Fort Breendonck Museum

On 4 September 1944, during liberation, the British come upon an abandoned camp. They temporarily use it as a German PoW facility. Soon afterwards, the Fort is once again used as a camp, in which resistance fighters imprison some 750 alleged collaborators over the following weeks. In this period, historically known as “Breendonk II”, the guards indulge in excesses as well. On 11 October 1944 Breendonk is evacuated. The last “incivics” are transferred to Mechelen. The Fort becomes an official Belgian State prison and definitively closes its doors on 17 June 1947.

Immediately after the war, voices are raised in favour of turning Breendonk into a museum, a place of pilgrimage or a monument. In the summer of 1947 the site is declared a National Memorial. Today Breendonk is one of the best-preserved camps in Europe and part of the War Heritage Institute.