Built in 1906 as one in a series of fortresses to defend the city of Antwerp, Fort Breendonk is located just over ten miles from the port city. After the Germans marched over Belgium during World War Two, they turned the fort into first a prison camp and then also a concentration camp. Some political prisoners and Jews who were not executed who sent further east to other concentration camps. 1733 prisoners died there. Today the fort is a monument and museum that shows the fort as a prison and how those unfortunate souls lived and died. It is a depressing yet interesting place to visit, if only to learn about the history and to put your own life into perspective.
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A little known concentration camp in Belgium
Built in 1906 as one in a series of fortresses to defend the city of Antwerp, Fort Breendonk is located just over ten miles from the port city. After the Germans marched over Belgium during World War Two, they turned the fort into first a prison camp and then also a concentration camp. Some political prisoners and Jews who were not executed who sent further east to other concentration camps. 1733 prisoners died there. Today the fort is a monument and museum that shows the fort as a prison and how those unfortunate souls lived and died. It is a depressing yet interesting place to visit, if only to learn about the history and to put your own life into perspective.
