The Kazerne Dossin
Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...
memorial is the only part of the Kazerne Dossin: Memorial, Museum and Documentation Centre on Holocaust and Human Rights established ''within'' the former
Mechelen transit camp
The Mechelen transit camp, officially () in German, also known as the Dossin barracks, was a detention and deportation camp established in a former army barracks at Mechelen in German-occupied Belgium. It served as a point to gather Belgian Je ...
of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, from which, in
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
-occupied
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
, arrested Jews and Romani were sent to concentration camps. The aforementioned museum and documentation centre are housed in a new purpose-built complex across the public square.
History
Between July 1942 and September 1944,
Kazerne Dossin (Dossin Barracks) was known as
SS-Sammellager Mecheln, a
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
collection and deportation camp. Here, 25,274
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
and 354
Romani people
The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sig ...
were rounded up and transported to
Auschwitz-Birkenau and other
concentration camps
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...
in the east. Two-thirds were killed upon arrival. By the time of the liberation and the end of
the Holocaust in Belgium
The Holocaust in Belgium was the systematic dispossession, deportation, and murder of Jews and Roma in German-occupied Belgium during World War II. Out of about 66,000 Jews in the country in May 1940, around 28,000 were murdered during the Ho ...
, only 1,395 of them had survived.
After the war, the former infantry barracks was partially renovated as civil housing; the
Flemish Government
The Flemish Government ( nl, Vlaamse regering ) is the executive branch of the Flemish Community and the Flemish Region of Belgium. It consists of a government cabinet, headed by the Minister-President and accountable to the Flemish Parliament, ...
,
Province of Antwerp
)
, native_name_lang = nl
, settlement_type = Province of Belgium
, image_flag = Flag of Antwerp.svg
, flag_size =
, image_shield = Wapen van de provincie Antwerpen.svg
, shield_size ...
and the City of Mechelen financing the purchase of the ground floor and the basement of the right wing. In 1995 this building became the site of the Jewish Museum of Deportation and Resistance, later renamed.
Museum
The Museum covered the following aspects of the
Final Solution
The Final Solution (german: die Endlösung, ) or the Final Solution to the Jewish Question (german: Endlösung der Judenfrage, ) was a Nazi plan for the genocide of individuals they defined as Jews during World War II. The "Final Solution to th ...
in Belgium and Europe:
*The rise of the
extreme right
Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...
in Belgium and abroad in the 1930s,
*The antisemitic policies imposed by occupying Germany,
*The
Jewish resistance and hiding of children,
*The deportation of the Belgian Jews in convoys.
In 2001, the Flemish Government decided to expand the site by constructing a new museum complex opposite the old barracks. It opened its doors in September 2012 under its present name.
Fort Breendonk
Fort Breendonk ( nl, Fort van Breendonk, french: Fort de Breendonk) is a former military installation at Breendonk, near Mechelen, in Belgium which served as a Nazi prison camp (''Auffanglager'') during the German occupation of Belgium during Wo ...
, a Nazi prison camp near Mechelen, is also open as a museum.
Criticism
In November 2019, general director Christoph Busch resigned because, in his view, the daily management was focused too much on the Holocaust memorial aspect and not enough on documenting current
human rights violations
Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hum ...
. In March 2020, half of the 18 members of the scientific advisory council resigned after a December 2019 incident where the daily management abruptly cancelled a ceremony where
Pax Christi
Pax Christi International is an international Catholic peace movement. The Pax Christi International website declares its mission is "to transform a world shaken by violence, terrorism, deepening inequalities, and global insecurity."
History
...
would deliver its
peace ambassadorship to
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
expert . The nine academics said Kazerne Dossin should not be a place to develop the current politics of Israel. Jewish groups had protested the award, claiming Herremans is a pro-Palestinian activist who supports sanctions against Israel and had claimed that pro-Israel activists "vastly inflate" antisemitism.
See also
*
List of Holocaust memorials and museums in Belgium
References
External links
Official website Mechelen – United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kazerne Dossin Memorial, Museum and Documentation Centre
Museums in Antwerp Province
Holocaust museums
Buildings and structures in Mechelen
Mechelen
History museums in Belgium
Romani in Belgium