The Place of Execution
The Rieme-Oostakker Place of Execution is the place in the Ghent district of Oostakker where 66 resistance fighters were executed by the Naxi occupation force between February 8, 1943 and August 24, 1944.
This memory is also kept alive the 20 resistance fighters who were killed on the execution site at Rieme . That site was destroyed in 1998 during the construction of the Kluizendok of Ghent Port.
The executions were carried out in secret and the victims were buried anonymously. Some of the resistance fighters killed in Rieme was found in a mass grave in Hechtel.
Moreover, there were German soldiers and Belgian criminals also shot. Because of these circumstances, it is still unclear how many people were killed. After the Liberation the mass grave was uncovered in Oostakker. The victims were identified and buried in their hometowns.
The crosses on the ground thus have a symbolic meaning. Nevertheless, the execution place is a cemetery since in 1952 the remains of 15 decapitated West Flemish political prisoners were moved here from their graves in Munich.
On the grounds is a railway carriage which carried hundreds of Belgians to concentration camps in Germany and Poland. In 1966 the execution place gained the status of a protected landscape.
The Place of Execution
The Rieme-Oostakker Place of Execution is the place in the Ghent district of Oostakker where 66 resistance fighters were executed by the Naxi occupation force between February 8, 1943 and August 24, 1944.
This memory is also kept alive the 20 resistance fighters who were killed on the execution site at Rieme . That site was destroyed in 1998 during the construction of the Kluizendok of Ghent Port.
The executions were carried out in secret and the victims were buried anonymously. Some of the resistance fighters killed in Rieme was found in a mass grave in Hechtel.
Moreover, there were German soldiers and Belgian criminals also shot. Because of these circumstances, it is still unclear how many people were killed. After the Liberation the mass grave was uncovered in Oostakker. The victims were identified and buried in their hometowns.
The crosses on the ground thus have a symbolic meaning. Nevertheless, the execution place is a cemetery since in 1952 the remains of 15 decapitated West Flemish political prisoners were moved here from their graves in Munich.
On the grounds is a railway carriage which carried hundreds of Belgians to concentration camps in Germany and Poland. In 1966 the execution place gained the status of a protected landscape.