Fort Breendonk

Fort Breendonk is a fortress in Puurs-Sint-Amands, between Antwerp and Brussels in the Flemish Region of Belgium, close to the city of Mechelen. It was built between 1906 and 1914 as part of the defensive ring around Antwerp, and was designed as a reduced version of a standard fortress, with a surrounding moat, earth-covered concrete casemates and a central redoubt. It saw limited military action in World War I. After the German invasion of Belgium in May 1940 the fort was taken over by the occupying forces and from September 1940 it was used as an Auffanglager, a reception camp, under SS control. Between 1940 and 1944 several thousand prisoners passed through, including resistance fighters, hostages, political opponents, criminals and Jews. The conditions were brutal, with forced labour, hunger and torture; many prisoners died in the camp or were executed in front of the fort walls, and many others were deported to concentration camps in Germany and occupied Poland, often via the Dossin barracks in Mechelen. The Holocaust survivor and writer Jean Amery was held here and later wrote about his experience. After the war the fort was briefly used to detain suspected collaborators, and in 1947 it was declared a national memorial. Today the site is preserved largely in its wartime state, which gives it a stark, unvarnished atmosphere. Visitors walk through the prison cells, the interrogation rooms, the shower block, the courtyard and the execution site. The museum presents the history chronologically with documents, photographs and testimonies, and an audio guide leads the route around the camp. A memorial to the victims stands nearby. The preservation is managed by a public body, with ongoing conservation.