The prisoners of Breendonk

"This absorbing and captivating nonfiction account (with never-before-published photographs) offers readers an in-depth anthropological and historical look into the lives of those who suffered and survived Breendonk concentration camp during the Holocaust of World War II"--Provided by publisher. ; Breendonk, a former Belgian military fort built in 1914, was turned by the German occupiers in August 1940 into an "Auffanglager", a prison camp of the SIPO (Nazi Security Police). A great part of its prisoners were Jews (most of whom were arrested just for being Jewish), while the others were political prisoners, members of the resistance, or petty criminals. Only 303 of the 3,590 known prisoners who went through Breendonk died in the camp, but many were transported to other camps and killed there. Describes the arrival of prisoners at Breendonk, the internal order in the camp, forced labor, and tortures and murders there. In September 1941 deportations to other camps began, including to Mauthausen and Auschwitz. In July 1942 the "Sammellager" Mechelen was opened nearby, and toward September 1943 the majority of Jews from Breendonk were transferred to Mechelen. Based on autobiographies, interviews, archival documents, and courtroom testimonies, reconstructs the personal stories of some prisoners, as well as of some German and local perpetrators and "Zugführers" (similar to Kapos in other Nazi camps). The main perpetrators and the notorious Zugführers were brought to trial after the war. Provided with photographs and with drawings by the former prisoner Jacques Ochs. (From the Bibliography of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism - The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)