The Day Mary Didn’t Look

In the night from Wednesday 20 to Thursday 21 September 1944, Asten is in turmoil. British shellfire causes major destruction in and around the church. That Thursday, Asten is evacuated. In the evening, the same happens in Ommel, the popular Marian pilgrimage site. “Das ganze Heiligtum geht kaputt,” say the Germans. Many people from Ommel flee, but many also stay.

The large families Klaus and Michiels face the choice of leaving Ommel. The fighting is intense. They decide to spend one night in the farmhouses at Ommels Eindje. The families share a shelter: a deep ditch between the farms. Straw on the bottom, the top roughly covered with branches and mustard stalks. The children sometimes use the shelter as a playhouse. Both families prepare for a night in the shelter. After some grumbling about where everyone should sleep, the night is mostly sleepless. They make it through the night, and a new day of war begins. The battle between the English and the enraged Germans reaches its climax. Shells fly over the houses. Then a shell hits one of the two large lime trees right behind the shelter. Dora Michiels is eight years old. For fifty years, she could not speak about the tragedy that unfolded in those next few seconds.

This text has been translated using AI.