Roger Mahieu in his application for the status of “armed resistance fighter,” 11 August 1948 (excerpt)

Belgisches Nationalarchiv, Statut bewaffneter Widerstandskämpfer, F1944, RA 42047

Roger Mahieu was born on 13 May 1923, in Ypres, West Flanders (Belgium). Until his arrest, he studied and worked as an assistant in the supply service of Meulebeke.

Roger Mahieu joined the resistance organisation Geheim LegerThe “Secret Army” was originally established during the German occupation to set up a military administration in the event of peace negotiations and the associated withdrawal of German troops from Belgium. From August 1942, most of its members were arrested, executed, or deported to Germany by the Germans. [Secret Army] in July 1942 and was arrested on 17 December 1942, at the age of 19, due to his affiliation. Through the Wehrmacht prisons in Ghent and Bruges, Bochum PenitentiaryThe sentence of penal servitude was imposed as a prison sentence for criminal offences along with the loss of civil rights. The milder prison sentence was imprisonment. Under the Nazi regime, the punitive measures imposed in penal servitude, particularly forced labour and deprivation, were significantly intensified., Esterwegen Penal Camp, and Sonnenburg Penitentiary, Roger Mahieu, as a “Night-and-Fog”At least 7,000 people suspected of resistance from France, the Benelux countries, and Norway were deported to the German Reich and imprisoned there following the “Night-and-Fog”-Decree of 7 December 1941. They were completely isolated, given a number instead of their name, and were not allowed to contact relatives, fellow prisoners, or the outside world. Many died in custody or were sentenced to death and executed. prisoner with the number 578, arrived at Wolfenbüttel Prison. He was registered there in June 1944. On 22 September 1943, he was sentenced by the People’s CourtThe People’s Court (Volksgerichtshof) was the highest political court established in 1934 to “combat enemies of the state” in the Third Reich. Its seat was in Berlin, but it also held sessions in other cities. No legal remedies could be lodged against a judgment of the People’s Court. The court imposed over 5,200 death sentences. to four years in prison for “aiding the enemy.”

In Wolfenbüttel Prison, Roger Mahieu had to work for the Braunschweig company Voigtländer & Sohn, manufacturing telescopic sights and monoculars for the Wehrmacht with other prisoners. In the spring of 1944, Voigtländer & Sohn was the largest producing company on the grounds of Wolfenbüttel Prison.

On 7 April 1945, Roger Mahieu, along with 300 “Night-and-Fog” prisoners and 50 death row inmates, was transferred from Wolfenbüttel Prison via Magdeburg to Brandenburg-Görden Penitentiary due to the approaching Allied troops. He arrived there on 11 April 1945.

Roger Mahieu’s imprisonment entry into Brandenburg-Görden Penitentiary, 1945

BLHA, Rep. 29 Zuchthaus Brandenburg Nr. Do. 10, Bl. 57.

Roger Mahieu was liberated by Soviet troops on 27 April 1945, and returned to Belgium on 8 June 1945. After his imprisonment, he suffered from a bone disease due to malnutrition and deprivation.

On 22 September 1948, Roger Mahieu was recognised as a “political prisoner” by the Ministry of ReconstructionA ministry in Belgium that was responsible for processing applications for certain national recognition statuses in the immediate post-war period, such as the status of political prisoners., Bruges Department. Initially, he was awarded financial compensation and additional special payments for the imprisonment period from December 1942 to April 1945.

His application for recognition as an “armed resistance fighter” was also granted by the Ministry of National Defence, Resistance Department, on 9 February 1949. The recognition period was from 1 July 1942, the day he joined the Geheim Leger, until the day before his return to Belgium, 7 June 1945.

On 16 March 1950, Roger Mahieu applied for the recognition period of his imprisonment as a “political prisoner” to be extended until his return to Belgium in June 1945. The application was approved in August 1953, establishing 30 full months as the imprisonment period.

From the Bilateral Compensation AgreementBetween 1959 and 1964, the Federal Republic of Germany concluded bilateral compensation agreements with twelve Western European states. These agreements included lump-sum payments intended to settle all compensation claims. The distribution of the funds was the responsibility of the recipient state. (Globalabkommen) between Belgium and Germany, Roger Mahieu received payments between 1962 and 1965 due to his status as a “political prisoner.” On 20 February 2001, at the age of 78, Roger Mahieu applied for payments from the fund established in August 2000 to compensate Nazi forced labourers.

Roger Mahieu was honorary chairman of the political prisoners, Tielt Department. He died on 8 October 2018 and was buried in the crypt of the political prisoners in Meulebeke.