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 LegerDie „Geheimarmee“ wurde ursprünglich im Zuge der deutschen Besatzung gegründet, um im Falle von Friedensverhandlungen und einem damit verbundenen Abzug deutscher Truppen aus Belgien eine Militärverwaltung einzurichten. Ab August 1942 wurden die meisten ihrer Mitglieder von den Deutschen verhaftet, hingerichtet oder nach Deutschland überführt. [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 Penitentiary, Esterwegen Penal Camp, and Sonnenburg Penitentiary, Roger Mahieu, as a “Night-and-Fog” 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 Court 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 Reconstruction, 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 Agreement (GlobalabkommenZwischen 1959 und 1964 schloss die Bundesrepublik Deutschland bilaterale Entschädigungsabkommen mit zwölf westeuropäischen Staaten. Darin wurden Pauschalzahlungen vereinbart, mit denen alle Entschädigungsansprüche abgegolten werden sollten. Die Verteilung der Gelder oblag jeweils dem Empfängerstaat.) 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.