WW2 still finding bodies

Aldi stores recently bought the local lawyer's house as it is on quite a large parcel of ground and they want to build a new store there.

The house and out buildings were used as the SS headquarters in Hechtel and in the clearing of the ground a German body was discovered, both the local council and Aldi want it kept quiet as they do not want an investigation into it.

I never knew until today that it was an SS HQ, I knew that there was a secret execution ground in the woods at the west of the town, and that a lot of people were executed there.

I wonder what will be done with the remains? Returned to Germany or maybe just cremated on site?

By the way, how do they know the remains are German? Were there fragments of a uniform on it?

Trying to find out, no one is saying anything, the story came out from the workers on site who are not from around here.

On September 6 , 1944, German Rearguard Troops from the Wehrmacht succeeded in using some strategically placed cannons To join the Allied advance of Hasselt towards the Netherlands at the traffic junction of Hechtel to slow down. The Fallschirmjäger relied specially from Germany in Hechtel. It came to house-to-house battles.
The battle was committed after the Allied Irish Guards made a surround movement in northeast Direction via Eksel and overpelt on September 10th . They managed to get into the neighbouring Lommel from factory sites in Overpelt, which made a German retreat impossible in the northern direction. [1]
The German paras in Hechtel were surrounded. On 12 September they surrendered. Some of them could break in eastwards via Peer to dischargethe 15 km away, where they formeerden behind the canal again. In The following months they participated in the Battle of the Peel.
The seven days long struggle cost life to over ninety British and about 150 to 300 German soldiers. Thirty-six inhabitants of Hechtel died. Most of them were executed by the Germans without any reason or process. [source?]
A few days later, the Germans who died in Hechtel were put in mass graves on site, but then reburied at the nearby German soldiers ' cemetery in Lommel.

Translation from Dutch Wiki.

Thanks for posting that KK. Interesting stuff for sure.

You be welcome PM. Here is a preliminary Allied report, http://www.proprose.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/the-battle-of-hechtel.pdf

Thanks for that, not read it before, I have heard most of it from first hand account from my father and mother in laws.

Just before the surrender the Germans had rounded up the men from the village and were preparing to shoot them out side the church, the allied troops managed to stop them in time and now that street is called 12th Septemberstraat, a lot of the villages around here have a 12th Septemberstraat or square.
The cannons they are talking about are Jagdpanthers https://worldwar2database.com/gallery/wwii0069



This is one of the Jagdpanthers that were in Hechtel, I have seen this on in the Imperial War Museum in London a fey years ago, never knew then that I would be in the village where it was captured.
More info and pictures as it is now http://tank-photographs.s3-website-...tograph-restoration-camouflage-88mm.html

The secret graveyard/Execution place https://www.oorlogsgraf.nl/ww2/geheime-executieplaats-hechtel/

"Just before the surrender the Germans had rounded up the men from the village and were preparing to shoot them out side the church,"


I would be interested in finding more background info for this and specifically what was the motive of the Germans to attempt this atrocity. Was it simply revenge because they lost the battle and knew they would be surrendering or retreating?

Because some, not all, were helping the allies. My father in law used to go as a stand in for one of his uncles while the uncle was out sabotaging the Germans, the Germans would go to his uncles house and count the people there and as my father in law was there they had the right number in the house hold so they did not face reprisals.

There were times when he had to hide on the farm while the Germans searched it or there would have been too many people there, my father in law was around 8 or 9 at the time. He also used to smuggle food from Holland into the town as did the mother in laws sisters, mother in law was just a little to young to help.