Tessenderlo - Tombs of prisoners of war and partisans dead in Belgium during World War II
List of Soviet military graves in Belgium
- Arlon
- Awenne
- Balen
- Bruxelles, Etterbeek
- Bruxelles, Evere
- Bruxelles, Ixelles
- Champlon
- Chapelle-lez-Herlaimont
- Chimay
- Comblain-au-Pont
- Dotsenko Tree (Bois de Stepennes)
- Engreux
- Flawinne
- Fleurus (Vieux-Campinaire)
- Genk
- Gent
- Han-sur-Lesse
- Han-sur-Lesse
- Hannut
- Houthalen
- Hoves /Silly
- Jumet-Gohyssart
- Koersel
- Kortemark
- Lanklaar
- Leopoldsburg
- Les Villettes
- Leuven
- Linden
- Liège, Citadelle
- Liège, Cointe
- Liège, Robermont
- Liège, Saint-Walburge
- Marchienne-au-Pont
- Maurage
- Montignies-sur-Sambre
- Morlanwez
- Mussy-la-Ville
- Namur, Belgrad
- Nidrum
- Peissant
- Proven
- Quévy
- Rebecq
- Reninge
- Robertville (Orthodox cross)
- Sougné-Remouchamps
- Sprimont (Dotsenko Monument)
- Stal-Koersel
- Tessenderlo
- Trois Ponts
- Westvleteren
- Zolder
Tessenderlo
At the municipal cemetery of Tessenderlo (Limburg province), a former Soviet prisoner of war Galiulin Rashma (Rakhma, maybe Rakhmatula), born on 13.05.1909 in Ufa, Bashkir ASSR, was buried.
The grave has a concrete cross, a plate with the name is missing.
The burial site was discovered in 2010.
According to the available information, R. Galiulin was captured and driven to Belgium to work in the coal mines of La Louviere and Maurage. He managed to escape together with another Soviet prisoner. Maybe they tried to go East, but only reached the town of Tessenderlo (approx. 130 km to the East from Maurage), where members of the Belgian Resistance helped them. For several months, they hid in hiding places arranged in houses and farms of local residents, and sometimes even in the surrounding forests. It is possible that R. Galiulin took part in the Resistance, because after a while he got a firearm.
After the liberation of Belgium from the Nazis in September 1944, R. Galiulin returned to Maurage, where he supposedly got a job at the mine. However, on May 10, 1945, he reappeared in Tessenderlo, because on May 9, 1945 he had a son from a local resident.
On May 21, 1945, G. Galiulin died under unknown circumstances, as described by the relevant death certificate drawn up by local authorities.
The story is written from hearsay of François Bieselmans,
son of R. Galiulin (last name of stepfather)
François Bieselmans at the grave of his father R. Galiulin (April 2011)
Death certificate signed by the burgomaster of Tessenderlo
Annual memorial ceremonies
2023
2021
2020
2019
2018
2014
2013
2012
2011
Dear visitors,
We would like to draw your attention to the fact that spelling of the names, surnames and places of birth of Soviet citizens buried in Belgium may be distorted due to the fact that they are quite often written only in Flemish and French in registration books and on monuments.
We thank the Brussels-Belgian Archdiocese of the Russian Orthodox Church, the organizations of Russian compatriots and Russian foreign institutions accredited in Belgium for providing photos and their efforts to preserve the memory of the heroism of the Soviet soldiers who fell in the Great Patriotic War.
The Embassy will be grateful for providing any information and photos of Soviet military graves of the Second World War in Belgium and the ceremonies held on them. Please send material to the email address of the Embassy amrusbel@skynet.be with the note «War Graves».