Metadata: Archives of the national memorial of Fort Breendonk
Collection
- Country:
- Belgium
- Holding institution:
- Centre for Historical Research and Documentation on War and Contemporary Society
- Holding institution (official language):
- Centre d’Études et de Documentation Guerre et Sociétés Contemporaines
- Postal address:
- Luchtvaartsquare 29 / Square de l’Aviation 29, 1070 Bruxelles (Anderlecht)
- Phone number:
- +32 (0)2 556 92 11
- Web address:
- http://www.cegesoma.be/
- Email:
- cegesoma@cegesoma.be
- Reference number:
- CHRDWConS-Brussels-AA 1159
- Title:
- Archives of the national memorial of Fort Breendonk
- Title (official language):
- Archives du mémorial national du fort de Breendonk
- Creator/accumulator:
- Nationaal Gedenkteken Fort van Breendonk; Mémorial national du fort de Breendonk
- Date(s):
- 1941/1959
- Language:
- German
- Dutch; Flemish
- French
- Extent:
- 22 folders
- Scope and content:
- In this fonds we find various relevant lists, notably of prisoners (no. 7), of political prisoners (no. 8), of Belgians deceased in the camp (no. 9) and of executed persons (no. 10). We also note a file on camp commander Philipp Schmitt (no. 5). Several testimonies on life in the camp can be found in no. 4. Lastly, we find various texts related to the history of the Breendonk camp in no. 12.
- Archival history:
- This fonds was probably donated to the CEGESOMA in 1976, by the board of the Nationaal Gedenkteken Fort van Breendonk.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- The Breendonk Fortress was built in 1906 and formed part of the defensive belt around Antwerp. During the German invasion, it served as the headquarters of the Belgian army (10-17 May 1940). Between September 1940 and September 1944, the German occupier used the Fortress as a prison camp and later as a transit camp of the political police, the Sipo-SD. Among the leaders of this Auffanglager were the notorious Philipp Schmitt and Karl Schönwetter. The camp was initially guarded by German SS and later (from 1941) by Flemish SS. Until 1942, when the Dossin barracks in Mechelen were converted into a Sammellager, half of the prisoners were Jews. In total about 3500 individuals passed through the camp, including 500 to 750 foreigners. Almost 400 prisoners were executed or died due to physical abuse by the guards, torture or the appalling living conditions. After the Occupation, the camp (then called “Breendonk II”) served as an improvised prison for ‘collaborators’. The government restored its authority over the camp in October 1944, when it became an official detention centre for incivieken (collaborators). Between late 1946 and the summer of 1947, the Fortress served as a common internment centre. The law of 19 August 1947 transformed the Fortress of Breendonk into a public institution under the authority of the Ministry of National Defence. It was renamed to Nationaal Gedenkteken Fort van Breendonk / Mémorial national du fort de Breendonk (NGFB) and designated a national place of remembrance. Since then, the NGFB is open to the public and organises exhibitions, guided tours and commemoration ceremonies. (http://www.breendonk.be; P. Nefors, Breendonk 1940-1945. De geschiedenis., Antwerpen, Standaard, 2004; P. Nefors, O. van der Wilt & D. Roden, Het Fort van Breendonk. Inventaris van het archief in het Fort bewaard, Fort van Breendonk, 2000 [2012]; J.-M. Yante & P.-A. Tallier (dir.), F. Plisnier, S. Carnel, G. Coppieters & V. Pirlot, Gids van de instellingen van openbaar nut in België. Band 2. Notities van de parastatalen niet onderworpen aan de wet van 16 maart 1954 (notities 380 tot 457), Guides/Gidsen no. 70, Brussel, ARA-AGR, 2008, pp. 564-566.)
- Access points: locations:
- Breendonk
- Access points: persons/families:
- Schmitt, Philipp
- Subject terms:
- Historical research
- Holocaust
- Holocaust--Concentration camps
- Prisoners
- Testimony
- Finding aids:
- D. Martin, Breendonk, Brussel, CEGES/CEGESOMA, 1987 (list CEGESOMA AA 1159). The fonds is also described in the database of the CEGESOMA.
- Links to finding aids:
- http://pallas.cegesoma.be/pls/opac/plsp.getplsdoc?lan=N&htdoc=general/opac.htm
- Yerusha Network member:
- State Archives of Belgium
