Bastogne War Museum, a reminder of hard-won peace

People experience an exhibition at the Bastogne War Museum in Bastogne, Belgium, Aug. 18, 2020. (Xinhua/Zhang Cheng)

BRUSSELS, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- "You have to know your past to better understand the present and consider the future. It is important to remember what happened 75 years ago, in order to understand where we are now and to learn from the past," said the head of the Bastogne War Museum, Mathieu Billa, in Belgium.

Billa, also a Belgian historian, made the remarks in a recent interview with Xinhua on the 75th anniversary of the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War.

The Bastogne War Museum, inaugurated in 2014, serves as an example of hard-won peace by showing visitors the context, causes, events and consequences of World War II through the prism of the Ardennes Counteroffensive, a major battle in Bastogne, a Belgian region in the Ardennes.

The Bastogne War Museum's exhibition room displays many objects recalling the fierce battle that took place in the Ardennes during the winter of 1944-1945. That battle forced Adolf Hitler's army to withdraw on the Eastern Front, precipitating the fall of Nazi Germans.

The museum offers visitors optional audio-guided tours through four fictional characters: a German lieutenant, an American soldier, a young teacher from the Communal school of Bastogne and Emile Mostade, a 13-year-old boy.

The stories told by Mostade about the life of civilians during the occupation and during the battle are often much appreciated by young visitors.

When the war broke out, Mostade lived in Noville, 7 km from Bastogne, and his parents ran a bicycle shop in the town.

"On Dec. 18, the sound of the cannons approached my village ... I have to admit that I'm a bit scared, especially since there's no more electricity," the boy's voice said.

His parents decided to send him to his uncle Victor's house in Bastogne where he ran a cafe with a solid cellar underneath.

"There are already at least 20 people in the cellar ... When the bombing starts again, I take my accordion and play as loud as I can to hide the noise of the bombs. The problem is that I only know one tune ..." the voice continued.

His parents who stayed in Noville to guard the house were killed. His mother was killed by a bomb that destroyed the house, and his father was shot at random by the Germans who were taking revenge after finding a hidden transmitter.

"Mom and Dad died in that battle. A lot of innocent people like them were victims because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. They met people on their way who did not respect the lives of others," said the voice.

Curator Billa said, "These four people are fictional characters but inspired by reality. And thanks to them, we really have the different points of view on the Second World War."

According to Billa, the primary role of the museum is to educate visitors about the past. The museum has designed visiting programs for students and the general public to leave a message of peace to the younger generations, for whom war is a distant memory.

"Leave your hatred behind, if you have any. Every person you meet should be like a sister or a brother. Be good to one another. That way the world will be happy," an American veteran visiting the museum was heard as saying to a local reporter.

Billa expressed the same wish. "May the world continue to live in peace and prosperity."