Monument to Antoine Fenaux

On 30 December 1944, the SS formations stationed at Jevigné arrested Father Antoine Fenaux. In the days leading up to this, they questioned the villagers to find him, but without success. This failure infuriated them. When they eventually found him, however, he followed them without putting up any resistance. The 61 year old cleric was accused of having a transmitter and transmitting light signals to the Americans from the church tower. As proof of what the German army called 'treason', he allegedly advised the inhabitants to evacuate their homes. In doing so, he had in fact taken up the advice broadcast by the Allied transmitters since the Normandy landings. However, here was no evidence of any actual contact with the Americans, and no transmitter was ever found. The SS in the village was particularly aggressive, though, and were desperate to find someone to blame for the deluge of fire they had to deal with. 

Antoine was shot at close range on the day of his arrest after presumably being tortured during his interrogation. The inhabitants, who had fled or were hiding in the cellars, did not know what had happened to him. Nevertheless, rumours of his execution were circulating. It was not until after the German troops had left that research took place. In the garden of the Noël family property, some residents noticed that the soil had been turned recently. As they started to dig, the fabric of the ecclesiastical outfit appeared. It was indeed the corpse of the father buried in a hurry. 

On 21 July 1957, a monument, installed on the Route de Manhay, was inaugurated at the end of the high mass. It pays tribute to the father who "fell on the job in this place, killed by the enemy on 30-12-1944". Those responsible for what can be described as a war crime have never been prosecuted.