1940, May 10 – Lucien was seven years old when Hitler’s forces invaded Western Europe in a seventeen-day Blitzkrieg. On May 24th the Germans opened a major attack against Belgian positions near Kortrijk, heavily damaging the Santelé home, which was located only four miles away. The major cities as well as the countryside were bombarded with artillery shells. Then, in just seventeen days, the Germans pushed through all of Belgium to get to the coast, leaving destruction and mayhem behind.