Good morning,
I want to share with you the story of my uncle, a Belgian civilian who was shot at the age of 16 during the battle of the Bulge. I know that he was not a soldier but his experience relates to WW2 and might be of interest to many of you. I have decided to present this post as an investigation and how I came to learn more about him. I have chosen not to give his last name since he still has living brothers and sisters. I'm happy to give more information privately. I also apologise for potential spelling mistakes. I am a native French speaker and might not be writing absolutely perfectly in English.
Context
When I was little, in the 80s, I was told that I had an uncle (a cousin of my dad) who had been shot by the Germans in 1944. The story went that he picked a rifle while going to mass in the Ardennes on 25/12/1944 and was caught by the Germans.
I forgot all about it and went on with my life. I later studied history (up to PhD level) and began working in the same field. While looking at my family tree, a few months ago, I remembered the story. This time, knowing that research can bring a lot to the surface, I decided to investigate.
First step: the military museum of Brussels
Not knowing much, except for his name and date of birth, I wrote to the Military Museum of Brussels. This institution has military files but also documents about resistants. I was hoping that he might have been recognised as such, since he had been arrested with a weapon. After a few days, I received two pages telling my that my uncle had not officially been recognised as a resistant. Fortunately, they had a report from the fifties. It seems that his dad (the brother of my grand-father) tried to obtain the resistant status to obtain a pension. This was refused by the commission but I learned a few importants détails in the process. The report said that my uncle had indeed been arrested near Tillet (Ardenne, Luxemburg, Belgium) on 25/12/1944 and shot at Roumont (near Bastogne) the same day. This was not much but already confirmed what had been told to me as a child.
Second step: war victim office
Knowing so little and determined to find more, I called the War victim office in Brussels. I was told that there were two files about my Uncle and was invited to consult them a few days later. I was, as can be expected, very excited about this. On the day, I was given two voluminous files, a sight giving me hope. And indeed, these papers gave me plenty. The first file contained papers sent by the father of my uncle, asking the Belgian Government for information about his missing son. Then, I found a report stating that a body had been found in 1948 in the woods of Roumont by a priest. The scarf around the neck matched the one that my uncle was wearing the same day. Further investigation of the body demonstrated that the body was indeed the one of my uncle.
I opened the next file and suddenly uncovered a picture.
Here was my uncle. I had never seen a picture of him before and all photographs of him were believed lost. I was moved by this picture of a smiling 16 year-old who was so close to his demise.
Turning the pages, I finally found two interviews of witnesses. These testimonies were extremely useful to know what had happened.
The first testimony was of a middle-aged man who owned a farm near Tillet. He said that my uncle had been sent to his farm from Liège by his family to be safe (the irony...). On the 25th of December 1944, he wanted to go see a destroyed tank with a friend. The man begged him to stay but my uncle wouldn't listen. He never came home but heard from other villagers that he had been taken by a German patrol.
The second testimony was even more interesting. It was from another 16 year-old boy who had been with my uncle. While walking, they found rifles on the side of the road. They both picked one and went to a farm to fetch a map. While the second witness was Inside the farm, he heard a German sidecar coming and hid. When the vehicule left, my uncle was gone.
We don't know why those two boys took rifles during a major offensive. Stupidity? Teenager bravado? Who knows... It was certainly not the most clever thing to do, but we all know that you don't always act intelligently at 16. At least, the picture is becoming clearer. My uncle was presumably brought to Roumont and shot the same day. I don't know what German unit was in Roumont or if there was anything special, but I would appreciate any help on the matter. I don't know if the German archives would have anything on my uncle.
Third step: the grave
The files that I uncovered mentioned that the body of my uncle was brought back to Liège (Grivegnée in fact), where he was buried for good in 1948. I decided to investigate. After looking in a few cemeteries, I finally found the grave of my uncle in the patriotic square of Grivegnée's cemetery. Here I was, standing in front of him, 72 years after his death.
Fourth step: relatives
Wanting to be sure that I had everything, I also called old relatives who might remember something. One Aunt was particularly useful. She didn't know much about the circumstances but she told me that the death of my uncle was devastating for his family. Since he was missing until 1948, his father searched everywhere for him for three years. He even asked medium to tell him if his son was alive. When the body was found, the father was crushed. He moved to a house next to the cemetery and went to visit the grave of his son every morning. He spent the next ten years of his life in a couch, never wanting to do anything. He died at the end of the fifties, a broken man.
This was the sad story of my uncle. I don't think I can find much more on the Belgian side but haven't lost hope to uncover détails about the German side of the story. Any idea/information would be particularly welcomed. If you have any question, I would be glad to answer.
I want to share with you the story of my uncle, a Belgian civilian who was shot at the age of 16 during the battle of the Bulge. I know that he was not a soldier but his experience relates to WW2 and might be of interest to many of you. I have decided to present this post as an investigation and how I came to learn more about him. I have chosen not to give his last name since he still has living brothers and sisters. I'm happy to give more information privately. I also apologise for potential spelling mistakes. I am a native French speaker and might not be writing absolutely perfectly in English.
Context
When I was little, in the 80s, I was told that I had an uncle (a cousin of my dad) who had been shot by the Germans in 1944. The story went that he picked a rifle while going to mass in the Ardennes on 25/12/1944 and was caught by the Germans.
I forgot all about it and went on with my life. I later studied history (up to PhD level) and began working in the same field. While looking at my family tree, a few months ago, I remembered the story. This time, knowing that research can bring a lot to the surface, I decided to investigate.
First step: the military museum of Brussels
Not knowing much, except for his name and date of birth, I wrote to the Military Museum of Brussels. This institution has military files but also documents about resistants. I was hoping that he might have been recognised as such, since he had been arrested with a weapon. After a few days, I received two pages telling my that my uncle had not officially been recognised as a resistant. Fortunately, they had a report from the fifties. It seems that his dad (the brother of my grand-father) tried to obtain the resistant status to obtain a pension. This was refused by the commission but I learned a few importants détails in the process. The report said that my uncle had indeed been arrested near Tillet (Ardenne, Luxemburg, Belgium) on 25/12/1944 and shot at Roumont (near Bastogne) the same day. This was not much but already confirmed what had been told to me as a child.
Second step: war victim office
Knowing so little and determined to find more, I called the War victim office in Brussels. I was told that there were two files about my Uncle and was invited to consult them a few days later. I was, as can be expected, very excited about this. On the day, I was given two voluminous files, a sight giving me hope. And indeed, these papers gave me plenty. The first file contained papers sent by the father of my uncle, asking the Belgian Government for information about his missing son. Then, I found a report stating that a body had been found in 1948 in the woods of Roumont by a priest. The scarf around the neck matched the one that my uncle was wearing the same day. Further investigation of the body demonstrated that the body was indeed the one of my uncle.
I opened the next file and suddenly uncovered a picture.
Here was my uncle. I had never seen a picture of him before and all photographs of him were believed lost. I was moved by this picture of a smiling 16 year-old who was so close to his demise.
Turning the pages, I finally found two interviews of witnesses. These testimonies were extremely useful to know what had happened.
The first testimony was of a middle-aged man who owned a farm near Tillet. He said that my uncle had been sent to his farm from Liège by his family to be safe (the irony...). On the 25th of December 1944, he wanted to go see a destroyed tank with a friend. The man begged him to stay but my uncle wouldn't listen. He never came home but heard from other villagers that he had been taken by a German patrol.
The second testimony was even more interesting. It was from another 16 year-old boy who had been with my uncle. While walking, they found rifles on the side of the road. They both picked one and went to a farm to fetch a map. While the second witness was Inside the farm, he heard a German sidecar coming and hid. When the vehicule left, my uncle was gone.
We don't know why those two boys took rifles during a major offensive. Stupidity? Teenager bravado? Who knows... It was certainly not the most clever thing to do, but we all know that you don't always act intelligently at 16. At least, the picture is becoming clearer. My uncle was presumably brought to Roumont and shot the same day. I don't know what German unit was in Roumont or if there was anything special, but I would appreciate any help on the matter. I don't know if the German archives would have anything on my uncle.
Third step: the grave
The files that I uncovered mentioned that the body of my uncle was brought back to Liège (Grivegnée in fact), where he was buried for good in 1948. I decided to investigate. After looking in a few cemeteries, I finally found the grave of my uncle in the patriotic square of Grivegnée's cemetery. Here I was, standing in front of him, 72 years after his death.
Fourth step: relatives
Wanting to be sure that I had everything, I also called old relatives who might remember something. One Aunt was particularly useful. She didn't know much about the circumstances but she told me that the death of my uncle was devastating for his family. Since he was missing until 1948, his father searched everywhere for him for three years. He even asked medium to tell him if his son was alive. When the body was found, the father was crushed. He moved to a house next to the cemetery and went to visit the grave of his son every morning. He spent the next ten years of his life in a couch, never wanting to do anything. He died at the end of the fifties, a broken man.
This was the sad story of my uncle. I don't think I can find much more on the Belgian side but haven't lost hope to uncover détails about the German side of the story. Any idea/information would be particularly welcomed. If you have any question, I would be glad to answer.
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