Memorial Jacques en Emiel Van Tilt

This monument was erected in memory of the resistance fighters Jacques and Emiel Van Tilt.

The Van Tilt brothers, Jacques (° 20 August 1917) and Emiel (° 11 October 1920) were members of the armed resistance group, the Partisans, during the Second World War. On January 15, 1945, Jacques would also have been a co-founder of the resistance group "National Royal Movement". The NKB would be hit hard in this region. Several NKB members then joined other resistance groups. In 1943 the Germans inflicted heavy losses on the resistance movements in Belgium. As captain Jacques Van Tilt would hold a meeting with the remaining officers at the parental castle in Holsbeek on 14 September 1943. Plans were made for new resistance campaigns. On February 2, 1944, a weapons depot was built on the castle grounds.

In the night of 2 to 3 March 1944, the brothers were arrested and transported to Breendonk. They were probably betrayed by fellow Partizan Frans Vleugels. That night several raids were carried out by the Gestapo and several resistance fighters were arrested.

In the early morning of April 26, 1944, twenty prisoners appeared before the "court". The Van Tilt brothers were sentenced to death "in their capacity as leaders of a group of terrorists who carried out several attacks. They were always armed. "At about 5:00 a.m. they were taken to the execution site and shot.

There is some confusion about the date of execution, because the day before, on April 25, a list had already appeared in the newspaper "Le Soir" with the names of the executed.

Initially, the bodies of the brothers were buried on the "Oefenplein" in Etterbeek, a place where many resistance fighters were buried. In July 1945 the bodies were transferred to the family grave in the cemetery of the Sint-Mauruskerk in Holsbeek.

On September 15, 1947, on the initiative of the Holsbeek veterans' union, the current monument on the castle avenue was inaugurated.

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Source

• Text: Jan Rymenams
• Photos: Jan Rymenams (1, 2, 5), Patrick Janssens (3, 4)
• Bron: Liboton, J. Holsbeek, 40 jaar na 40, feiten en belevenissen, 1980, pp. 16-19