The prisoners at Fort Breendonk were put to work: forced and brutal, pointless, inhumane and harsh.
They were made to excavate the top layer of the Fort. As the Fort was once part of the so called defence of Antwerp built at the beginning of the 20th century, it was covered in a thick layer of soil. This layer was – over the years – dug up by the prisoners. The soil was to be transported in carts as shown in this picture.
Hard work, accompanied by beatings and whipping by the guards. A cart was easily derailed or overturned: just another excuse to inflict punishment and to use violence.
The photo shown here was made in 1941 by Otto Kropf, a German photographer in service of the so called Propaganda Staffel. Kropf made more pictures at Breendonk, each of those ment to show the outside world that life at Auffanglager Breendonk wasn’t to bad – for a prison.
And it was meaningless work at that
They just dug up one side of it; drop it on the other; and then after a while itd switch (atleast thats how i understood it from the guide)
I live pretty close to it; shivers everytime, the horrors that mustve happened there we dont even know about
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The prisoners at Fort Breendonk were put to work: forced and brutal, pointless, inhumane and harsh.
They were made to excavate the top layer of the Fort. As the Fort was once part of the so called defence of Antwerp built at the beginning of the 20th century, it was covered in a thick layer of soil. This layer was – over the years – dug up by the prisoners. The soil was to be transported in carts as shown in this picture.
Hard work, accompanied by beatings and whipping by the guards. A cart was easily derailed or overturned: just another excuse to inflict punishment and to use violence.
The photo shown here was made in 1941 by Otto Kropf, a German photographer in service of the so called Propaganda Staffel. Kropf made more pictures at Breendonk, each of those ment to show the outside world that life at Auffanglager Breendonk wasn’t to bad – for a prison.
And it was meaningless work at that
They just dug up one side of it; drop it on the other; and then after a while itd switch (atleast thats how i understood it from the guide)
I live pretty close to it; shivers everytime, the horrors that mustve happened there we dont even know about
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