Guided Tour of Fort Breendonk
Join us on Sunday, October 29 for a very special guided visit to Fort Breendonk.
Fort Breendonk was built in the early 1900s to protect Antwerp from possible German invasion. Damaged at the start of World War I, it fell into disrepair... until the Nazis took it over after their invasion of Belgium in 1940. Never designated an official concentration camp by the SS and instead labeled a "reception" camp where prisoners were held until they were either released or transported, Breendonk was no less brutal. About 3,600 prisoners were held there – just over half of them survived. As one prisoner put it, "I would prefer to spend nineteen months at Buchenwald than nineteen days at Breendonk."
Our guide will be the American historian James M. Deem, author of The Prisoners of Breendonk, a compelling account of those who lived and died there. With access to the camp and its archives and with rare photos and artwork, Mr. Deem pieces together the story of the camp by telling the stories of its victims –Jews, communists, resistance fighters, and common criminals– for the first time in an English-language publication. Leon Nolis's haunting photography of the camp today accompanies the wide range of archival images.
The story of Breendonk is one you will never forget.
Please note that this event is limited to 25 participants.
Event Details:
Date: Sunday, October 29, 2017.
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Place: Fort Breendonk, Brandstraat 57, B-2830 Willebroek.
Google Maps
Price: €20. ACB/AWCB/CCB members receive a discounted price of €15.
Sign up: Reservations are due by Wednesday, October 25 at:
http://www.americanclubbrussels.org/event-2691447
Payment in advance to ACB account BE55427919588144 (KREDBEBB). Please mention “Breendonk” in the reference section of the bank transfer. Online payment with a credit card is also possible (through PayPal, but no actual PayPal account is required); pay when registering or use the link provided in the invoice.
Cancellations are possible until noon on Wednesday, October 25. Participants cancelling after this time, as well as no-shows, are charged the full cost of the event.
