Breendonk
UPDATE: I've meanwhile visited this place and will post an updated, extended chapter here as soon as I find the time ...
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A former fortress, originally built as part of the defensive fortifications around the nearby city of Antwerp,
Belgium. During the country's occupation by
Germany in
WWII, the fort was used as a prison and as a transit camp in the
Holocaust.
>More background info
>What there is to see
>Location
>Access and costs
>Time required
>Combinations with other dark destinations
>Combinations with non-dark destinations
>Photos
More background info: Fort Breendonk, constructed from 1909, is a typical brick fortress of the type that was still deemed crucial for defence purposes at the time. It did indeed see some action in
World War One – and in continued to be in military use between the wars.
However, it earns its place on the dark tourism map through its (mis-)use by the Nazis during the
German occupation of
Belgium in
WWII, when the place was turned into a dungeon for political prisoners and a transit camp for Jews who were later deported to the
death camps in the east during the
Holocaust.
As such it was in use from September 1940 to September 1944, when it was liberated (and then used to imprison collaborators, and subsequently served as a state prison for a brief period). A comparatively small place, it is estimated that some 3500 victims of the Nazis passed through Breendonk, about half of whom did not survive.
Today it is one of
Belgium's premier Holocaust & resistance memorials (together with its partner institution in
Mechelen's Dossin barracks). It was turned into a memorial as early as 1947, has been a place of pilgrimage of former inmates ever since, and since a 2003 make-over has been a state-of-the-art informational memorial too.
What there is to see: Primarily it is the building itself that exudes the grim atmosphere that prevails here and makes it such a dark site. Parts of it are not dissimilar to the
Theresienstadt memorial site in that respect (which originally was a fortress too) …
Inside, there are former cells, bunk accommodations for inmates, a torture room, etc. and long dank corridors … – outside the moat with its fence and watchtowers are impressive, as are the squat fortifications, the courtyards and the executions site.
Informational labelling/texts are usually in four languages (at least Flemish-Dutch and French, but mostly in English and German too). Audio guides in the same four languages are available.
Location: in northern
Belgium, ca. 12 miles (18 km) south of Antwerp, on the A12 towards Brussels, which is ca. 15 miles (25 km) further south. Address: Brandstraat 57, B-2830-Willebroek.
Access and costs: easy to get to by car; a (mid price) admission fee is charged.
Details: To get there you can take a train or bus to Willebroek and walk, but it really is best reached by car (free parking) – the site is just off exit 7 of the main A12 motorway between Brussels and Antwerp. When using a GPS requiring a street address, don't use the memorial's official address but enter "Rijksweg" and follow the signs once you see them.
Admission: 11 EUR regular – concessions apply to under 18-year-olds, students, senior citizens, soldiers as well as for groups; admission is free for former political prisoners and veterans.
(For guided tour reservations: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
Opening times: daily 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (closed Christmas Eve/Day, New Year's Day and on the annual 'day of pilgrimage' at the end of August or early September – enquire for the exact date if necessary)
Time required: The official recommendation says that you should allow two hours – but you may want to spend longer than that for a thorough visit.
Combinations with other dark destinations: see
Belgium.
Combinations with non-dark destinations: see
Belgium.
Breendonk 01 - gate
Breendonk 02 - bridge
Breendonk 03 - watchtower
Breendonk 04 - going in
Breendonk 05 - guard
Breendonk 06 - dummy Nazi
Breendonk 07 - long dark corridor
Breendonk 08 - commodification
Breendonk 09 - dorm
Breendonk 10 - living quarters
Breendonk 11 - claim that the living conditions of the inmates at the fort are crammed but bearable
Breendonk 12 - isolation cell
Breendonk 13 - not especially comfy
Breendonk 14 - deep in the casemate
Breendonk 15 - coffin
Breendonk 16 - courtyard
Breendonk 17 - in the barracks for Jewish inmates
Breendonk 18 - exterior of the fort and camp
Breendonk 19 - concrete and barbed wire
Breendonk 20 - forced labour relics
Breendonk 21 - steel domes
Breendonk 22 - execution site
Breendonk 23 - mass toilets
Breendonk 24 - wash room
Breendonk 25 - stables
Breendonk 26 - workshop
Breendonk 27 - exhibits
Breendonk 28 - computer workstations
Breendonk 29 - concentration camp clothes
Breendonk 30 - concentration camps memorial room
Breendonk 31 - back at the bridge
Breendonk 32 - rail carriage
Breendonk 33 - deportation train
Breendonk 34 - extra exhibition by the visitor centre
Breendonk 35 - covering post-war trials
Breendonk 36 - outer barbed-wire fence