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Memorial Massacre Dinant

In August of 1914, a massacre is committed in various parts of the city of Dinant.
An order from the German Army Corps to massacre all civilians in Dinant and burn all houses reaches the 108th Artillery.
Around 9:30 p.m. on August 21, German horsemen accompanied by armored cars enter Rue Saint-Jacques. The inhabitants of this street and the surrounding streets, frozen with fear, hide wherever they can.
The soldiers, thirsty for blood and carnage, break down doors, pull windows and vents, throw grenades and spread fire with bombs.
The hotelier Sohet is hit by 7 bayonet blows, the butcher Cleda gets two bullets shot through his door, the wife of farmer Petit and his daughter are seriously injured, the gasworker Georges is killed by a bullet in the forehead.
A fire is set in the building "La Cité". Four members of the Michel family and the carpenter Georges die in unbearable suffering.
Two French shells explode in the middle of the German ranks and lead to the flight of these German assassins.

Along the Rue St.Jacques at house number 297 there is a commemorative plaque, signed Huygelen:
"Souvenir Dinantais
To the martyrs of 1914"

Source: Genedinant

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Source

  • Text: Marie-Christine Vinck
  • Photos: Marie-Christine Vinck

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