capellen<\/strong>, great-uncle and great-aunt of Godfried<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Richard is summarily executed in the presence of his pregnant wife, who holds their little daughter in her arms. His son Richard will become parish priest at the Church of Our Lady in Laeken and will celebrate the wedding mass of Godfried and Mia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Deze<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The memorial card of Frie\u2019s great-uncle<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201eIn many parts of the world I have seen terrible and revolting things, but nothing so ghastly, so horrifying as Aerschot.\u2018\u2018 <\/em>– Alexander Powell, American war correspondent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(1996) Godfried hands over his notary\u2019s practice. From the office safe he takes personal documents, including the testimony about the First World War written by his great-aunt Louisa Vermaelen Van Cappellen. He explains to Pieter that he has kept it all his life and will now donate it to the Local History Society of Aarschot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My Flight<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many years ago our honorary chairman W. Schroeven received from the late notary G. Van Kerckhoven, a loyal member of our HAKVH, the following testimony. Ludovica Maria Van Capellen, widow of Richard Vermaelen, tells in it what she experienced in Aarschot. Then the desperate flight with her 6 young children. The gratitude towards the people in the Netherlands who took her family in. And finally the terrible news. Out of respect for this testimony, not a letter was changed. We have highlighted two sentences: the first is yet another illustration of \u201eMan hat geschossen\u201c; the other, in the last paragraph, in which she learns the dramatic news (note the date!). This testimony was presumably drawn up for a local paper (perhaps that of the reverend sisters?), under the heading \u201eMijne Vlucht\u201c (My Flight).<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

19 August of the year 1914<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

From 6 o\u2019clock in the morning we had to flee into our cellars, we heard nothing but the roaring of the cannon. All the houses were closed, all the people who were in the street ran away, for we had really not expected anything of the kind. So we sat in our cellars until around 9 o\u2019clock; the town of Aerschot had been taken by the Germans, their army was too mighty; our soldiers could do nothing against them. We had to throw our shutters and doors wide open. Our Mayor with the German general, followed by soldiers with bayonets fixed, crossed the streets of our town. As they passed we all had to hold our arms up as a sign of surrender. Then all the men had to go to the big square with raised arms. From there they were led outside the town, where the Germans held them for about 2 hours. The men they thought were soldiers had to undress completely. Among them was my husband, but he was immediately set free. All our weapons we had had to come and lay down in front of the town hall already in the morning. All afternoon the German troops crossed our town; they then went on to Leuven and Brussels. How strongly armed they were, everything well equipped, such a mighty army. We still said to each other: what can our little Belgium, our army, do against such a great mighty army, such heavy, sturdy men. And yet our soldiers have held them back; and yet we think that the final victory will be that of the Allies, ours. While they walked through our streets, they smashed the panes of all our shop windows and plundered them all empty. We were obliged to close our shutters since there was no glass left in them. Right opposite us was a big ironmonger\u2019s; they had gunpowder in the house worth several thousand francs. They had to hand everything over, load it on little handcarts and sink it in the Demer (the river that runs through the town). All afternoon we gave the German soldiers food and drink. They did not trust us: we had to drink from the water ourselves first before they used it, as they were afraid we would have poisoned them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Towards evening I was sitting with my husband in the room that gave onto the street when suddenly a German officer came in. He asked me whether I could let 30 soldiers sleep. I answered him that this was difficult as I had 6 children. Have you still got weapons? he asked. No, I tell him, we handed everything in this morning. With that he left. He had barely gone out when 2 soldiers came in, placed themselves next to the door and began to shoot into the street. I fled with my husband, in the greatest haste, into the other room. The children, hearing the shooting, came running full of fright out of the garden where they had been playing quietly. We all crept into a corner together. We could have been standing there 5 minutes when 2 soldiers came into the room and pushed us all together into the street with the butts of their rifles. The children wailed and cried with fright but nothing helped. What we saw in the street: there already stood many people from our street. Still more were being pulled out of the cellars. The women were simply dragged into the street by their hair, others were thrown onto it. When we all stood there together, they began to fire at us and wanted to kill us all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(A confusing passage follows here. The fear suffered was mixed with memories of the wild shooting. What a scene played out there on the Grote Markt!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The children screamed and wailed; the grown-ups prayed and begged Our Lady of Aerschot and the Sacred Heart of Jesus to save us. Our children we encouraged, telling them it did not hurt and that in a few minutes we would be in heaven. Our smallest children we pushed far enough forward that they too would be hit, so that they would not be left behind alone with those murdering Germans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(In her description the woman runs ahead of the facts. We read her despair, her violent emotions: the Germans have shot our men dead – how are we to go on?!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why did those barbarians not kill us all there, so that those innocent children and mothers had to be left alone in the world; what is life still for us; what awaits our children? We saw our mayor there too. We begged him to speak up for us, we were all innocent. But he could do nothing more for us, he himself was also a prisoner. Those Germans accused us of having killed their general, but we had no weapons any more, we could do nothing! Our mayor had urged us so well to stay calm and we had done so. When they had fired at us for about a quarter of an hour, we were all led to the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(From here on the account of the events continues.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having arrived there, the Germans called the men separately and the women separately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My husband had his boy of 3\u00bd years on his arm. He set him down next to me. That was the last, not even able to say goodbye, having to part from each other like that, this is too cruel, how terrible war is for those who are its victims. Those citizens were immediately driven to the Leuven gate (in the words that follow is also interwoven what she heard said afterwards). They were 75 together, where they were immediately killed with a machine gun, without even being asked what they had done wrong. Innocent, they all shed their blood there, they were almost all fathers of families, what widows and orphans they made there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All those women and children had to remain standing on the market. I stood there with 6 children: the eldest a girl of 10, a girl of 9, a girl of 7, a boy of 3\u00bd, a girl of 2 and a boy of 9 months. There were women who stood there with their children half dressed, some were barefoot, one screamed from here, another from there. While we stood there, German soldiers kept passing by; they called us pigs and every ugly word, I cannot name them all. They said they were going to bombard the town and that we would all be blown sky-high together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several houses on the Grote Markt were set on fire. 2 of my children saw German soldiers on top of the roof of a house setting it on fire. Those children were so frightened and we could not help them. How long those hours there seemed, like days, because we were all so frightened. Those houses we all had to watch burn down. While we stood there, around 7 o\u2019clock (19:00), the mayor\u2019s son was taken prisoner, brought to the town hall, a boy of 16. He was abused, shoved and pushed by the German soldiers. The mayor\u2019s wife with her daughter was also brought into our midst. From all sides more citizens were being brought to the market, whom the Germans had dragged out of the cellars and places where they were hiding. They were all taken to the Leuven gate where many more were killed. Around 11 o\u2019clock at night the mayor and his son were led away under the guard of many German soldiers, they too went to meet their death. Around midnight the Germans did take a little pity on us, we could no longer stand; the children were so tired they had lain down on the stones. Then they went to plunder the houses on the Grote Markt, then they brought us mattresses, blankets, carpets, chairs, couches, armchairs to let us rest a little. For the children they also brought sweets, water, wine, champagne, beer to drink; all this they simply took out of the houses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Around 3 o\u2019clock at night we were allowed to return home. Into our houses we did not dare go back. A lady who lived opposite me said to come to her place so that my children could rest a little. There we were with 40 women and children together. As we were there, the children laid their little heads down on the table and rested, they were so tired; we could not sleep and spent our time praying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

20 August<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Towards morning we thought each of us would go back to our house, when around 8 o\u2019clock German soldiers came running in and said that we had to leave the town immediately, because the town was being set on fire. In the greatest haste, without being able to take anything, on the run, where to we did not even know. On the way we still kept meeting German troops, then we had to stick our arms up as a sign of surrender. The little girl of 10, it was hot, had to carry the little one of 2, holding her other arm up; she could hardly go on. The children were all so frightened. On the way we saw nothing, everything was deathly quiet, here and there dead soldiers, there pieces of hats, knapsacks, shoes, broken rifles, all the houses along the highway were all burned down. Cows and pigs could be heard screaming and ran about in all directions, we saw no people, nothing but destruction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After walking for an hour we took to back roads; we came to a farm where we were allowed to stay. Towards evening around 4 o\u2019clock, when we thought we could feel safe, some 300 Germans came to the farm. We were all sitting in the orchard. An officer immediately came up to us and said that the mayor\u2019s wife was among us and that we had to make her known immediately. Nobody answered. At last a lady stepped forward and spoke in the name of us all: that we did not know the mayor\u2019s wife and that she was not among us. He said that we had to stay in the orchard and that we would be guarded and that if we did not tell the truth they would have shot the mothers and left the children alone. One can imagine what anxious hours we spent there. All the men whom the Germans found in the vicinity were all taken prisoner and pushed together on the \u201eschelft\u201c, a place above the barn, but the day after they were all let go. Around 7 in the evening we all had to go inside the farm. A place was assigned to us where we all had to spend our night: cement bricks had to serve as a resting place for the children and for us too. In that place a bright light had to stay on so that the Germans could observe our slightest movement. At the door stood a guard of German soldiers; if we came up to the door at night, we would be shot dead. I thought the day would never break; sleeping was impossible, the children did not rest either; we were all hungry and there was no food to be had. How glad we all were when morning broke. Our children asked for food and there was nothing to give them. We did not know how we would get away from there, nobody dared to address the German authorities, we were prisoners. At last I plucked up the courage to address a superior officer, who fortunately could speak a little French. I asked him whether I might go to Werchter, that my sister lived there and that my children were screaming with hunger. He stood thinking for a while and agreed. So we set off, with 2 other ladies with several children. On the way country people took pity on us, giving us food and drink and giving the children who had nothing on their little feet a pair of old little shoes. Then we went to a village to acquaintances, where we stayed for 2 days. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then someone came to tell us that if we returned to Aerschot we could go and fetch our husbands from the church, that they were locked up there and that if the women came to fetch them they would then be allowed to come home with us. Full of courage, home. It was stiflingly hot. Our children ran, they were so glad to be able to go and fetch their Father. Arrived in Aerschot we went straight to the church, but he was nowhere to be found. The Germans told us that men were at work for them and that they would come back towards evening. Towards evening we went to look again, but he was not to be found. So we stayed in Aerschot after all, with the thought of finding our husband again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus we lived 3 weeks among the Germans. We did not dare go out on the street. Towards evening we often had to go to the church to spend the nights there. Sometimes we were then locked up there for 2 days and had to live on old and often mouldy bread and a little water that the German soldiers gave us. For our children we had found a piece of old carpet on which they had to lie down to sleep; that way they did not feel those cold stones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When all the people were together in the church in the evening, the Germans said we could be at ease, that they had done this for our own good. This had barely been said when the soldiers began to fire at us for 5 minutes. All the people were full of fright again, the children cried and wailed. Then they did leave us in peace the whole night, but we were still always guarded by many soldiers with bayonets fixed. The soldiers had some pity on the children, who then always got a little treat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once again we had to go to the church in the evening, when the Germans had the parish priest of Gelrode (a small village half an hour from Aerschot<\/p>\n\n\n\n

……. to be continued<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Bear made by soldiers in the trenches between 1914 and 1918<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scraped canvas of cellulose fibres; metal fasteners; nose and mouth embroidered, certainly in cotton thread; paint on the joints and around the nose; glass eyes, stuffing of plant fibres such as straw<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the First World War, the English brand JK Farnell marketed miniature mohair bears in the colours of the British flag, intended to be given to soldiers as good-luck charms and to be carried in a jacket pocket. Their little upturned snout and their eyes placed far out of the pocket! In the trenches, some soldiers made them with whatever means were at hand, for example from uniform cloth, keeping this very characteristic physiognomy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

V Arthur and Tinneke<\/a> >>><\/p>\n\n\n\n

@<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<< III From Christ to God Richard and Louisa Vermaelen Van Capellen, great-uncle and great-aunt of Godfried Richard is summarily executed in the presence of his pregnant wife,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8490,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-my-father"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.museum-aarschot.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.museum-aarschot.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.museum-aarschot.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.museum-aarschot.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.museum-aarschot.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48108"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.museum-aarschot.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48108\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.museum-aarschot.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.museum-aarschot.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.museum-aarschot.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.museum-aarschot.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}