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franceslievensSomewhat sixty years ago a great war ended. Belgium had been occupied by a regime of terror that brought polical opponents to Breendonk, an old army barrack. Unlike other camps Breendonk was a prison where you ended up because you had a run in with the law. This doesn't mean the living conditions weren't extremely hard. A lot of the prisoners died because they were tortured, didn't get enough to eat, collapsed under the hard labour they had to do.
I took the following pictures on a visit to the fort a couple of months ago.
A road and a giant gate lead into the fort. Although the weather was beautiful outside I immediately felt the silence and cold get to me.
Along the path you take through the fortress there are several pictures put up from during the war to give you an image of what life in it used to be like. In the kitchen you can inspect death certificates of prisoners. Most of them are registered of having died of "heart failure", but were actually tortured to death.
The larger picture is a photograph of the hard labour the prisoners had to do: they had to dig up tons and tons of sand, with only a shovel as a tool.
Gallows and firing squad: The prisoners of Breendonk got shot as a revenge measure whenever German or collaborators got killed.
I took the following pictures on a visit to the fort a couple of months ago.
A road and a giant gate lead into the fort. Although the weather was beautiful outside I immediately felt the silence and cold get to me.
Along the path you take through the fortress there are several pictures put up from during the war to give you an image of what life in it used to be like. In the kitchen you can inspect death certificates of prisoners. Most of them are registered of having died of "heart failure", but were actually tortured to death.
The larger picture is a photograph of the hard labour the prisoners had to do: they had to dig up tons and tons of sand, with only a shovel as a tool.
Gallows and firing squad: The prisoners of Breendonk got shot as a revenge measure whenever German or collaborators got killed.
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no subject
Date: 2005-02-06 08:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-02-06 11:41 am (UTC)It is a happy occasion, but it's also the moment when you realise everything that happened during this crazy war.
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Date: 2005-02-06 04:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-02-06 11:34 pm (UTC)