Fort Breendonk

Fort Breendonk is a fortification built in 1906 as part of the second ring of defenses (the Réduit national) around the city of Antwerp (Belgium) The fort was used as a prisoncamp by the German occupiers during World War II. Nowadays, the site is a national memorial (Nationaal Gedenkteken Fort van Breendonk in Dutch), and can be visited.

World War II

The German army invades and occupies Belgium in 1940. Fort Breendonk is obsolete and is no answer to mechanized warfare. The fort was briefly the headquarters of the Belgian command during the first weeks following the invasion, but was abandoned in the face of German advances.

Related Topics:
1940 - Mechanized warfare

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The Germans transformed Fort Breendonk in a prisoncamp. On September 20, 1940, the first prisoners arrived. Originally the prisoners were petty criminals, people deemed asocial, trespassers of the new race laws, but later on resistance fighters, political prisoners and innocent hostages were detained as well in the prison camp.

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The SS units of Germany, but also Flemish SS soldiers, guarded this camp. 185 prisoners were executed, others were transported to other concentration camps.

Related Topics:
SS - Flemish - Concentration camps

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