Belgian city pays tribute to Polish WWII general

The Belgian city of Roeselare plans to open a memorial to commemorate Polish general Stanisław Maczek, whose armoured division liberated Belgium's Flanders region from German occupation during World War II.

Gen. Stanisław Maczek's grave at a Polish military cemetery in Breda in the northern Netherlands.

Photo: PAP/Maciej Kulczyński

The unique memorial, the first of its kind in Belgium, is set to be unveiled on September 7 to mark the 80th anniversary of the event.

It will be housed within a wartime bunker that Polish soldiers seized and disarmed in early September 1944.

Op 31 maart 1892 werd Gen. Maczek geboren: een 🇵🇱 held die met zijn 1e Pantserdivisie een grote bijdrage leverde aan de bevrijding van 🇧🇪.
Terwijl we dit jaar de 80ste verjaardag van de bevrijding van Vlaanderen herdenken, eren we deze #VergetenHelden van Gen. Maczek's #1PD. pic.twitter.com/4cefmIG7SP

— Embassy of Poland BE (@PLinBelgium) March 31, 2024

An exhibition inside the bunker will showcase photographs, films, documents and personal items belonging to the Polish soldiers who liberated Roeselare, such as diaries and pieces of uniforms.

Two memorial stones honouring 🇵🇱Gen. Maczek & 🇧🇪Simonne Brugghe were unveiled at the cemetery in Roeselare. The town was liberated by Maczek’s soldiers in 1944 and Brugghe provided them with information about German troops’ positions.@Stad_Roeselare @ipngovpl_eng @Kombatanci pic.twitter.com/5IKmRvY3rV

— Embassy of Poland BE (@PLinBelgium) March 20, 2024

Radio Poland’s Michał Owczarek has this report.

Click on the audio player above to listen.