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Breendonk Memorial

Breendonk Memorial is a memorial monument with a museum located Breendonk, Province of Antwerp, Belgium. Since 2017 it is part of the War Heritage Institute. The monument is a reminder that Fort Breendonk was the site of a Nazi concentration camp during World War II, and the museum provides information about the historical events that took place there.

History of Fort Breendonk

Fort Breendonk is a fortress built in the early twentieth century as part of a defensive belt surrounding Antwerp. In 1914, at the outbreak of World War I, it is hit head-on when the German army attacks the Antwerp fortress. In August 1940, during the occupation of Belgium in World War II by the Germans, the SS creates an “Auffanglager” in the empty fortress adjacent to the road linking Brussels and Antwerp. It is a prison for Jews, resistance fighters and political opponents of the Nazi regime. Jewish prisoners in Breendonk were segregated from other prisoners until 1942. Thereafter, they were transferred to the Mechelen (Malines) transit camp in Belgium, or deported to the Auschwitz-Birkenau killing center in Nazi-occupied Poland.

History of the Breendonk Memorial

After the liberation of Belgium from the occupation and on the initiative of one of its former prisoners, Gaston Hoyaux, in 1946 the creation of a memorial center is approved, as it is one of the best preserved camps in Europe. On August 19, 1947, Prince Karel approved the law confirming the creation of the National Remembrance Center, making it an autonomous public institution.

The goals of the memorial are beyond the specific role of Fort Breendonk as a concentration camp, so it was also defined as a symbol for the suffering, cruelties, and atrocities in Europe during the Holocaust. The connection with this wider scope is reflected in the display of urns holding the ashes of Belgians who did not survive the camps Majdanek, Natzweiler, Neuengamme, Ravensbrück, Stutthof, Treblinka, Theresienstadt, and Vught, which are surrounded by walls displaying the over 3500 names of all those that were imprisoned in Breendonk.

Activities

Given the educational function of the memorial while focused on its historical context, it also aims to create understanding into the establishment of a totalitarian ideology, and to draw parallels with contemporary contexts. For this reason the memorial center organizes:

• Seminars in coordination with schools and the organization School Zonder Racism (School without Racism)
• Workshop ‘Oogkleppen Alf’ (Blinders Off!) to highlight the link between prejudices and racism.

There is also an annual pilgrimage in memory its prisoners.

Tour and Artists

Given the focus as a pedagogical experience there is an audio tour with sounds that simulates the experience of being in the fort during the times of the Nazi occupation. This supported by the well-preserved facilities and information allows to properly contextualize the simulated experience. It is reported to be a highly emotional experience.

The memorial hosts works of a number of artists like:

• Idel Iancelevici’s statue named the ‘De Weerstander’ (The Insurgent)
• Wilchar
• Jacques Ochs
• Didier Geluk.