Courtesy Photo | Valéry Lienard. Godfather of U.S. Army Garrison Benelux employee Patrick Livémont,...... read more read more
CHIÈVRES, Belgium – Located in the heart of Europe, Belgium has been at the center of two world wars and is often referred to as the “battleground of Europe” by historians. In towns and cities across Belgium the presence of monuments, museums and commemorations serve to preserve the history of these wars for future generations in what is often referred to as the duty of memory.
For many, the desire to preserve the collective memory of war often involves participation in local history groups and public ceremonies. For others, like Benelux employee Patrick Livémont, the sense of historical duty takes a more individual and private form. Livémont, a heavy equipment operator for the Directorate of Public Works at Chièvres Air Base, is an avid history researcher who has spent more than 25 years researching World War II with a focus on Nazi killing centers and mass execution sites in German-occupied Europe.
Livémont’s passion for history began in his youth, when he was fascinated by stories of World War II adventure and valor told by his father, who was a teenager during the war. His father’s stories often focused on the boy’s godfather, who served in the Belgian Secret Army and sought refuge in England before returning to Belgium as part of the 15th Fusilier Battalion, attached to the U.S. Army’s 9th Infantry Division. As he became older, Livémont’s interest in World War II gradually developed into a passion for historical research focused on the atrocities of the Holocaust.
Stories of the Belgian Secret Army and military service
Livémont’s godfather, Valéry Liénard, was a member of the Belgian Resistance and Secret Army from 1942 to 1944 and was expert in the use of explosives. During the occupation by Nazi Germany, Liénard worked for the Belgian railway company building and repairing rail lines by day while working with the Belgian Secret Army at night to covertly explode rail cars and sabotage the railway network to obstruct the German war effort.
The Belgian Secret Army was formed in 1940 after Germany invaded and occupied Belgium. It was comprised of more than 50,000 members and was the largest group within the Belgian Resistance. Being a member of the Belgian Secret Army was dangerous and one of the stories Livémont remembers about his godfather was a story of bravery, betrayal and refuge in England.
“My godfather transported guns and ammunition for the Belgian Secret Army and helped U.S. Army paratroopers escape from the area surrounding Lessines to reach safety in England,” said Livémont.
"Unfortunately, someone who knew of my godfather’s Resistance activities betrayed him and reported him to the Germans. To avoid being captured, tortured and shot, he was forced to flee to England for safety," said Livémont.
In England, Liénard not only found safety, but also the Belgian Government-in-Exile in London, which was working in earnest to establish new Belgian military units to assist with liberation and protect liberated territory. Liénard volunteered to join and became a member of the 15th Fusilier Battalion, one of 57 battalions formed with more than 50,000 men between October 1944 and June 1945.
Attached to the U.S. Army 9th Infantry Division, Liénard and the 15th Fusilier Battalion proudly returned to Belgium in support of the liberation and the reestablishment of the Belgian government. The Soldiers of the 9th Infantry Division were the first Allied liberators to arrive in Belgium, crossing from France near the town of Chimay on Sept. 2, 1944. Together with their American liberators, Liénard and other members of newly established Belgian battalions worked to restore peace and security in Belgium with a spirit of partnership and cooperation that would contribute to the formation of the NATO Alliance in 1949.
Nazi killing centers and mass executions
As his passion for World War II history continued to grow, Livémont’s research took a turn and he became focused on the atrocities of the Holocaust.
“After reading a lot of books about military strategy and the Normandy landings, I became more interested in the history of the Holocaust and mass executions,” said Livémont. “Mass execution by Nazi death squads was the first method of extermination the Germans implemented to eliminate the Jews of Central and Eastern Europe, and more than 1.5 million victims (men, women and children) were shot and buried in mass graves.”
Livémont began researching the Nazi extermination centers of Chelmno, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka, Auschwitz and Majdanek in Poland. Later, he decided to specialize on Treblinka, an extermination camp that claimed 900,000 lives with only a few hundred survivors.
When asked why he became interested in the topic of Nazi extermination centers, Livémont said he seeks to understand the psychology of those involved, how they developed an organized system of mass murder and how far they were willing to go with their plans. He also said that he was surprised to learn that the numbers of those killed during the Holocaust continue to grow every two years or so, as more documents are discovered and more stories of mass killings become publicly known.
While some may think the topics of killing centers and mass executions is too gruesome a subject for a hobby, Livémont says he feels it’s his personal duty to understand the history of the Holocaust so that it doesn’t happen again.
“Forgetting about the Holocaust is not the right solution and just casually thinking about it isn't enough,” said Livémont.
Livémont, who has worked at Chièvres Air Base for 25 years, said the next step in his history journey is to visit some of the sites of the extermination centers and mass executions when he is retired and has more time to travel.
“Someday, if possible, I’d like to visit together with someone who lived in the camps, so I could hear their testimony and better understand what they experienced.”
[Editor’s Note: For more history about the Holocaust and Nazi extermination centers visit https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/killing-centers-an-overview.]
| Date Taken: | 02.11.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 02.11.2025 06:48 |
| Story ID: | 490520 |
| Location: | HAINAUT (WAL), BE |
| Web Views: | 15 |
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This work, Never forget: Benelux employee keeps WWII memories alive, by Richard Komurek, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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