There used to be a church on this spot, the Sint Jozef-church. The statue remains, but the church was demolished in 1972.
On the corner of the Stationsstraat on your right was a row of ordinary houses, the police station, the school of music, the fire station and the district Court of Justice. On January 25th 1945, so after the liberation of Bergen op Zoom, a German V-1 rocket exploded here. This flying bomb, launched by the Germans from Moerdijk, was aimed at the port of Antwerp. Ten civilians were killed. The Sint Jozef-church was partly hit and many houses in the surrounding area were damaged.
The inhabitants of Bergen op Zoom had a short prayer when they heard a V-1 approaching: “Please Lord, let it drop into the Scheldt” or “Our Lady, please push the thing a little further”.
On the pictures you see; A Thanksgiving procession from the Bredasestraat and a funeral cortège of a deceased German soldier.
