Marcel and Mathilde Schmetz are the founders of the Remember Museum 39-45.
As a child during the Second World War, Marcel has plenty of memories as a child during that time. He lived in an area annexed by the Reich. Marcel had to respect several rules. In particular, he had to go to a school where only German was spoken. During the four years of the occupation, his greatest pain as a child was the drastic deprivation of sweets, especially chocolate. Marcel has always been a lover of Belgian chocolate.
In November 1944, his parents’ farm was turned into a massive bivouac for American soldiers. Three weeks later, these soldiers had to leave the camp in a hurry to fight in the Ardennes. They left behind many objects and equipment. Everything was carefully preserved by Marcel and his family and is now on display in the museum. Most amusing are the two boxes of chocolate left to the family, each containing 144 bars. The young Marcel consumed these boxes of chocolate on his toast at breakfast. These boxes are now empty, but the Remember Museum dedicated to the American soldiers is filled with hundreds of memorabilia from the past and present, belonging to these generous soldiers. Now 85 years old, Marcel still enjoys some chocolate for breakfast every morning.
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