Jozef De Vroey
Jozef De Vroey was a Catholic priest and child survivor of the 19 August 1914 Aarschot massacre that occurred in World War I during the rape of Belgium and whose book about this atrocity, Aarschot op Woensdag 19 Augustus 1914, has been cited by many historians, including Trinity College, Dublin, Professor Alan Kramer in his 2002 Yale University Press published book German Atrocities, 1914: A History of Denial that he co-wrote with John N. Horne. After World War II, De Vroey, also, published a book about the life, exploits and execution of Belgium spy Jozef Raskin.
Early life and education
De Vroey was born in 1912 in Aarschot, Belgium. His father was one of the victims of the Aarschot massacre after he was shot and killed by German soldiers during World War I in 1914. De Vroey was barely three years old when his father died, and it influenced his attitude to Germans.When he was 10-years-old, his mother died leaving him to be raised by the Noppen family, who were his aunt and uncle. He later became a Roman Catholic priest and taught in both Antwerp and Leuven in 1937 - 1957. Then he was a religious teacher, two years in secondary education in Westerlo and Aarschot and from 1959 to 1974 in the in Leuven. His hatred of the German misconduct continued throughout his life.