WW1 Home Town Soldier 2 by Steven Berkenboom

hum.be m o o b n e rk e .b w w e: w Berkengeruis onlin

SPECIAL EDITION 2 My home town soldier is a European soldier

eTwinning project

Berkenboom Humaniora herdenkt WO I

Berkenboom Humaniora, Sint-Niklaas, Belgium

Kaufmännische Schule Aalen, Germany

Hayes School, United Kingdom

IIS "Cattaneo", Italy

LP Henri Leroy, Port Saint Louis du Rhône, France

Lycée Lasalle Saint Charles, France No picture available 2

Inhoudstafel: Twinning-week Messages in the First World War Belgian Diaries Medical Care Marie Curie Belgian and French Diaries Letter from Mr Lenz (Germany) French Diaries The most beautiful tweets about the First World War My Home Towns Soldier - German Newspaper Hayes School - Creative writing My Home Town Soldier - Belgium The Wire of Death

Deelnemende scholen: FIORELLA GRIGIO, IIS "Cattaneo", Italy Angélique CIPREO, LP Henri Leroy, Port Saint Louis du Rhône, France Steven De Foer, Berkenboom Humaniora Bovenbouw, Belgium Sylvia Farrow, Hayes School, United Kingdom Michela Temporin, IIS "Cattaneo", Italy Walter Joos, Kaufmännische Schule Aalen, Germany Jean-Marc RAVIER, LP Henri Leroy, Port Saint Louis du Rhône, France Sophie Voulant, LP Henri Leroy, Port Saint Louis du Rhône, France Thierry vanpevenage, Lycée Lasalle Saint Charles, France

Twinning-week From April the 20th until April the 23rd students of a German school came to Belgium. This is a small report about what we have been doing. DAY 1 We were supposed to meet the German students at the foot of the Atomium in Brussels. We were all a bit nervous because it was the first time we met them. But this nervous feeling disappeared quickly. Our teacher had organised a kind of game in Brussels. But we were so busy getting to know each other that we didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have time to finish it.. After this acquaintance, we went to our residence. After we were all settled, we had a pleasant evening while playing a few games. It was a real challenge to explain the games in English. We didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t go to bed too late because the next day we had to go to our school and it all started at 8:25. DAY 2 So the next morning we got up on time and we went to our school. After these lessons, the German students could count in Latin and they knew what we learn in maths. We only followed 2 lessons because we had to go to the city hall where the mayor welcomed the German students.. Then it was time to go to the S.T.E.M., a museum in SintNiklaas. In that museum an exhibition about the First World War took place and we were invited to present our project there. Afterwards we went to the shopping mall where our headmaster treated us to an icecream. Then we went to our residence where some of our parents were waiting with a delicious Belgian meal: french fries with typical Belgian stewed meat. When we were all satisfied, some of us paid a visit to Ghent, one of the most famous cities in Belgium.

DAY 3 The next morning we needed to get up early because we planned to go to Ieper, the city in Belgium that is famous because of its important role in the First World War. When we arrived there, we first went to Flanders Fields, the most famous museum of Ieper.

After lunch we went to an English cemetery, where our teacher told us something more about the history. Then we went to the next museum : the ‘Passendaele museum’. There a dug-out and trenches are reconstructed. It gave us a good impression about the life of a soldier. But the day wasn’t over yet. We visited 2 other cemeteries: an English and a German one. There was a big contrast between those two, as you can see in the pictures.

The last activity of the day was attending the Last Post, it’s a ceremony to commemorate the war in Ieper and it takes place every evening. It was a day full of emotions and impressions, and in the end we came to realise that a world war shouldn’t ever happen again. THE LAST DAY We had a great last evening, but of course, at some point, stories come to an end. So after a goodbye and a hug the German students went home. We had a lot of fun and at the same time we learned a lot. We won’t forget this experience . Lobke Roodhooft

Messages in the First World War At the beginning of the 20th century, there was no such thing as a cellphone. If people wanted to send a message, they had to meet in person or they had to write a letter. Of course, when you’re sailing on the ocean, you can’t write a letter or it’s difficult to arrange a meeting, so they used an impressive system: they used Morse code! The Morse code The Morse alphabet is an alphabet that consists of long and short signals. If you write it down, you can see stripes and dots. This way they could send a message with light. The most famous message is SOS, used when people need help. Most people think they chose this message because it means ‘Save Our Souls’, but that’s not entirely true. They chose this one because it’s easy to recognize: …- - -… . When you’re at war, it’s not a good idea when everyone can hear or see the signal, so in the First World War, they needed a secret code. Therefore they used some ancient tricks: the Polybius square.

The Polybius square With the Polybius square, you can make a 2-letter-code for each letter. First thing to do is choose a code word. For example we will choose ‘fortune’. You fill in the word as you can see in the first picture. Then you fill in the other letters of the alphabet, starting with the last letter of your code word, so after ‘E’ you fill in ‘F’, but you ‘ve already filled in ‘F’, so the next letter is ‘G’. As you can see, there are only 25 squares and the alphabet counts 26 letters, so we will put ‘I’ and ‘J’ together. You continue this way until the square looks like the second picture.

Encode a message Now it’s time to make the message. You can find a code for each letter in the square. It’s a bit like playing the game ‘Battleship’. First you find out which column the letter is in. That’s the first part of the code. The second part is the letter of the row. It’s easier to understand if you see an example, so why don’t we try to encode ‘no more war’? You can find the letter ‘N’ in column ‘A’ and in row ‘D’, so the code for ‘N’ is ‘AD’. For the ‘O’, you will find ‘DA’ and if you continue, you can find this code:

AD DA

FF DA FA DD

war

FG DX FA

Decode a message The enemy didn’t know the code word, so it was impossible for them to understand the real message. We on the other hand have the knowledge and the resourses to decode such a message even without the code word. By using some graphics about letter frequency, it’s possible for us! So if you want to, you can try this at home. Use these graphics and your brains and you are able to decode a text! Jana Van Bogaert

Belgian Diaries Brasschaat-Schoten-Beveren

29 August-5 September 1914

On 29th August, we leave at 9 am and march all day in the burning sun. We are suffering a lot. People put buckets of water along the houses so we can refresh ourselves. Many boys stay behind because they can’t go any further, due to the blisters on their feet. Finally, we arrive in Brasschaat at 9 pm. The pain was killing us, walking that far, carrying a luggage of 20 kg on our back in the heat. What is best? A fight or walking like this? Home sweet home. It looks as if we will stay here, in Brasschaat, for 8 days. So we can rest, but the next day we have to be in rank at 9 am. We have to dig trenches and cut the forest and it takes all day. Luckily, we can go on 4th September and the officers think we are healthy. We will arrive in Schoten in the evening. That is not far away but now my company has to guard the fortress. I saw a zeppelin throwing bombs on Antwerp this night and they weren’t small. The next day we go through Antwerp. We cross the Schelde to Zwijndrecht, Melsele. Let’s hope they continue to Sint-Niklaas. I’m not tired now, but we have to stop in Beveren, we have to stay here. No one can leave the canton because the Germans want to cross the Schelde and come to Dendermonde. If they succeed, we have to go, even though we’re this close to home. Me and my friend Frans Loir, we demand a bike and go home. We’re home at 6 am. But time passes by really fast, telling about what we’ve seen, eating some food, washing ourselves, getting some money and some bacon. We go back to Beveren at 8 pm, assuming that we will march to Sint-Niklaas with our regiment. Werchter

12 September 1914

The Germans are about 600 m away. Now the machine guns start to shoot. They are still advancing, which proves that we fail. We wait a few minutes and then we shoot back. Now we hit them. We see them falling and we keep going, 300 bullets every minute with 4 guns. The Germans get down. We stop shooting. They get up, not the dead soldiers of course, and they advance. We take our guns again. We hear the Germans screaming and crying. They can’t come near us. After a few minutes, they attack us with canons. It’s raining shells and shrapnel. The nearby farm is on fire. They are after the machine guns. We are lying on the ground between the potatoes, our luggage on our head to protect us. Our commander is shot in his arm. He goes backwards as much as possible. The major gets hit by a garnet. We try to help him but he doesn’t want us to carry him away. He says: “I will die, return to your places. Go ahead, shoot!” 9

Edward Robyn, a friend of mine, a boy from Sint-Niklaas, is hit. We wanted to help but he immediately died. Suddenly there’s a shell next to me, I barely have time to fall down. The soil falls down on me. I thought I would die. Pieces of iron flew over my head. It’s awful and scary. The machine guns are broken and the Germans are only 200 m away. The clarions announce the recess. Everyone withdraws. Canons are still shooting. Everyone is left alone and we have to get out of this hell on our own. Me and my friend Frans Loir, we stay together and leave the others behind, because we see the Germans shooting the other soldiers. We go along the canal. We have to cross it, we know, but how? Many people are swimming but many also drown. The little bridges fall because of the weight of all the soldiers. Me and Frans Loir, we go straight ahead to Tremelo. If the Germans aren’t there yet and if the bridge didn’t collapse, it’s the best thing we can do. It’s the largest bridge. When we arrive, thousands of people are waiting to cross the river. Step by step we cross the bridge, injured people are screaming and groaning in pain. Now the Germans start shooting shells to the bridge. Finally we get over the bridge. We leave and go to Tremelo. Jana Van Bogaert en Lobke Roodhooft

Medical Care In World War 1 not only soldiers were important. A lot of people were necessary behind the front line. Many soldiers got injured: they got shot, their body was mutilated because of a bomb explosion… All these men needed care. But it was not easy for doctors to take care of the soldiers at the front. There weren’t enough nurses for all the injured. The trenches were not hygienic and there was not enough equipment. During the war new weapons were developed. As a result, doctors had to treat a lot of wounded people with injuries that no one had seen before. They needed to invent new treatments to help their patients. This created a huge leap in medical development. New methods were created and old methods were improved. The improvements: 1. Plastic surgery Plastic surgery focused on the wounds in the face. Soldiers were often seriously wounded by shrapnel bullets and flamethrowers. The bonding methods were improved and the risk of infections was reduced. 2. X-Ray X-Ray equipment was essential for tracking down bullets or to find fractures. Because the X-ray equipment was large and difficult to move, Marie Curie improved the shadowgraph service. 10

The British invented the X-Ray cars and the Germans used the Feldröntgenwagen. 3. Blood transfusion The loss of blood usually was main the cause of death. A blood transfusion could help but it still was risky. They needed to react fast and most of the time, they didn’t have the right blood group. To reduce the loss of blood, they invented the pressure bandage and hemostats. This gave them the opportunity to close the blood vessels. 4. Psychological help The most significant improvement was the treatment of psychological trauma. During the War, many British soldiers returned home with shell shock symptoms. Physically they were fine but they retreated into madness. Shell shock was caused by an air displacement of grenades exploded too close, the shell-blast. They were all alone and nobody took care of them. Doctors didn’t treat the patients because they showed no external injuries. Some were even sent back to the front. In 1915, Doctor Charles S. Myers used the name ‘shell shock’ for the first time in a medical magazine. He described the disease of soldiers who survived a grenade explosion. For these soldiers, they made a special department in the hospitals but first there wasn’t a treatment. The traumatized were sent back home to be interned in a madhouse. The British army said ‘shell shock’ was an excuse for cowardice and desertion. Many soldiers were sentenced to death or send back to the front. In 1916, there was a real treatment. At a medical conference, there were finally guidelines for shell shock patients. The treatment consisted of hypnosis, psychotherapy and electroconvulsive therapy. Pauline Verhoeven

Marie Curie (Melanie Vercauteren) Marie Curie was a French-Polish woman, who was born in Warsaw on November 7th in 1867. As a child she lived in Russia. She lived there until she was 24, then she decided to move to France with her sister. In 1891 she could finally move to Paris. She went to the university of Paris to study chemistry, physics and mathematics. In 1893 she succeeded for her Masters of Physics. A year later she also succeeded for her Masters of mathematics. After she had finished these studies, she started to research the magnetic features of hardened steel. Because she needed good tools to do research, she contacted a scientist, who was doing research into magnetism, named Pierre Curie. She married him in 1895. After her first pregnancy she started research into the phenomenon of uranium radiation. Later she discovered that this radiation was a property of the atomic nucleus in a lot of different materials. She named this phenomenon ‘radioactivity’. In 1904 Marie, Pierre Curie and Henri Becquerel got the Nobel Prize for their discovery of radioactivity. In 1911 Marie’s secret relationship with Paul Langevin was revealed. Everybody thought that her Polish origin and her affair with Langevin would damage the French standards. But because of the Nobel Prize for chemistry that she had won in 1911, she got her own research institute. During her life Marie furthered the use of radium for medical purposes. Curie created several radiological centers along the front to assist battlefield surgeons in their care of wounded soldiers during World War 1. Marie Curie did a quick study on radiology, anatomy and mechanics so she was able to develop a car with X-ray equipment. With those cars they could drive along the frontline to help the war victims. The cars were known as ‘Petites Curies’ (= ‘Little Curies’). Curie visited Poland for the last time in 1934. On July 4th 1934 Marie died in France because of leukemia. The Leukemia was a consequence of her exposure to radioactivity whose dangers were unknown at that time.

Marie en Pierre Curie in the laboratory

Marie in one of her mobile X-ray vehicles 12

Belgian Diaries (Lobke Roodhooft) Diksmuide, 11-12 October 1914 We arrived in Diksmuide at midnight. We stayed there for two days. Diksmuide is a beautiful city but we didn't understand the inhabitants very well. On October 14th, we went to Ghyveringhove. I believed we were in the colonies here, all little communities with foolish, stupid people, they are like 50 years behind. Moreover we didn’t have food. No shops, no bakers, almost all people baked their own bread. So, we had to eat our biscuits. The next day we went to Beveren. There we found a baker. He had to bake for our company until we all had half a loaf of bread. And it had to go fast. Inside it was still dough and we ate it warm. We liked it. In the afternoon we left, it was time, the baker ran out of flour. At 11 pm we arrived in Biscote and we asked for food, but our supervisor said we didn’t need food before going to bed and we were promised to get food tomorrow. Passendale, 30 September 1918 Everything was stock-still. No shot was fired. It was raining all the time and you heard people screaming all over the battlefield because they were wounded. We stood there as victors. We came 10 km forwards but instead of happiness it was sadness we felt. For me this night was the saddest night in my life. I'll remember this night as long as I live. It is as if I can still hear all those miserable men screaming for their mother, their wife or their children. They cried out: “Let me drink, carry me away, come and save me, I'm going to die.That cold night more than 500 wounded men were lying there and screamed. Nobody could help them and many died from cold or blood loss.

French Diary (LP Henri Leroy - Port Saint-Louis du Rhône, France) MICHEL SUGURA Née le 10 novembre 1890 Marié, un enfant Ouvrier Port-Saint-Louis du Rhône Amputé d'une jambe en décembre 1914

16 décembre 1914 Chère Marie Tu me manques terriblement, j'ai appris que tu avais donné naissance à notre petit garçon, j'aimerai tant le voir… Ici, tout se passe bien, nous avons repoussé l'ennemi et nous attendons les ordres. De grosses pensées pour vous deux

23 décembre 1914 Chère Marie Cela fait une semaine que je ne vous ai pas envoyé de courrier car les conditions sont compliquées. Nous n'avons pas de nourriture, dormir dans le froid devient insupportable. Hier, j'ai vu un de mes camarades boire dans une flaque où gisait un cadavre. Mais rassure-toi je vais aussi bien que possible Michel

Je vous aime

30 décembre 1914

Michel

Mon amour Je t'écris depuis mon lit d'hôpital, je suis blessé, les médecins veulent m'amputer la jambe car j'ai une grosse infection. Ca me fait horreur. Je pense à vous tout le temps… Michel

Letter from Mr Lenz (Germany) (Kaufm채nnische Schule Aalen, Germany)

French Diaries (LP Henri Leroy - Port Saint-Louis du Rhône, France) Jean-Hervé Poitiers Born 11th june 1889 Engineer Port Saint Louis du Rhône

Drafted in august 1914 Officer

Le 13 avril 1915

Dead at war the 18th may 1916 in Fort Douaumont near Verdun

Dear Madame, I thank you for the parcel you sent me. I appreciated the scarf and the cakes were delicious Of course, life is not easy but I keep courage. hank you for your support in these Thank difficult moments. Jean-Hervé

Joseph Lacarotte Born 14TH april 1890 in Marseille Postman Drafted in october 1914 Wounded at face in 1915 Engeneer

dear Huguette, dear children Here everything is dark, there is only hatred and fear. fear I am missing you so much. I hope the children are all right and are happy in spite of my absence. J'espère que les enfants vont bien et sont heureux malgré mon absence. Micheline has begun to walk I hope. hope Here life is difficult, difficult it is so cold, I sleep on the floor without taking of my garnments. I'm looking forward coming home. home Joseph

The most beautiful tweets about the First World War Infantrymen are like cats. They can sleep anywhere, anytime. @COLRICHARDKEMP

Freedom…built on the blood of people @cmm1917

Young and disabled but still smiling @ArmyChaplainMus

How to send a message? @ColonelGrapple

Children pretending to be nurses in the ruins of a bombed London @jaivirdi

Officer and men of the 17th Royal Scots, definitely vertically challenged @Newbattleatwar

A patrol of the Northants Yeomanry crossing a stream @Nick_Britten

My Home Town Soldier - German newspaper

Hayes school - Creative writing 20th July 1916 France : 6 am I’m in a doctor’s camp. Yes, a few hours back I was thinking of how the soldiers feel when they take a bullet. Now, I think God has given me the answer. I was inching forward, shooting down as many enemy soldiers as possible. I kept shooting. I didn’t notice a soldier aiming from behind a shrub. Suddenly, out of the blue, I was hit in the stomach. Soon, a searing pain tore through me, almost blinding me. An image of my 2 year old daughter, formed in my mind, and I remembered my wife sobbing and trying to smile through the pain kissed me goodbye. Suddenly, I had the sensation of floating to an unknown place but then something sucked me right back. I was alive! I had a vague feeling of being pricked. I opened my eyes. I could feel tears rolling down my cheeks. I understood how unpredictable life can be. One moment you are alive, and the next? How close I was to death; to losing my wife, my only child, my everything. I was under the impression that being a soldier would fetch me name, fame and glory. I realised then that it only gives you a feeling of guilt, the feeling of being torn apart. I was told by the doctor that I was lucky to be live. It was a miracle. I was also told that I could rejoin my battalion soon. I don’t know if I should rejoice or break down. Juno Felicia Grade 8 THE CRY OF A SOUL Lost I look around me I cry for help but none hear me. Then I see people marching, In similar suits with machine guns. I see people scrambling and shrieking, A little young girl crying by her mom’s corpse. Thus, I ask, where am I? I need not have an answer cause Iam next to my body. Shocked, I look all around to see many saddened faces Including the face of the little girl’s mother. She is trying to console her sobbing child, in vain. Seeing her anguish my heartless heart breaks. I look around to see that within a few minutes Some more have joined; I see the little girl hugging her mother. People shoot each other all around, I see my mother and brother joining our crowd.

No! I shriek, but of no use. Cause I see them smiling from a little interspace. Wrenched I start sobbing. As there are no tears in my eyes, people around me give a look filled with doubt.

One by one Everyone joined in The Earth looks peaceful Without humans trampling each other. Had there been a little dove With a white flag Maybe now we won’t be shipped To the House of Hades?

Now I keep repeating to myself A question, “Where are the Gods?” Allah, Jesus, Krishna, Ram Zeus, Poseidon or The Egyptian frog God Isn’t there anyone who could stop This cross we’ve brought on ourselves.

Now at least I hope we understand We all are each other’s brothers and sisters All the barriers that are separating us Is our illusion and not God’s decision. For even if we are from France or Germany Maybe a weaker or a stronger country God has created us under one identity. HUMANITY Juno Felicia Grade 8

10 December, 1917 12pm. Today was my birthday and it was also the day that I lost my family. I still can’t forget it. My father was trying to save me, from German bullets, running through the panicking crowd. It was a never-ending nightmare, where all I could see were the French soldiers dying in front of our eyes. The place was in total darkness, and all I could sense was my Dad holding me tight, close to his heart and trying to make me feel better by constantly assuring me that everything was going to be fine. Just as he completed his statement, all I heard was a ‘Boom’! I could feel him going limp, and his arms letting go of me. I felt myself turning blue with the fear that something was terribly wrong. All I saw was a bright light shining across the place, making the place hot. I realised that it was a huge bomb that took away many souls, and as I tried to walk, I saw Dad underneath me like he was in a deep sleep. I knew that he was dead. There was blood all over him. I was standing in the midst of scores of dead bodies. I started screaming and crying for my dad urging him to get up. I felt helpless and slowly moved away to a corner in fear. Now as the day ends, and as a birthday wish I desperately wanted to know where and whether the rest of my family was alive. Saba Mehdi Grade 9 May 21st, 1916 8pm I was running frantically trying to save as many lives as possible. I saw a soldier getting hit by a bullet. There was no way he could live, but I still wanted to try. As I ran forward with my medical kit, a hand grabbed my leg. It was a strong hand, but yet weak. I realised it was the same soldier, and before I knew it, his head was on my lap. He seemed to be gasping for breath, and I knew that there was no way that I could save him. I suspected that he too knew it. What he said then, hit me like one of the bullets. ‘Hey sis, goodbye, be strong. Remember that I love you, and Happy Birthday. He then handed me a bracelet. I told him the same thing-‘Happy Birthday, and I love you too.’ His heart then gave out. Looking at the bracelet, my mind drifted back to our fourth birthday, when we promised our mom that we’d look after each other, that we’d always stay together till death. She then handed us the identical bracelets, which we later exchanged, repeating our promises again, thinking that we understood what those words meant. It is only now that I realise what they meant. Now looking at the bracelet, soaked in blood, I’m totally shaken and shattered. Akshitha Grade 9

21st December 1917 11 am The shifting wrinkles on his face looked like young mountains shifting, trying to find their final shape. The sky is murky and grey. The clouds are black, soaked with poison, hovering over us as symbols of death, a reminder of our mortality. I try to pull myself up, apart from this avalanche of sorrow, but my limbs refrain. No matter where I look, all I see is pain and gloom. The air is filled with bullets and screams and moans. The worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s painted red. The stench of dead bodies made me nauseous. The violence and inhuman killing made me sick. The realities of war has taught me the values of life. The need, the values of the tiny little joys life throws in our path. I ache for my mother. I call out, getting no reply. I long for those summers, the places where I belong. The sun is drowning in the sea of blood. Night is descending, encompassing the world in a hopeless blanket of darkness. The darkness terrifies me, as I look at this lightless universe of suffering. I lay in hope, that the dawn may bring freedom, in the hope of peace. Pallavi Singh Grade 9

My Home Town Soldier - Belgium Henricus Ludovicus Goethals was a Belgian soldier who was born on 8th December 1889. He got married with Maria Ludovica Cappaert in 1914. In the same year, the First World War started. He was sent to the front to fight for his country Belgium. Unfortunately he died very soon. A shrapnel hit him in the back. This is a small piece of metal from an explosive bomb. GOETHALS Henricus Ludovicus Maria Soldaat, 2e kl., 12e Linie Geboren Sint-Niklaas 08-12-1889 Zoon van Joannes Franciscus en De Schepper Catharina Clemencia x Sint-Niklaas 04-11-1885 Gehuwd met Cappaert Maria Ludovica Beroep lintenwever Overleden Londerzeel 29-09-1914 Begraven (14-18) Londerzeel, Sint-Jozef graf 14 Begraven (heden) Willebroek, G.B. Melanie Vercauteren en Pauline Verhoeve(n)

The Wire of Death In the First World War the Wire of Death was used to cut off the escape routes from Belgium to the Netherlands. The Germans made an electric fence to prevent the refugees from helping the enemies and to make sure that spies, other refugees, enemies… couldn’t get in. It was also used to prevent people from smuggling food. Food was much cheaper in the Netherlands than in Belgium, so a lot of people tried to smuggle food. The Wire looked like a regular fence. It consisted of three wires: two wires on the sides and one in the middle, this wire was very deadly, because it had a voltage of 2000 Volts! The people who lived near the Wire didn’t know how dangerous it was. Thousands of people were killed because they didn’t know the risks. Three quarters of them were electrocuted and the other quart was shot by soldiers who guarded the Wire. The so called ferrymen developed techniques to get to the other side of the Wire: they tried to go under, between, over… the Wire and they did so in many ways. They dug holes underneath the Wire and then they tried to crawl under it without touching it. Otherwise they would get electrocuted. They also tried to put wooden barrels between/ under the wires, this way it would be easier to get through safely. The last technique was to pole vault over the Wire of Death. Of course they had to practice a lot to be able to do this. When they got really good at pole vaulting, they could try it over the Wire. There were a lot of people who wanted to go to the other side of the Wire, so they bribed the German soldiers. The Wire of Death also caused many problems for the Catholics, because in some villages the church was on the wrong side of the Wire, so they couldn’t go to church anymore. They had to be escorted by German Soldiers. The graveyard was also on the other side. A lot of families were separated by the Wire. The last victim was Jan Van Looveren, he thought that the wire wasn’t working anymore, but it still did, so he was the last person who ever got electrocuted by the Wire of Death. Julie Thysen