Memorial Garden for Refugees

We must never forget that so many people had to flee in the First World War. That is why volunteers of the 11 November Group created a memorial garden in Westouter, so that we do not forget that so many – certainly here – are children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of refugees.

From October 1914 to April 1918 there were 2,947 refugees in Westouter, which then had 1,300 inhabitants. In April 1918 they all had to flee. Most of them ended up in Normandy.

The site – 35 ares (3,500 m²) – lies in nature, in silence, a short distance from the village centre. It borders the Hellegatstraat and the Hellegatbeek (Hellegat stream).

AGIV aerial photograph of the plot Heuvelland Division 5 section C number 59

The layout

The whole site was cleared of brambles, tilled and mown. The pond was dredged and the bridge between the Hellegatstraat and the Memorial Garden was built. Native trees and shrubs were planted, the lawn and the grass paths were laid out, and our volunteers built a canopy and a wall of posts.

The opening

The Memorial Garden was opened on World Refugee Day, 20 June 2015.

See all the photos and read more about the opening →

Escape routes and poems

We hope that many people will send us the escape route of their family. These are in the first place escape routes from the First World War, but among them are also routes from the Second World War, from the sixteenth century (when many people had to flee from here) and from current events.

Under the canopy hangs a gripping poem about fleeing by Charles Ducal.
See Poems about fleeing (in Dutch).
And you can read what people told about their flight at Fleeing: what people told us.

Visit the garden

The site is freely accessible during the day. It is easy to find: walk into the Hellegatstraat from the former boys' school. After a few hundred metres you will find the bridge to the garden on your right. Do take a short walk through the quiet space of our Memorial Garden.

Every 20 June is World Refugee Day. This day was designated as the day of refugees by UNHCR, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. It is also the day on which our garden was opened, and a good day to visit it.

Our Memorial Garden was laid out