Fort Breendonk ( Dutch: Fort van Breendonk, French: Fort de Breendonk) is a former military installation at Breendonk, near Mechelen, in Belgium which served as a Nazi prison camp ( Auffanglager) during the German occupation of Belgium during World War II . Originally constructed between 1906 and 1913 as part of the second ring of the National. A captivating visit highlights the sinister page in history that the SS-Auffanglager Breendonk truly is. From the gloomy dormitories and forced labour sites to the torture chamber and the execution ground: the fort exudes the horror the prisoners were subjected to during German occupation.
Breendonk Fort (Fort van Breendonk) in Belgium europe
Breendonk. The Breendonk internment camp was located in a Belgian fortress built in the beginning of the twentieth century along the Antwerp-Brussels highway. Originally one in a chain of fortresses constructed to defend Belgium against a German attack, Breendonk was near the town of the same name, about 12 miles southwest of Antwerp. A captivating visit highlights the sinister page in history that the SS-Auffanglager Breendonk truly is. From the gloomy dormitories and forced labour sites to the torture chamber and the execution ground: the fort exudes the horror the prisoners were subjected to during German occupation. Fort Breendonk was already on my "to do list" for at least 7 years . Fort Breendonk is used during World War II, as a transit and concentration camp during the Nazi occupation of Belgium. Compared to Auschwitz, Dachau, Sobibor etc., it's internationally unknown, but if you don't have the time to travel to far into East Europe please. What is Fort Breendonk? Fort Breendonk is an armoured concrete fortress built in the early days of the 20 th century as part of a defensive belt circling Antwerp. In 1914, at the outbreak of the First World War, it is hit full on when the German army attacks the Antwerp stronghold.
Fort Breendonk Info Tourism Benelux
On 11 October 1944 Breendonk is evacuated. The last "incivics" are transferred to Mechelen. The Fort becomes an official Belgian State prison and definitively closes its doors on 17 June 1947. Immediately after the war, voices are raised in favour of turning Breendonk into a museum, a place of pilgrimage or a monument. Fort Breendonk, located in the centre of Belgium, is one of the smallest concentration camps of ww2 and, because of its size, probably also one of the worst. With an average of 400 inmates there is here 1 guard for every 10 prisoners and the beating and persecutions are continuous from the Flemish SS. 60 years after he left the camp, a survivor. Fort Breendonk. Belgium, Europe. Northeast Belgium. Some 12km northwest of Mechelen, this haunting, moated prison-fort was built in 1906. However, its use as a notorious Nazi internment camp in WWII is the main focus of the audio-guided visit, with over two hours of detail including harrowing personal accounts: around 3500 victims were. What happened in Breendonk must not ever be forgotten. That is why the Memorial, in joint operation with the National Confederation of Political Prisoners and Entitled Persons of Belgium, organised an annual ceremony commemorating the end of Nazi occupation horror at Fort Breendonk. The first ceremony, called a Pilgrimage, took place on 24.
Entrance gate of the Fort Breendonk, a Second World War Two concentration camp near Antwerp
Originally built to defend Antwerp, Fort Breendonk was a Nazi concentration camp from September 1940 till September 1944. Around 3,500 prisoners passed through this camp. Fort Breendonk is one of the best conserved concentration camps in Europe and is a symbol that perpetuates the memory of the suffering, the torture and the death of so many victims. Het Fort van Breendonk is altijd op zoek naar nieuwe gidsen. Een ploeg van meer dan 60 dynamische gidsen begeleidt maandelijks tot 400 groepen in het fort. Er zijn gidsen die rondleidingen geven in het Nederlands, Frans, Duits, Engels en Spaans.
Breendonk is a village in the municipality of Puurs-Sint-Amands in the province of Antwerp, Belgium, with a population 3,000, halfway between Brussels and Antwerp. History [ edit ] Its name stems from the medieval Bredene Dunc which translates as "wide mound" or "a dry spot in the marshes." Rory McInnes-Gibbons 14 November 2015. It is a hot, high midsummer day in Willebroek, Belgium, but an air of atrocity hangs low over the National Memorial Fort Breendonk. In the calcium white icicles that cling to the ceiling and the dark, dank stench of death and abomination. Walking down the corridors of cell and torture, Breendonk is not a.
National Memorial Fortress of Breendonk History and Facts History Hit
Fort Breendonk is an historical site located in Willebroek, Belgium, just 15 kilometers south of Antwerp and 30 km (18.6 miles) north of Brussels. It was originally constructed as a military fortification between 1906 and 1913 to defend Antwerp. However, during World War II, it was repurposed by the Nazis as a prison camp and detention center. Initially, with the invasion of Belgium on August 4, 1914, the German army was preoccupied with reaching Paris and decide to merely block off Antwerp. On September 9, however, the German general Von Besler is ordered to overtake Antwerp.. Fort Breendonk is still considered as a potential headquarters for the King in the case of war. On May.
