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Word: witgoor (lookup in dictionary) (lookup stats)
Dates: during 1950-1959
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Usage:

Comely, black-haired Martha Minnen kept no peacocks, but she had other eccentricities. To her neighbors in the tiny village of Witgoor in the Kempen region of Flanders they smacked strongly of witchcraft. There were her cats, for instance. "It's just beyond belief," said one Witgoor villager, "the number of black cats you see around Martha's house at night." Then there were the sparrows. Why should a woman want to give a neighbor's children a nest of baby sparrows...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: BELGIUM: Not for Burning | 7/17/1950 | See Source »

...Victor Deckx, he had listened politely enough when a white-robed monk came to the church recently to preach a mission against the ungodly superstitions present in Witgoor; but when it came time to pass the plate, Victor had pointedly ignored Martha Minnen's outstretched offering. Soon afterward Martha's children came home from school complaining that no one would play with a witch's kids. That was when Martha decided...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: BELGIUM: Not for Burning | 7/17/1950 | See Source »

When the trial began in the crenelated, moated courthouse of nearby Turnhout, Witgoor's constable was called to testify. He shuddered violently and protested that witchcraft was not a policeman's business. Then Judge Boone took a moment to clear his throat. In that moment the constable fled through the doorway to freedom. A court attendant hurried after him, but there was no sign of the fugitive. "Witchery," murmured the court spectators...

Author: /time Magazine | Title: BELGIUM: Not for Burning | 7/17/1950 | See Source »

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