Understanding the Recent Phenomena of Holocaust Remembrance in the Form of National Holocaust Museums and Memorials in Belgium, France, and Germany

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Understanding the Recent Phenomena of Holocaust Remembrance

in the Form of National Holocaust Museums and Memorials in

Belgium, France, and Germany

Hannah Elizabeth Garza

Universiteit van Amsterdam

Graduate School of Humanities

A thesis submitted for the degree of

Masters in Holocaust and Genocide Studies

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Abstract

This thesis will focus on national Holocaust museums and memorials in Europe, in specific regards to the national Holocaust museums of Belgium and France, and the national Holocaust memorial of Germany. This dissertation will begin with a brief overview of the scholars used within each chapter, along with a discussion on the development of national Holocaust museums in Europe in the introduction chapter. Following the introduction, the first chapter will discuss the Kazerne Dossin Memorial Museum in Mechelen, Belgium. Chapter two will then cover the Mémorial de la Shoah in Paris, France. Finally, chapter three will then focus on the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in conjunction with its underground

information center in Berlin, Germany.

This thesis will endeavor to explore the themes represented in each museum in relation to German compliance, and the role of the bystanders from each Nation. The goal is to understand how each of these national institutions discussed within the text, portray their involvement in the events of the Holocaust and Second World War by way of State compliance and the actions of their bystanders. Through the initiatives of the museum and memorials published catalogs, personal research conducted by on-site visitation to each of the institutions, and through the texts of Holocaust scholars such as James Young, Raul Hilberg, and Christopher Browning, this dissertation will explore the role in which national Holocaust museums and memorials in Europe narrate the history of the Holocaust in affiliation to their State, as well how these institutions contribute to Holocaust scholarship in regards to the information that is displayed within the museum, which addresses German complicity and State contribution to the events of the Holocaust. 

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Dedication

I would like to dedicate this work to my Meamaw, Levonia Harthcock, without whom this thesis would not exist. Thank you for always supporting me, and more importantly for believing in me throughout this incredible journey. Like so many times before in my life, you saw to it that I was able to come on this remarkable journey and continued to support me every step of the way. I will never be able to put into words my deep gratitude for all that I owe you. I love you with all of my heart, and I could never begin to express my appreciation for everything you have done for me. You will forever be my motivation as I strive to achieve my dreams. For all of this, I thank you.

I would also like to dedicate this thesis to my siblings, Ethan McGehee and Gabriela Garza, who inspire and encourage me to work hard and to be a role model worthy of your respect and love. I hope that one day you too will accomplish all that you seek to achieve. I love you both dearly.

I dedicate this thesis to my family. Thank you for continuously supporting and

encouraging me throughout every step of this journey. You instilled in me the strength to reach for the stars. Without your perpetual support I would not be where I am today. I hope I have made you proud.

To my friends across the world: You have inspired me to believe in myself and to never surrender to defeat. Thank you for encouraging me throughout this journey, your constant support was an invaluable asset in the completion of this dissertation.  

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Acknowledgments

I would first like to thank all the faculty and staff of the University of Amsterdam for their valuable contributions to the completion of this dissertation. The past two years have been an unforgettable journey, and the skills the University taught me will forever follow me.

I would like to thank Professor Houwink ten Cate for ensuring that I was progressing, and for keeping me on course throughout this research and writing process. You have been an

amazing mentor and an invaluable asset to me in writing this dissertation and in the program as a whole. Thank you for your patience and for guiding me through this process.

I must also extend my heartfelt thanks to the UvA Graduate School of Humanities for being an incredible department full of motivating people who inspired me to strive to do my best. I am also immensely grateful to the staff of the UvA Library, who, through thick and thin, fostered an environment conducive to the pursuit of academic excellence.

This course would not have been possible without the valuable sources of research material and support provided by the NIOD. For that, I feel fit to express my most genuine gratitude.

To John Cabot University: You instilled in me the love for academia, and paved the way for me to succeed in both the academic world, and in life. For this, I will be eternally indebted to you. Thank you for teaching me, and thank you for always supporting me.

To The Leo Baeck Program: Thank you for inspiring me to continue my research on historic Holocaust sites. It was a pleasure attending your program, a course which has continued to have a profound effect on my studies.

I would also like to take this moment to acknowledge Dr. Laurence Schram from the Kazerne Dossin Memorial Museum, thank you for taking the time to meet with me, your time and knowledge played an invaluable role in the development of this dissertation. 

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Table of Contents Abstract………..………….……….……… 2 Dedication.………. 3 Acknowledgments………..……….……….. 4 Table of Contents……….………..……….…… 5-6 List of Abbreviations………..………. 7-8 Introduction: The Birth of National Holocaust Museums……….………..……….………… 9

Research Questions……… 13

Methodology………. 14

Structure……… 14

Chapter 1: Belgium: The Kazerne Dossin Museum……… 16

Development of the Kazerne Dossin Museum……….………..… 17

Representation of Perpetrators: Belgian Compliance with the Germans………. 21

The Belgian Victims of the Holocaust……….… 26

Ordinary Belgian Bystanders………. 31

Conclusion………. 38

Chapter 2: France: The Mémorial de la Shoah……….. 42

Development of the Mémorial de la Shoah……….. 43

Representation of Perpetrators: French Compliance with the Germans………. 46

The French Victims of the Holocaust………. 51

Ordinary French Bystanders………. 56

Chapter 3: Germany: The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe……….. 60

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Representation of Nazi German Perpetrators………. 70

The Murdered Jews of Europe………. 74

Ordinary German Bystanders……… 80

Conclusion: The Role of National Holocaust Museums Today………. 90

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List of Abbreviations ADL: Anti-Defamation League

AFP: Agence France-Presse

AJB: Association des Juifs en Belgique {French} [OR] Jodenvereeiniguing van Belgie {Flemish} (Association of Belgian Jews)

BKM: Der Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien (German Federal Commission for Culture and Media Affairs)

CDJ: Comité de Defense des Juifs (Jewish Defense Committee)

CDJC: Centre de Documentation Juive Contemporaine (Center for Contemporary Jewish Documentation)

CGQJ: Commissariat Général aux Questions Juives (General Commission on Jewish Affairs) DM: German Mark [OR] Deutsche Mark (Currency of Germany until it was replaced by the Euro in 1999.)

EHRI: European Holocaust Research Infrastructure

ERR: Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (The Reichsleiter Rosenberg Taskforce) FJO: Federation of Jewish Organizations

FRG: Federal Republic of Germany [OR] West Germany GDR: German Democratic Republic [OR] East Germany

GMF: Gruppenbezogene Menschenfeindlichkeit (Group Targeted Misanthropy) GTE: Groupes de Travailleurs Étrangers (Groups of Foreign Workers)

HRH: His Royal Highness

ICPC: International Criminal Police Commission IHRA: International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance

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JMDR: The Jewish Museum of Deportation and Resistance KBI: Katholiek Bureau voor Israël (Catholic Bureau for Israel) LSVD: Lesbian and Gay Federation of Germany

NHM: National Holocaust Museums

NIOD: Instituut voor Oorlogs, Holocaust en Genocidestudies (Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies)

NSDAP: Nationalspzialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (National Socialist German Workers Party) Normally referred to as the Nazi Party. A political party in Germany from 1933-1945.

Propagandastaffel IIIB: German Propaganda Squadron

RSHA: Reich Security Main Office

Sipo-SD: The Sicherheitspolizei (Security Police)

SNCF: Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Frençais (National Society of French Railways) [OR] (French National Railway Company)

SS: Schutzstaffel (Protection Squadron) [OR] (Defense Corps) A paramilitary group created by Adolf Hitler in 1923 with the intentions of serving as his personal bodyguards. From 1929-1945 the group was controlled by Heinrich Himmler who then expanded the groups role and size. USHMM: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

VEVA: Verbond voor Economisch Verweer — Antwerpen (The Union for the Economic Defense)

VNV: Vlaams Nationaal Verbond (Flemish National Union) [OR] (Flemish National League) Far-Right National Flemish political party in Belgium between 1933 and 1944. 

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“[F]or my terror of forgetting is greater than my terror of having too much to remember.” — Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi (Zakhor, 1996)

Introduction:

The Birth of National Holocaust Museums

Holocaust awareness has been around for nearly half a century, yet National Holocaust Museums (NHM) and memorials have only been integrated into European society in the past 20 years. American historian James E. Young, winner of the 1994 National Book award for his work on Holocaust Memorials and remembrance, expresses that the need to remember and

memorialize the Holocaust has been on rise in the past decade. In his text, The Art of Memory, Professor Young explains how Holocaust memory has evolved in recent years;

The recent decade has been a period of great preoccupation with the Holocaust, remembering and understanding this tragic era has not only been a concern of Jewish people, but also of non-Jews, especially those living in countries where the atrocities took place. There has been an outpouring of books, films, and visual art on the subject as well as the creation of special exhibitions, remembrance

ceremonies, and reunion of survivors. On a larger scale, the memory of the

Holocaust has inspired the planning or building of of many public monuments and institutions. 1

In addressing the question of how Holocaust Memorials Museums in Europe initially came about, it is clear the boom in Holocaust awareness and education began to rise in the early 1990s. While countries such as Israel and France had already begun the task of Holocaust remembrance, and publications and memoirs such as The Diary of Anne Frank (1947), If This is a Man (1947) by Primo Levi, and Night (1956) by Elie Wiesel had occurred long before, it was the film releases and documentaries that focused on events of the Holocaust, released during the 1990s, that truly opened up the topic of Holocaust remembrance in European countries and launched the

James E. Young, The Art Of Memory: Holocaust Memorials In History, (New York: Prestel, 1994), 6. 1

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widespread discussion of commemorating the victims of the Holocaust. While these discussions opened the door to the initiatives of creating NHM in many European countries, it would not be until the beginning of the early 2000s, that the construction and opening of many NHM and memorials would begin to occur in capital cities across Europe. For example, the Imperial War Museum in London (2000), the Jewish Museum in Berlin (2002), The Montreal Holocaust Museum (2003), the Budapest Holocaust Museum (2004), the renovation of Yad Vashem (2005), the Mémorial de la Shoah in Paris (2005), opened their doors to the general public. Moreover, 2

the inauguration of the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe took place in 2005, and the inauguration of the Kazerne Dossin Memorial Museum took place in 2012. The development of the National Holocaust Museums in France and Belgium, and the construction of the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Germany, will be the primary focus point of this dissertation.

Between the 1970s and 1990s, Holocaust remembrance grew in popularity and developed into a collective need to preserve the history of the Holocaust. With survivors growing older, a major escalation in new publications on the subject began being produced, and mass media began drawing attention to events pertaining to the Holocaust, the need for museums and places of memory developed into a worldwide phenomena. Beginning with the opening of Yad Vashem in 1953 and followed many years later by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, [USHMM] opening on April 22, 1993, the importance of NHM expanded to include several nations across the world. In an article published by BBC History Magazine British Historian Jeremy Black, author of The Holocaust, argues that; “The Holocaust also became a more central issue elsewhere in the 1970s, notably in France and the United States, particularly in the 1990s.”3

He explains that while the Holocaust had become an important topic of discussion in countries such as France and the United States beginning in the 1970s, the United States began

emphasizing Holocaust memorialization in the 1990s, which is the time that the USHMM opened its doors to the general public. Historian Jeremy Black argues that Holocaust awareness rose in the 1990s with global consciousness emerging from European Governments finally

Jacques Fredj, The Jews of France During the Holocaust, (France: Gallimard, 2011), 199. 2

Jeremy Black, “How Has Public Memory of the Holocaust Changed Over the Years?” BBC History 3

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coming to grips with the reality that each European nation that complied with the Germans, played an intricate role in the events of the Holocaust. 4

From the mid-1990s to the early 2000s, many European countries began commemorating and memorializing the events of the Holocaust on a national level. No longer was the history of the Holocaust strictly German or Jewish, but European. The history of the Holocaust belonged to each individual Nation who collaborated with the Germans during the time of the Second World War. This shift led to the development of a national outlook on the events of the Holocaust, which gave rise to the development and opening of national Holocaust museums and memorials. With the rise in popularity of commemorating and remembering the victims of the Holocaust came an increase in the importance felt by scholars to record the testimonies of Holocaust victims. Following the rise of Holocaust memorials and museums came the rise of publications, films, and documentaries focusing on the victims of the Holocaust. Many National Museums and National Memorials have spaces where visitors can listen to recorded testimonies and stories of Holocaust survivors. These testimonies are considered a key tool for commemorating the victims and the events of the Holocaust, as well as for teaching the upcoming generations about the history and events that occurred.

One of the reoccurring themes in NHM is the notion of remembering, to “Never Forget” and most importantly, to teach that hatred such as that developed by the Nazi Regime should “Never Again” occur in modern society. Scholar Omer Bartov, Professor of European history, discusses the relevance of the slogan “Never Again” in his text Mirrors of Destructions, and relates it to the Yad Vashem memorial.

The slogan ‘Never again’ inscribed in many languages on camp memorials in Europe, refers primarily to the determination never to allow such inhumanity as displayed by the Nazis to recur in the world... Israel is presented as the sole repository of the Holocaust’s memory and as the official representative of its Jewish victims. It was on the basis of such assertions that Israel negotiated the restitution agreement with the FRG [Federal Republic of Germany], built Yad

Ibid. 4

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Vashem, a national memorial to the Holocaust to which visiting foreign

dignitaries are taken, and linked its foreign policies to fear of another genocide. 5

The slogan “Never again” has come to commemorate and memorialize the victims of the Holocaust, as it is present and plays an integral role in a majority of the National Holocaust Memorials and National Holocaust Museums located across the world. The slogan “Never Again” reminds visitors that the events of the Holocaust should never be forgotten, for in doing so it could allow such atrocities to be committed once more in the future. Therefore the slogan acts as a reminder of the historical violence and hatred that was bestowed upon the Jews during the time of the Holocaust, and is used to promote global awareness to fight against genocide and crimes against humanity. The foundation of every Holocaust memorial and museum can be attributed to the notion of never forgetting, and “Never again.”

In the text The Texture of Memory: Holocaust Memorials and Meaning Professor Young, in his critique of Holocaust memorials, argues that the development and construction of

Holocaust museums and memorials in various States and Nations each tell a different story of the Holocaust based on the particular group who are commemorating and remembering it.

The number of monuments and memorial spaces in Europe, Israel, and America dedicated specifically to the mass murder and resistance of Jews during the World War II now reaches into the thousands… They are proposed and designed at both national and local levels in every European country, as well as in Israel and America, by states and communities, by survivors’ groups and soldiers’

organizations, by synagogues and churches, by families and individuals. In every nation’s memorials and museums, a different Holocaust is remembered, often to conflicting political and religious ends. 6

This argument suggests that national Holocaust museums and memorials integrate the whole story of the Holocaust on a national level that is personal to the individuals that the museum or memorial is dedicated too. This would mean that the Kazerne Dossin Memorial Museum

Omer Bartov, Mirrors of Destruction: War, Genocide, and Modern Identity, (New York: Oxford 5

University Press, 2000), 169.

James E. Young, The Texture of Memory: Holocaust Memory and Meaning, (New Haven: Yale 6

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integrates the whole story of the Holocaust from a Belgian view, while the Mémorial de la Shoah integrates the story of the Holocaust from a French point of view, and the Memorial to the

Murdered Jews of Europe focuses on the story of the Holocaust from the victims standpoint from the entirety of all the individuals who fell victim to National Socialism under the Third Reich.

Research Questions

This thesis will endeavor to discuss whether each of the museums accurately discuss ultimate German responsibility for the deportation of Jews from their home country, as well as the role of bystanders from their home nation. For example, does the Kazerne Dossin discuss the German influence in Belgium during the time of the Second World War, as well as the role Belgian bystanders played in the events of aiding Belgian Jews, or on the other hand, the round-ups and deportations of Belgian Jews? Does the Mémorial de la Shoah discuss the same issues, but from a French standpoint, and does the Memorial to the Murdered Jews discuss ultimate German responsibility for the events of the Holocaust? The aim is to discover whether these museums, in addressing ultimate responsibility, deal with Belgian, French, and German complicity through the initiatives and literature of James Young, Dr. Herman Van Goethem, Jacques Fredj, and Klaus Frahm along with the assistance of noteworthy Holocaust scholars, such as Raul Hilberg and Christopher Browning, who have dedicated extensive time researching the events of the Holocaust and Second World War. The overall goal is to address the question of whether each museum admits to the faults and downfalls of its country’s actions in specific regard to the events of the Holocaust during the time of the Second World War, or whether the museums simply bypass the topics and conversations of the historical evidence of their countries submission to the German occupants. For example, Does the Mémorial de la Shoah discuss the relationship between the Vichy Government and the German occupiers? Conclusively, each museum in their portrayal, expresses information that is in scientific research accordance in making efforts to address the complicity of their State, and this is what will be discussed in further detail in the following chapters on Belgium, France, and Germany.

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Methodology

The research methodology employed in this dissertation consists of personal research, which involved thoroughly submerging myself in analytical observations of the functioning of each museum and memorial discussed within this assessment. This process was conducted by individual field work including a detailed visit to each institution; this processes sometimes included multiple visits to the museums. Visiting each of these museums assisted in the development of personal thoughts and conclusions about each of the institutions while touring them, followed by reflection of what was observed during the visit. Additionally, when visiting the Kazerne Dossin for a second time, I had the pleasure of conducting a personal interview with Dr. Laurence Schram, the Senior Onderzoeker (researcher) of the museum, which significantly shaped my understanding of some of the exhibits and photographs within the museum. Finally, it was important to document the visits to each of the institutions discussed within this dissertation, so by way of personal photography, the museums is represented by a photograph of the exterior of the museum or memorial beginning discussed, which can be seen at the beginning of each chapter.

Structure

The structure of this dissertation involves evaluating the Kazerne Dossin Memorial Museum, the Mémorial de la Shoah, and the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. The overall structure consists of breaking down each of the museums and memorials into individual chapters. The first chapter analyses the Kazerne Dossin Memorial Museum. Dr. Herman Van Goethem, curator of the Kazerne Dossin Memorial Museum, explains the mission statement of the Kazerne Dossin museum, along with the goals set forth by the creators of the museum in the catalog; Kazerne Dossin: Memorial, Museum and Documentation Centre on Holocaust and

Human Rights. Dr. Van Goethem states that in an effort to create an educational museum that

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perpetrators, victims, and bystanders who played an integral role in the events of the Holocaust. 7

The second chapter focuses on the French narrative of the Holocaust, and through the initiatives of Jacques Fredj, director of the Mémorial de la Shoah and author of the museums official catalog; The Jews of France During the Holocaust, he not only gives a detailed overview of the French national narrative of the roles the French peoples had in the events of World War Two and the Holocaust, he also presents information on the overall development and functioning’s of the museum. The third and final chapter focuses on the National German Holocaust Memorial, the 8

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Professor Young, who has done extensive research on memorialization in contemporary Germany, gives a descriptive overview of the complications the German nation faced in constructing Holocaust memorials that represent the events of the Holocaust in an educational setting while also honoring and memorializing the victims of the Third Reich’s perpetration. It is through his work that this dissertation takes form, and through his extensive research on Holocaust memorials and museums that shape the ideas and arguments presented within the main body of the dissertation. Additionally, architectural photographer Klaus Frahm’s catalog; Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, played an indispensable role in the research of the memorial, as it documents the initiatives of the architects and creators of the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe as they moved forward with the development of the memorial and underground information center. Each chapter begins with an introduction on 9

the development of the individual museum or memorial. Following the development of each museum, the chapter continues with an account of how the perpetrators, victims, and bystanders from the nation in which the museum represents are portrayed within the museum. Each chapter then concludes with a discussion on the role and function of the museum, in regards to how the museum deals with the representation of German compliance, and how the museum portrays the bystanders from their nation during the time of the Second World War. 

Herman Van Goethem, Kazerne Dossin: Memorial, Museum and Documentation Centre on Holocaust 7

and Human Rights, (Mechelen: Kazerne Dossin, 2012).

Jacques Fredj, The Jews of France During the Holocaust, (France: Gallimard, 2011). 8

Klaus Frahm, Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, (Berlin: Nicolai, 2005). 9

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Chapter 1:

Belgium: The Kazerne Dossin Museum

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Development of the Kazerne Dossin Museum

Located in Mechelen, Belgium, the Kazerne Dossin Memorial Museum and

Documentation Centre on Holocaust and Human Rights is Belgium’s official National Holocaust Museum. The development of the Kazerne Dossin was a direct result to the much needed

expansion of the Jewish Museum of Deportation and Resistance [JMDR], which was the museum previously located on the historic site of the Dossin Barracks. After a couple of failed projects, such as the Transit Mechelen project in 2001, a call for architects was organized and the task to expand the JMDR into the Kazerne Dossin Memorial Museum began in 2005. The

museum was opened by the President of Flanders, Kris Peeters, and was inaugurated by HRH [His Royal Highness] King Albert II of Belgium on November 26, 2012. The doors to the Kazerne Dossin Memorial Museum officially opened to the public on December 1, 2012. 10

Originally, the JMDR was very small and therefore unable to accommodate the vast number of visitors it began receiving annually, so the Flemish government recognized that

expansion was vital to the continual growth of the museum, and felt passionately about creating a museum dedicated to Belgium’s overall role in the events of the Holocaust and Second World War, and so they contributed to the finance of the construction of the Kazerne Dossin Museum. Today, the museum is funded by the Flemish Government (about 90%), and by a small portion which comes from the Belgian Federal Government (about 10%). The mission statement of the museum, developed by Professor Herman Van Goethem, a noteworthy Belgian Historian, Professor at the University of Antwerp, and curator of the Kazerne Dossin, is as followed;

The museum wants to show the spiral of increasing mass violence that ultimately led to genocide. For only that reason, the museum is built up in a strict

chronological order. The 25,836 deportees look at the visitors from enormous photo walls, spread over five floors (from –1 to +3). Since 2005 their portrait photos are systematically scanned in the ‘Give them a face’ project. The identity

Kazerne Dossin Memorial Museum, “History,” Kazerne Dossin, Web, January 19, 2017. 10

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that they regained contrasts sharply with the photos of the goaded masses that persecuted them and ultimately, threatened them with total annihilation. 11

The museum follows the theme of perpetrators, victims, and bystanders of the Holocaust, and is divided into three main sections which are entitled, “Mass,” “Fear,” and “Death”. Professor Van Goethem explains that the aim of the museum is to teach the visitors about the experiences Belgium faced during the Second World War, in terms of how the Jews and Gypsies of Belgium fell victim to the German SS occupiers, and to the citizens of Belgium who assisted in the search and roundups of the victims, and to the common bystanders who either joined resistances in Belgium, (such as the Comité de Defense des Juifs [CDJ] who saved over 3,000 Jewish children during the war) compared to those who choose to act neither in favor or against the mistreatment of the Belgian Jews that was taking place.

A common thread runs throughout the permanent exhibition and is picked out by its historical structure; the behavior of the mass in the context of a collective fracturing of society. The central question is that of the individual’s place within the mass, in terms of perpetrator, victim, or bystanders. We examine in each instance how the individual might have responded within the group context, with the underlaying aim of alerting our visitors to the phenomenon of the mass as a factor governing his or her own behavior. 12

The Kazerne Dossin’s main exhibit spans three main floors, and concludes with an open arial view on the fourth floor, which overlooks the historical site of the Dossin SS assembly camp, also commonly referred to as the Mechelen transit camp or the SS-Sammellager Mecheln; during the years of German occupation. The fourth floor is also used as an exhibition space where traveling exhibits related to the events of the Holocaust or human rights are sometimes on display.

One of the main concepts discussed by the creators of the Kazerne Dossin Memorial Museum was the idea of making the museum both a NHM, and a museum that focuses on human

Kazerne Dossin Memorial Museum, “Introduction,” Kazerne Dossin, Web, March 11, 2016. 11

https://www.kazernedossin.eu/EN/Museum-Memoriaal/Museum/Inleiding.

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rights. This proved to be a difficult task, however the creators of the Kazerne Dossin, along with its head curator Dr. Van Goethem, were determined to achieve this goal. Dr. Van Goethem played a major in role in setting up the museum, over seeing the opening of the museum, and producing the official guidebook for the museum. In the book, Kazerne Dossin: Memorial, Museum and

Documentation Centre on Holocaust and Human Rights, he discusses the work that went into

making the museum function as both a Holocaust memorial museum as well as a museum on human rights:

Introducing human rights to a Holocaust museum is far from straightforward. It naturally means bringing the underlying issues right up to the present. But… a museum focusing on human rights cannot exist without a concept. After prolonged reflection, Kazerne Dossin opted to link the human rights approach with the historical event that is so keenly present at the site. Two themes were then distilled from this: discrimination and exclusion on the one hand, and mass violence on the other. These themes are not separate: genocide is the most extreme form of mass violence. It centers on the eradication of an ethnicized group. Such as, genocide may be viewed as the most extreme perversion of uncontrolled nationalism. The large-scale and systematic extermination of men, women, and children is the final link in a long chain of intensifying brutality. 13

The portrayal of human rights within the museum is one aspect of the institution that sets it apart from other NHM, which can sometimes lead to displays that viewers might find unexpected in this type of museum. For example, one of the most striking displays in the museum is the photograph of a group of young adults attending a modern outdoor music festival called

Tomorrowland, which is held annually in Boom, Belgium. This photograph stretches across one of the walls on the first floor. When asked about the significance of the Tomorrowland picture in relation to Holocaust and human rights history, Dr. Laurence Schram, Senior Onderzoeker (researcher) of the Kazerne Dossin Memorial Museum, explained that; “The first floor of the museum is titled “Mass” and so the creators of the museum wanted to display a photo that showed a large mass of people from various countries and ethnic backgrounds coming together

Ibid, 12. 13

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in peace and love.” The decision to use the photograph from the Tomorrowland music festival was made largely by the museums curators, including Dr. Van Goethem. Additionally, the second floor entitled “Fear” has a large photograph showing a single man standing up to the Chinese resistance, the photograph has come to be known as “Tank Man”. Since the museum focuses on both the Holocaust and human rights, the curators of the museum wanted to include photographs that portrayed human rights movements as well as photographs of the Holocaust. Seeing as the 14

photograph from Tomorrowland was taken at a popular Belgian event, it is understandable that one might try to incorporate it in a Belgian museum focusing on human rights, as it shows that Belgium is an accepting nation that is welcoming to people of all backgrounds coming together in unity. However it really doesn’t have any real relevance to the Holocaust. Dr. Van Goethem states that: “Other museums compensate for a lack of original materials by resorting to

reconstructions. But that is all but impossible in a Holocaust museum: reconstructing a

deportation or a gas chamber would be in very poor taste.” While this does not really explain 15

the thought process behind the Tomorrowland photograph, it does give insight to the decision making that took place in regards to how to incorporate human rights into the museum. It is arguable that the photograph from Tomorrowland seems a bit out of place in this type of museum as, without further explanation, it seems to have no real significance to the theme of Holocaust and human rights history. The photograph of “Tank Man” ties nicely into the theme of human rights, as does the small section dedicated to U.S Slavery, also located on the second floor, however the photograph from Tomorrowland is sorely lacking in explanation upon first sight. While the photo is meant to represent the evolution of human rights, and to show how the Holocaust impacted this evolution, the lack of explanation takes away from its overall purpose and contrasts with the atmosphere of the museum.

In a recent interview with Dr. Schram, she discussed how the museum receives special visitors such as Flemish politicians, who often visit when inaugurating new projects. For example, on September 1, 2015 there was a special event on the liberation of the Dossin

Laurence Schram, Meeting with the Senior Research Director of the Kazerne Dossin Museum, 14

Interview by author, June 16, 2016.

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Barracks, and many politicians showed up to help commemorate the event. When asked if she 16

felt the museum does a good job at representing Belgium’s overall role in the events of the Holocaust, (such as the Belgium police officers who aided in roundups, etc.) she stated; “Yes, there is an even flow dividing the Belgian perpetrators, victims, and bystanders.” In recent 17

years, France and Belgium have been subjected to anti-Semitic attacks, which in the case of the Kazerne Dossin, has resulted in a decrease of annual visitors to the museum. The annual report from last year [2015] showed that the museum received roughly 64,394 visitors, which is a slight decrease from 2013 which saw 98,435 visitors, and in 2014 which saw an average of 75,936 visitors. Dr. Schram, expressed that the recent terrorist attacks in Europe, have had a direct effect on the number of visitors the museum received in the past couple of years. When asked about the estimated number of visitors the museum will receive for the year of 2016 she stated, “With the recent terrorist attacks in cities such as Paris and Brussels, it’s hard to say because numbers have decreased.” The first year the museum opened, roughly 130,000 people visited, and in the second year roughly 110,000. The museum currently receives around 65,000-70,000 visitors a year. Additionally, the museum has had to increase it’s entrance fee to help with finances and unfortunately this has been attributed to a decrease in visits from local Belgian schools to the museum annually.

Representation of Perpetrators: Belgian Compliance with the Germans

The Kazerne Dossin Memorial Museum is located on the historical site of the Dossin SS assembly camp for Jews in Belgium, also known as the Dossin Barracks. Initially, conversations did arise about locating the museum in a larger city, such as Antwerp or Brussels, however the need to have a museum on the historic site overpowered the need to have it in a more populous city. Having decided upon the location of the museum, the creators then collected the materials used in the main exhibit from the FelixArchief in Antwerp, which are a pivotal aspect of the

Laurence Schram, Meeting with the Senior Research Director of the Kazerne Dossin Museum, 16

Interview by author, June 16, 2016. Ibid.

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foundation of the museum. The transit camp located in Mechelen, Belgium, now in conjunction with the Dossin Barracks, was the largest transit camp in Belgium, and was the main railway used by German forces during the time of the Second World War to deport the Jews of Belgium to the concentration camps in the East. Belgium’s Flemish government felt strongly about constructing their national Holocaust museum on the historical site of the famous 20th deportation of Mechelen, also known as “Transport XX”, as it has a significant impact on the national narrative of Belgian participation in the events of World War Two and the Holocaust.

Three months of continuous manhunts preceded the actual departure of Transport XX. The first registrations began on 16th January and on 17th April 1943, just two days prior to departure, the deportation list was finished. The list contained 1.631 Jews regardless of gender, age or health state. One in five deportees were children under the age of 15 years. 18

Prior to the deportation, HRH King Leopold III of Belgium made an intervention request in behalf of the Belgian Jews, unfortunately this request had little effect. The 20th deportation of Mechelen marked one of the largest and most devastating deportations to take place in Belgium during the time of the Second World War. Additionally, this deportation was one of the first to take place in Belgium that involved such a large number of children and elderly. A handful of Belgian Jews attempted to escape, with a few being successful, however those that were caught attempting to escape were shot on the spot.

236 Jewish deportees were able to escape from Transport XX. The youngest was 11 years old and the oldest was 64 years old. 26 people were shot and killed trying to escape. 19

Only 151 survived Auschwitz out of the original 1,631 Jews that were deported during the 20th deportation of Mechelen. When researching the statistics of Belgian victims as well as the 20

involvement of Belgian perpetrators and bystanders, the creators of the Kazerne Dossin

“History of Transport XX – From Dossin to Auschwitz-Birkenau,” Kazerne Dossin, Web, January 19, 18 2017. https://www.kazernedossin.eu/EN/Info/History-of-Transport-XX-–-from-Dossin-to-Auschwitz. Ibid. 19 Ibid. 20

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Memorial Museum relied on the records used by major Belgian cities. For example, the police records from Antwerp played a significant role in the development of the exhibits found within the museum in regard to the number of victims deported from various Belgian cities, as well as the role city officials had in the round-up and deportations of the victims.

The records of the Antwerp police — preserved in the city at the FelixArchief — are an important source for illustrating the various attitudes adopted by the perpetrators, victims, and bystanders. They play a central role in the museum. 21

Belgium was occupied by German forces by May 1940, and the prosecution of the Belgian Jews was in full force by 1942. The level of compliance with the Germans, as well as the level of anti-Semitic attacks against the Jews, varied by city within Belgium. Historian Bob Moore author of,

Survivors: Self-Help and Rescue in Nazi-Occupied Western Europe, argues that; In contrast with

the capital city of Brussels and the major city of Antwerp, studies show that anti-semitism against the Jews was at a much higher level in Antwerp, and the number of Jews deported from Belgium was greater in Antwerp than in Brussels.

Jews were also required to register as Jews on a special list held by the town halls. This was carried out with varying degrees of enthusiasm by every local authority in the country. 22

Compliance with the German occupants in Belgium was carried out throughout all of Belgium. However, the election of Leon Delwaide, from the the far-right party, as mayor of Antwerp resulted in an increased level of devastation for the Jews of Antwerp. Upon Leon Delwaide’s election, anti-Semitism towards Belgian Jews erupted within the city and resulted in the

destruction of Jews property and accompanied with the plundering of their personal possessions. In Antwerp, it was pursued with undisguised alacrity by the civil servants after the

nomination of Leon Delwaide as mayor of the city on 8 December 1940. His appointment gave rise to a series of antisemitic actions specific to that city carried out by the VNV (Vlaams Nationaal Verbond) leadership in April 1941. This

and Human Rights, (Mechelen: Kazerne Dossin, 2012), 10.

Bob Moore, Survivors: Jewish Self-Help and Rescue in Nazi-Occupied Western Europe, (Oxford: 22

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included the breaking of Jewish shop windows, the plundering of diamond merchants, and… two synagogues also being set on fire — events which were enthusiastically filmed by the cameramen of the German Propagandastaffel IIIB [German Propaganda Squadron]. 23

While Belgian Jews were targeted all throughout Belgium during the time of the Second World War, Jews in the city of Antwerp, in particular, were especially targeted due to the cooperation of city officials with the German occupants. In contrast with the far-right mayor of Antwerp was the liberal mayor of Brussels, Joseph van de Meulebroek from 1939-1942, who fought against German occupation in the city of Brussels.

The role of Mayor Delwaide of Antwerp was crucial in affecting the attitudes of the local government officials and contrasted with the earlier alienation from German policies in Brussels under its mayor, van de Meulebroek. 24

Joseph van de Meulebroek was arrested and deported to Germany in 1941, for his defiant opposition against the German authorities in Brussels. Upon the end of the Second World War, 25

Joseph van de Meulebroek resumed his post of burgomaster (Mayor) of Brussels from the years of 1944 to 1956.

The systematic persecution of Belgian Jews was carried out by the German occupied forces as well as by many Belgian civilians working under the orders issued by their government and higher officials. According to Holocaust historian Raul Hilberg, it is estimated that between 40 to 50 percent of the Belgian-Jewish and refugee community perished in the Holocaust. 26

According to Hilberg’s statistics 51 percent of the Jews deported from Belgium were men. In 27

regards to Belgian children, Hilberg discusses that most children had a difficult time surviving in the SS Camps, due to their young age.

Ibid, 172. 23

Ibid, 422. n 69. 24

John Lukacs, The Last European War: September 1939/December 1941, (New Haven: Yale University 25

Press, 2001), 215-216.

Raul Hilberg, Perpetrators Victims Bystanders: The Jewish Catastrophe, 1933-1945, (New York, NY: 26

HarperPerennial, 1993), 209. Ibid, 297.

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Very few children could survive in camps. Of 4,918 children age fifteen, who were deported to Auschwitz from Belgium, 53 came back. 28

It was highly abnormal for Jewish children to be put to work in camps such as Auschwitz. Often times, children were sent straight to the gas chambers upon arrival. Hilberg supports this by giving a brief account of how Elie Wiesel survived his first few days at Auschwitz by telling a German officer that he was eighteen, when in reality he was only fifteen. 29

During the summer of 1942, German officials began orchestrating plans to roundup and deport the Jews of Belgium. It was decided that a transit camp would be created in Mechelen, which was ideal due to its location directly between Antwerp and Brussels, the two cities in Belgium with the highest population of Jews, and due to its excellent railway connections to Eastern Europe; where the concentration camps were already operating. In total, between the 30

years of 1942 and 1944 over half of the Belgian Jews were deported from the Mechelen transit camp to Auschwitz, and between the years of 1943 and 1944, most of the the Roma/Sinti of Belgium were also transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau from Mechelen. These deportations 31

were issued from the Reich Security Main Office [RSHA] in Berlin from the direct office of Adolf Eichmann. The history behind the historical site of the Dossin Barracks represents a dark period for the citizens of Belgium. It is a reminder not only of the lives that were lost, but also of the role many Belgians civilians and government officials played in aiding the perpetration.

The obsession with creating a collective national narrative, or national memory, is the case in the Belgian narrative of the Holocaust. The Kazerne Dossin Museum retains the history of the perpetration of Belgian Jews in the Holocaust. It not only tells the story of the role Belgium played in the deportation and ultimate execution of the victims, by displaying

photographs as evidence against the perpetrators and remembrance of the victims, but it also acts as an educational tool for the upcoming generations. While the museum mainly focuses on the

Ibid, 148. 28

Ibid, 148. 29

“Mechelen,” United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, January 29, 2016, Web, May 20, 2016. 30

https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005430. Ibid.

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Belgian narrative, as many of the displays focus strictly on Belgian events, the museum manages to give an extensive collective overview on all phases of the history of World War Two in

Belgium. By choosing to construct the Belgian National Holocaust museum on the historical site of the Dossin Barracks, Belgium further enhances their national identity by choosing to

remember, rather than to ignore and forget, the role they as a collective nation played in the 32

perpetration of the Belgium victims of the Holocaust.

The Belgian Victims of the Holocaust

One of the main goals set forth by the creators of the Kazerne Dossin Memorial Museum, was to commemorate the Belgian victims of the Holocaust. While the number of Holocaust victims from Belgium may not be as large as other European countries, the anguish and suffering endured by the victims of Nazi occupied Belgium were equally as austere as the crimes

committed against Jews in surrounding European countries at the time. While the material within the museum primarily focuses on the Belgian front, the creators of the museum dedicate several sections to non-Jewish victims, such as the Roma/Sinti of Europe. It is made abundantly clear by the creators of the museum that Belgium faced many hardships throughout the duration of the Second World War, and that its people, from every background, were affected in one way or another by the occupied German forces. Holocaust Historian, Doris Bergen states that;

When it comes to human suffering, each year of a war tends to be worse than the year before… This depressing observation certainly holds true for the Second World War… The Nazi German hand may have been less heavy on western Europe, but there too — in occupied, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, and elsewhere — adversity and demoralization continued to build. 33

A nations history, like Belgiums for example, is shaped by individuals from that country. So in looking 32

at an event such as the Holocaust, it can be understood that not every single Belgian citizen is responsible for their countries actions during the time of the Second World War, they all however, share the memory of their countries actions from that time.

Doris L. Bergen, War and Genocide: A Concise History of the Holocaust, (New York: Rowan & 33

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When looking at the Belgian narrative of the Second World War, it is important to note that apart from the Belgian Jews, another large majority group who fell victim to Nazi perpetration in Belgium, were the people who belonged to the Roma/Sinti groups who had, in part, begun immigrating to Belgium in the 1920s and 1930s. From the records obtained by the Kazerne Dossin Museum, it is estimated that prior to the start of the Second World War 300-400 Roma/ Sinti lived in Belgium, however by the 1940s there were an estimated 500 Roma/Sinti residing in Belgium. 34

No more than 300 to 400 Roma and Sinti lived in Belgium in the 1920s and ‘30s. These ‘Gypsies’ or ‘Bohemians,’ as they were called at the time, sometimes aroused curiosity and also compassion for their impoverished existence. but they also encountered frequent hostility from local people. The Aliens Police kept a close eye on them, and municipal councils often did their best to hinder their presence. 35

According to the statistics provided by Historian Peter Longerich in his text: Holocaust: The

Nazi Persecution and Murder of the Jews, between the years of German occupation from 1940 to

1944, it is estimated that between Belgium, the Netherlands, and Northern France, several hundred Gypsies were deported and killed during the Second World War. In comparison to neighboring countries; Czechoslovakia around 35,000, Austria roughly 8,000, occupied Soviet territories lost at least 10,000 Gypsies, possibly more, Poland around 8,000, and Germany an estimated 15,000. These statistics include victims that were classified by the Germans as a 36

Rome/Sinti or Gypsy half-breeds. These are just a few countries who lost a significant amount of their accounted population of Gypsies to Nazi persecution, however many other European countries lost devastating numbers as well.

The Kazerne Dossin Memorial Museum displays a section dedicated to both the Jewish and the Roma/Sinti victims of the Holocaust within the main exhibit, which gives a timeline on

Ibid, 50. 35

Peter Longerich, Holocaust: The Nazi Persecution and Murder of the Jews, (Oxford: Oxford University 36

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how the Nazi occupation of Belgium led to propaganda against each target group spreading throughout the country, to eventually, the round-up and deportation of the victims. The museum divided the sections into three separate floors, with each floor focusing on a different aspect of how the singling out, round-up, and deportation of the victims were carried out. The first floor focuses on how the people of Belgium reacted to the Jewish and Gypsy communities and how propaganda and outside factors, such as the media, played a key role in the discrimination and 37

resentful attitude that was directed toward them. However, it wouldn’t be until the occupation of Belgium by Nazi Germany in 1940 that would lead the Belgian people to completely outcast and isolate the two minority groups. The discrimination towards the Jews and the Roma/Sinti in Belgium would ultimately increase in 1941, and would continue throughout the duration of the Second World War.

Jews grew increasingly isolated after 1941. Not only were they excluded from schools, but a curfew was imposed on them and their radios were confiscated — a ‘silent house arrest’ that was hard to bear. The world seemed dangerous and hostile, and many Jews rarely strayed beyond their own street or district. They complied with the anti-Jewish regulations to avoid the severe penalties imposed for disobedience, including detainment at the ‘Hell of Breendonk’. 38

Hell of Breendonk was a nickname for the Belgian fortress near Antwerp, that was turned into a internment camp by the SS soldiers after the occupation of Belgium. Ironically, the original purpose of the fortress in the early-twentieth century was to defend Belgium against a possible German attack. Roughly 4,000 men were held prisoner at Breendonk during the Second World War, and it was during that time that it gained its nickname, Hell at Breendonk, due to the harsh living conditions and torture mechanisms used by the Nazi soldiers who ran the camp. While 39

many Belgian Jews feared detainment at Breendonk, the increasing regularity of anti-Semitic attacks and deportations added to their fears in 1942, as anxiety towards Jews rose in Belgium.

Ibid, 78. 38

“Breendonk,” United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Web, July 2016. 39

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Pogroms were introduced in Antwerp and newspapers and other media outlets began

encouraging mistreatment and discrimination towards Jews. By July 1942 Belgian Jews were 40

being summoned to the Dossin Barracks in Mechelen, and were then being deported to Poland. Beginning in July 1942, the Association of Belgian Jews [AJB] distributed

Arbeitseinsatzbefehle (labor call-up notices) to some 12,000 Jews, who were

instructed to report to the Dossin Barracks. Those who failed to appear risked several penalties. Less than half turned up. A parallel German initiative — the compulsory employment by Organisation Todt of 2,000 Jewish men from Belgium to construct the Atlantic Wall in northern France — resorted to out-and-out slave labor. Those men too were destined for deportation to Auschwitz-Birkenau by way of Mechelen that October. 41

The first floor of the museum displays information on anti-Semitism that arose in Belgium, the rounding-up of victims, and the different attitudes of the Belgian officials that varied between the two major cities of Antwerp and Brussels, under German occupation during the time of the Second World War.

Violent round-ups of Jews began on 15 August 1942. The mayor of Antwerp — unlike his Brussels counterparts — placed his police at the Nazis’ service and made sure that the anti-Jewish policies were implemented. Individual officers responded in very different ways, but cooperation was the norm. 42

Moving from the development of anti-Semitic attitudes to the rounding-up of victims, the museums second floor then covers the deportation of the victims of Belgium to concentration camps in the East. The main exhibit within the museum displays the evidence of the impact and devastation that was felt by the Belgian victims of the Holocaust, and displays photographs, personal belongings, and testimonies from some of the victims, with the hope of teaching the visitors the important lesson of how wide spread hatred and animosity towards others can have

Ibid, 92. 41

Ibid, 92. 42

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catastrophic consequences, as well as the importance of human rights movements across the world today that work towards preventing these types of events from reoccurring.

Jews were devastated, extreme panic leading some to commit suicide or to leave children as foundlings. It gradually dawned that the only way out was to go into hiding. This marked the beginning of widespread individual Jewish resistance. 43

Finally, the third floor of the museum covers the resistances that arose in Belgium during the time of occupation, as well as the final outcome of the Belgian victims of the Holocaust. The museum uses a vast array of knowledge to educate the visitors on the events of the Second World War in Belgium and throughout Europe. In regards to the final outcome of the victims of

Belgium, Holocaust historian Raul Hilberg, estimates that roughly 24,000 Belgian Jews fell victim to Nazi perpetration between the years of 1942 and 1944. 44

Belgium had neither a Vichy-style government with its own anti-Semitic agenda nor a highly Nazified occupation regime whose leaders intrigued for control over Jewish policy. Yet in the end the result was much the same for the 52,000 Jews (90% of them foreigners) residing there… Jews in Belgium were thereby defined, registered, excluded from public office and various professions, and barred from returning from abroad. 45

The primary focus of the museum is centered around Belgian participants, resistance groups, events, and victims, of the Second World War, the Kazerne Dossin Memorial Museum does give insight to the full events of the Second World War, and highlights several other historical events that pertain to human rights and suffering. The amount of devastation faced by Belgium during the time of the Second World War is evident within the statistics found in the studies produced by the curators of the museum, and through the projects and initiatives conducted within the

Kazerne Dossin, which is why the museum strives towards shedding light on the events of the

Ibid, 92. 43

Raul Hilberg, The Destruction of the European Jews, (New York: Holmes & Meier, 1985), 339. 44

Christopher R. Browning, The Origins of the Final Solution: The Evolution of Nazi Jewish Policy, 45

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Second World War in Belgium, and towards producing new material and studies on both World War Two and current human rights movements.

Ordinary Belgian Bystanders

The development of the Kazerne Dossin Memorial Museum resulted in a compromise between the Flemish Belgian politicians and the Belgian Jews. The Jewish community wanted a Holocaust memorial museum, and the politicians wanted the museum to focus on human rights, so unfortunately the museum is not always consistent. In order to make the museum function as both a Holocaust museum and a museum focused on human rights, the creators of the museum decided to use the portrayal of Belgian bystanders in the Second World War, and the admission that Belgian civilians assisted in the rounding-up and deportation of thousands of Belgian Jews during the years of German occupation, as a link between commemorating Holocaust history, and educating visitors on human rights. The objective of the human rights exhibit within the museum is to educate the visitors on global controversies and fight against discrimination and wide-spread violence. In doing so, the museum aims to show the repercussions of how

bystanders aid and abet in crimes of hatred, be it in participating in vicious acts, or by choosing to turn a blind eye to the events taking place. The creators of the Kazerne Dossin felt strongly about showing the visiting audiences the difference in the role of an innocent bystander by sharing stories of bystanders who chose to act, and those who did not, and what the

consequences of each of those choices resulted in. In addition, the museum also displays the bystanders who chose to aid in the defense of those suffering from discrimination and unlawful treatment, many of whom went on to be awarded the title, Honored Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem.

As in any dictatorship, civil servants in the occupied countries had some scope at least to hinder the Nazi system, to say ‘no’, certainly in Belgium, with its

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the Belgian administration chose not to use that scope, out of fear, defeatism or simple unwillingness. 46

The Kazerne Dossin displays photographs and posters from the 1930s showing how many Belgian citizens, prior to the occupation, supported the Jews of Belgium by joining resistance movements, and rallying in efforts to combat Hitler’s anti-Semitic policies arising in Nazi Germany during the time. One exhibit in the museum shows;

Supporters of the Belgian Socialist Party carrying slogans such as ‘No to racism and anti-Semitism,’ and ‘Free immigration to Palestine,’ during the Labor day parade on 1 May 1938. 47

These movements, among others, from the 1930s give an example of how Belgium challenged the anti-Semitic German policies in the 1930s and originally supported local Jews. These

campaigns show how many Belgian bystanders not only supported Belgian Jews, but also united against German policies which were beginning to rise in Western Europe at the time. Popular resistance slogans were used in store fronts of local Belgian businesses showing their support of the Jewish community.

Don’t feed Hitler bread to your children. In the 1930s a baker in Antwerp’s

Terliststraat offered bread for sale with no German flour. The street had a synagogue and several Jewish shops. The ‘Committee to Defend the Rights of Jews,’ set up immediately after Hitler’s rise to power… The committee, which supported Jewish refugees, also had a branch in Brussels. 48

Additionally, many Belgian citizens banded together to create committees and other support groups whose aim were to aid the Jews of Belgium. The two main organizations in Belgium that supported Jews during the time of German occupation were the Comité de Defense des Juifs (Jewish Defense Committee) [CDJ], and the Association des Juifs en Belgique, (Association of Belgian Jews) [AJB]. Holocaust historian Christopher Browning, discusses the AJB in his text,

Ibid, 31. 47

Ibid, 30. 48

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The Origins of the Final Solution: The Evolution of Nazi Jewish Policy, September 1939 - March 1942, arguing that in Belgium the AJB was more functional due to the fact that the organization

did not have to answer to the Security Police.

The Belgian Jews were provided with the Association of Jews in Belgium (Association des Juifs en Belgique) on November 25, 1941, although in contrast to France the Belgian association was directly subordinate to Reeder’s military administration, without the Security Police as intermediary. 49

Professor Moore argues that organizations in Belgium aimed at rescuing Jewish refugees were fully reliant on finding non-Jewish bystanders willing to help the Jews. Without such volunteers, these organizations would not have been able to succeed in helping Jews go into hiding, or acquire other items essential to surviving the German occupation of Belgium.

There is no doubt that the existence of the CDJ and other clandestine Jewish organizations was central to the successful survival of many people, but a great deal of their success rested on finding non-Jews willing and able to help, either directly through the provision of hiding places, or indirectly through supplying funds, ration cards, false identity papers, and all the other essentials that those living clandestinely required. 50

Dan Michman was the Chief Historian at the Yad Vashem International Institute for Holocaust Research from 2000 to 2011, and is a Professor of Modern Jewish History and Chair of the Arnold and Leona Finkler Institute of Holocaust Research at Bar- Ilan University. In his published text, Belgium and the Holocaust: Jews, Belgians, Germans Professor Michman discusses how members of the Catholic church in Belgium would also participate in activist movements with the initiative of helping the Jews of Belgium. While the Catholic church played a minor role in saving the Jews from Nazi persecution, many individuals from the Churches clergy felt the need to become involved in organizations that worked to combat anti-Semitism in Belgium.

Christopher R. Browning, The Origins of the Final Solution: The Evolution of Nazi Jewish Policy, 49

September 1939 - March 1942, (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2004), 205.

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The forgoing description reveals that there was a considerable degree of prejudice on the part of the Catholic clergy, which left little or no room for a rapprochement with Judaism. It was this climate, too, that prompted several Roman Catholic laymen to establish the Katholiek Bureau voor Israël [KBI: Catholic Bureau for Israel] in Antwerp. During the 1930s in Antwerp there was a considerable rise in the number of anti-Jewish incidents. The Bureau adopted a singular stance with regard to the problem of Catholic-Jewish relations within the wider current that had evolved in various European countries during the mid-1930s, for the purpose of establishing closer relations between Catholics and Jews. 51

The exact date of the establishment of the KBI is unknown, however Dan Michman states that it happened towards the middle of the year in 1936. Its main goal was to combat anti-Semitism 52

and to help connect the Catholics and Jews in Belgium. The organization was independent from the Catholic church, however many leaders within the organization were separate from the Catholic clergy, such as Cardinal Van Roey. Jewish leaders, such as Chief Rabbi Joseph Wiener also participated in the KBI. 53

The immediate stimulus for the establishment of the KBI was a lecture given by Irène Harand in Antwerp on March 4, 1936, in which she condemned German antisemitism on grounds of Christian morality… Her lecture had been organized by a Jewish organization, the Verbond voor Economisch Verweer — Antwerpen (VEVA). Immediately afterward, several Catholics who had been present met and decided to form an organization similar to the “Harandbewegung” in Belgium. 54

The Harandbewegung (Harand Movement) was founded by Irene Harand in Vienna, Austria, in 1933. The movement was known as the “World Movement Against Racial Hate and Human Misery”, and while the initiatives of the Harandbewegung sparked the development of the KBI

Dan Michman, Belgium and the Holocaust: Jews, Belgians, Germans, (Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 1998), 51 142. Ibid, 143. 52 Ibid, 144. 53 Ibid, 143. 54

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in Belgium, unfortunately, the KBI did not gain popularity and spread throughout Belgium as hoped, and only operated for a short amount of time in the mid-1930s. Dan Michman argues that a lack of support, particularly from the Catholic church is one of the main causes of its failure. He argues that the organization, even with its members of church clergy, did not generate enough support form the church as a whole, and therefore was unable to gather long-lasting support form the Belgian community. These organizations are just a few examples of how resistance 55

movements developed in Belgium during the time of the Second World War. In addition to combating anti-Semitism, resistance movements acted as rescuers to many Jewish victims, especially Jewish children. In both Belgium and the Netherlands, resistance groups were able to recuse thousands of Jewish children by helping them go into hiding in places such as boarding schools, monasteries, and hospitals. In addition to resistance groups, notable bystanders from 56

the Catholic church were made up of individual priests, nuns, monks, and bishops, who all fought to save Belgian Jews throughout the duration of the occupation of Belgium. There are also examples of Belgian nobility who stepped forward during the time of occupation to aid in the rescue of Belgian Jews. Many of these Belgian bystanders were honored as Righteous Among the Nations after the end of the Second World War by Yad Vashem, and are additionally recognized within the Kazerne Dossin Memorial Museum. Furthermore, the Catholic church recognizes many of there members who aided in the rescue of Jewish refugees form the time of the Second World War, especially within Belgium.

Monsignor Louis-Joseph Kerkhofs, was the bishop of Liège/Luik [Belgium] during the war years. He used his considerable authority and prestige to urge the clerics in his diocese to lend a hand to save Jews from deportation. His attitude inspired many people and religious institutions in the Liege area to help Jews, and

Ibid, 144-145. 55

Yad Vashem, “Rescue of Children,” Shoah Resource Center: 3. http://www.yadvashem.org/odot_pdf/ 56

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many cases of rescue resulted from his intervention. Father Hubert Celis being only one of them. 57

Mgr Kerkhofs was honored as a Righteous Among the Nations in 1981 by Yad Vashem. These are just a few examples of the organizations, resistance groups, and ordinary bystanders from Belgium who helped to rescue or aid the victims of Nazi perpetration during the years of rising anti-Semitism in the 1930s, and the perpetration of the Jews in the 1940s. When discussing Belgian bystanders who acted honorably by aiding their Jewish neighbors, Professor Bob Moore argues that the individual initiative amongst Belgian civilians willing to aid in Jewish rescue, began at the very top of society in Belgium.

In Belgium… The fact that the royal family had decided to stay after the Germans occupied the country gave King Leopold and his mother Elizabeth some leverage with the military government. In July 1942, he intervened to stop the arrest of Belgian Jews, but it was the Queen Mother Elizabeth who was more active, and during the occupation approached the German authorities on behalf of several hundred Jews, primarily those of Belgian nationality. 58

Despite the many cases of Belgian civilians choosing to help their Jewish neighbors and friends, there are just as many cases where Belgian civilians choose to betray there Jewish neighbors and conform to German authority. A comparison of Belgium’s four, largest cities during the Second World War, reveals that a large proportion of Antwerp and Charleroi bystanders acted against the Jews, whilst the proportions of residents of Liège and Brussels who betrayed their Jewish friends and neighbors was significantly lower. The deportation rates provided by Professor Moore illustrate this argument:

In the Belgian case, it is noticeable that those identified as non-Jewish rescuers were not uniformly distributed across the country… the majority were to be found in the French-speaking Walloon region and in the city of Brussels, whereas the

“Monsignor Louis-Joseph Kerkhofs,” Yad Vashem: The World Holocaust Remembrance Center, 2017, 57

Web, January 19, 2017. http://www.yadvashem.org/righteous/stories/the-celis-family/monsignor-kerkhofs.