(WWII) Cinema Unitas

On the corner of the Grote Markt with the passage to the Demer car park was the banquet hall and cinema UNITAS. The hall was built in 1932 by the flourishing Catholic association, the Koninklijke Aarschotse Eendracht. During the war, about 200 people could take shelter in the cellar.

In Aarschot there were more cinemas that were well attended during the war. On the Bonewijk there were Cinema Palace and Cinema Cameo. They were not required to darken completely. They were allowed to wear a blue-lit sign with the title of the film. The main film usually came from the German film studios. Beforehand, the successes of the German army were shown in the Deutsche Krieg Wochenschau.

The hall was mainly used by the pro-German DeVlag. They invited foreign (German) schlager singers, actors, musicians and film stars. Members of DeVlag were allowed to enter for free and members of the Black Brigade or the SS received a 'rank increase'.

The manager of the cinema was the Rexist Marcel Jegers: 'de Nikkele'. He was wounded at the outbreak of the war, but it is said that the Belgians abandoned him. German soldiers saved his life. After the war, he was arrested for collaboration and sentenced by court martial to 15 years in prison. Vrij Volk, the magazine of the resistance movement NKB, wrote: 'Today one of the most well-known blacks of Aarschot, 'de Nikkele', appears before the court-martial, who limps and stumbles in on a stick. His emaciated nature is somewhat drawn: he is far from the flourishing, always half-drunk, black and powerful German friend who is feared by all.

Toerisme Aarschot