Stamps of occupied Belgium: German stamps overprinted in black with 'Belgien' and denominations in centimes: 3, 5, 8, 10, 15, 25, and 75.
'Belgien' and denominations in centimes: 3, 5, 8, 10, 15, 25, and 75.
"In German-occupied Belgium, it was three years since the first printing and circulation of an illegal patriotic newspaper Libre Belgique. Its network had been wide, its operations vexing for the Germans. At the end of January 1918 most of the paper's distributors, sixty-one in all, had been arrested, the Kaiser sending a telegram of congratulations to the Military Governor, General von Falkenhausen, whom the paper had described as 'a bird of prey sent to live on the palpitating flesh of Belgium'. The Kaiser himself was 'His Satanic Majesty' in the paper's parlance.On May 15 the sixty-one were brought to trial in Brussels. They were sentenced to imprisonment, some for ten to twelve years. After a short interval, the paper appeared once more . . ."
The Belgians of Libre Belgique were imprisoned. Many other Belgians under the occupation were executed for far less. Occupation always and everywhere corrupts the occupier. The occupied always and everywhere have the right to fight for freedom.
The First World War, a Complete History by Martin Gilbert, page 423, copyright © 1994 by Martin Gilbert, publisher: Henry Holt and Company, publication date: 1994
1918-05-15, 1918, May, Belgium, occupied Belgium, Libre Belgique
