Hello All, Grace and Peace be to you!
I am sorry I have not been posting, but it has been crazy here with all the travels and then trying to get back in the swing of things. I am going to post a few pictures before I go to bed. I will post more later in the week when things settle down.
FORT BREENDONK CONCENTRATION CAMP
We are entering Breendonk.
The sign says it all...STOP! Or be you will be shot!
The path up to the main building that held the prisoners
The bridge path up to the door.
The moat that surrounds the entire prison building. There is a guard tower on the other side of the other bridge. Guards have shot and killed from that post.
Front entrance to the prison.
The dark and dreary hallway after entering.
Randy and Brandon stand by one of the many swinging barred doors that were at the beginning of or end of the hallway.
Many prisoners saw this hallway going to their cells or torture room.
These men were notorious for torturing the prisoners. They were known to be at every torture session.
A huge picture stood out where the people were forced to work.
Bars on ALL the windows. 
These men were at every roll call. They had roll call a few times a day. When they stood there they were in fear that their name would be called to follow a guard to the torture room, and they feared they would not see another roll call.
Prisoners once filled this inner court yard. They had no other place to go, but to work and to their cells or rooms.
This is the place they retired to at the end of the day if they were able to make it through the abuse of hard labor. They were not allowed to have any food or water until the end of the 8 hours of hard work, and the sustenance was very little
This is where they came to sit for the little food they had.
All the food they had for the entire day was one tiny bowl of soup, one small piece of bread, and one half cup of gross coffee. Many died of malnutrition and dehydration.
A tiny hallway with many tiny holding cells for the rebellious ones... you know, the ones who wanted freedom.
This is the tiny cell off the tiny hallway which kept the rebellious ones not only behind bars, but chained to the wall. No freedom here! My heart hurts just thinking about what happened to them.
This room made my heart really hurt...this is the torture room. A room once filled with so much pain. So many died here from torture alone. The guards would hang them here and forget about them. When the guards would come for them sometimes it would be too late. No proper nourishment, extreme bodily harm, their bodies could not take it. The guards did not even flinch over it. They cared nothing for these people.
These are the stalls that they had. They are called French Toilets...ooorrrr squatty potties! They had no privacy when relieving themselves. They were only allowed to go once a day and only for one minute. The guard would be shouting the entire time, " Hurry Up"! If they soiled themselves, they were tortured.
Inside the stall area!
Walking in the inner court yard.
Many people were shot here. Notice the small gallows where many were hung. These people died for no reason. Some of the victims here were 18 years old. Their crime? Being Hitlers enemy... Jews, Gypsy's, political prisoners, homosexuals, prostitutes, transients, and Jehovah's Witnesses...yes, even Jehovah's Witnesses! I was shocked when I learned that.
The list of all who were executed at Breendonk.
The winters here in Europe are cold and long. The prisoners were made to stand out in the cold, naked to wait for their turn in the showers. The guard yelling at them the entire time. One minute to shower was all they had. Then with no towel, they were forced to rush out and put on the same dirty clothes, and then still wet, they were forced to walk back out into the cold to go to their rooms or where ever they took them next. There would not have been showers at all if it were not for the scare of spreading disease.
This is a photo of all the prison guards who tortured and murdered. After the war, they were brought up on charges and all were sentenced to die by firing squad, and they were all killed.
As we were leaving we passed by this rail road car that was once used to carry the people to the prison. How sad, being herded around like cattle. They had stables here where the guards housed their horses in. The horses had names, but the prisoners were known as numbers. The prisoners were treated worse than animals, and the animals were treated with respect
Saying GOODBYE to Breendonk!!
I am saddened to know of the treatment of the people that went on within these walls and all the other camps. I want to post this in honor of all who died at the hands of these cold blooded killers. Today is The Holocaust Remembrance Day, so it is fitting that I post this today.
May this never happen again.
GOD Bless You!
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Anonymous said...
Whoa, THANK YOU for sharing the pictures with us. I bet it was a surreal experience for your family :( isn't it tragic how these people died? ((sigh)) Many of them are with the Lord now, rest in peace!!
April 22, 2009 at 2:27 PM
Nova said...
sometimes it feels good to go back and explore the history of one place.. i have known this historical even of this place because of your entry.. thank you very much for sharing this..
HISTORY of SUPERNOVA and SWEETPAIN
ANGELS IN MY LIFE
SPICES OF LIFE
April 22, 2009 at 6:54 PM
Blogger Rise said...
scary places there
April 22, 2009 at 7:33 PM
Jeanie said...
Donna,
Thank you for sharing the pictures and the meaning behind each picture. That was some incredible history!
It sounds nice to get to travel like you all do! Just a perk of the military!
God Bless You All,
Jeanie
April 23, 2009 at 12:41 AM
Pam Mattick Art and Stuff said...
Thank you for sharing your experience with us. Corrie ten Boom is one of my fav. Christian authors, have you read her work? I'm sure you have, but thought I'd mention her.
Blessings,
Pam
April 25, 2009 at 11:09 AM
Donna Bragg said...
Thank you for all of your comments.
This was a great experience for me. I never liked history when I was a kid, but I have grown to appreciate history. I am so thankful to GOD HE has given me the opportunity to explore HIS world.
Pam, I have the movie "The Hiding Place" and I was really moved by it. I was at a fellowshop/Bible study last night, and we got on the topic of Corrie Ten-Boom. She and her sister were great examples of how to be a Christian woman, especially in the face of evil.
I have never read Corrie's books though. My friend here in Belgium is going to lend me her copy of the Hiding Place, though I have watched the movie, you know that movies never compare with the book. I will let you know when I read it. Are there other books by her? If so, let me know what the titles are so I can order them.
Thank you!
GOD Bless You!
Donna
April 26, 2009 at 6:52 AM
DrDeb said...
When I was in college, I traveled with a singing group to Poland and we stopped at Auschwitz. Our boisterous group was silenced and collectively moved to tears. I will never forget the silent bus ride away from that terrible place. Thank you for your post.
April 27, 2009 at 11:35 AM
Donna Bragg said...
DrDeb,
It is quite sobering to walk through any concentration camp, but Auschwitz was one of the many death camps, no wonder you were all moved to tears.
Thank you for visiting and sharing, I hope you will come and visit again.
GOD Bless You!
In service for CHRIST,
Donna
April 27, 2009 at 2:46 PM
Anonymous said...
Over 6,000,000 Jews were slaughtered by the Nazis, and even many more millions of Jews suffered from persecution short-of-death from the Nazis. Approximately 5,000,000 "Non-Jews" were also slaughtered by the Nazis, including 100,000 homosexuals, 200,000 gypsies, and 200,000 disabled persons.
Compare those "millions" of victims with the "handful" of Jehovah's Witnesses. There were only approximately 6000 Jehovah's Witnesses in Germany during the 1930s-40s. While many of those 6000 German JWs were repeatedly arrested during the 1930s and 1940s, only a fraction were jailed or imprisoned for any significant length of time. Only about 200-300 German JWs lost their lives, and the majority of those died from any number of causes other than having been executed. Approximately 1000 JWs from other European countries lost their lives while incarcerated by the Nazis.
During that same time period, there were more Jehovah's Witnesses arrested and jailed in the United States than in Germany. In fact, from 1941 until 1945, approximately 4500 American Jehovah's Witnesses "elected" to go to prison rather than serve in the U.S. Military and go fight against those same Nazis who were committing those atrocities.
Approximately 3000 of those 4500 American JWs were even offered "conscientious objector" status, in which they were offered "non-combatant" work as a substitute, but 99% of those JWs refused to even help out that much.
In fact, it is an insult to mention Jehovah's Witnesses alongside Jewish Holocaust victims given that Jehovah's Witnesses view the Jews much as did the Nazis.
The WatchTower Society teaches its own version of "replacement theology", which says that GOD rejected the Jews as His "chosen people", and replaced them with today's "Jehovah's Witnesses". In fact, the title "Jehovah's Witnesses" was originally applied to the Jews by the Prophet Isaiah, and is even quoted on the wall at the entrance to the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C.
The WatchTower Society, in calling its own members "Jehovah's Witnesses" is attempting to steal that designation away from the Jews. The WatchTower Society even teaches that all of the Bible's promises of restoration for the Jewish people now belongs to the followers of the WatchTower Society.
May 11, 2009 at 10:07 AM
Anonymous said...
Anonymous wrote a superficial comment about the JW's. First of all, they refused to go to war and fight the nazis because while Jesus was on Earth, he never supported violence. He was like a pascifist. JW's tried to follow Jesus's example as much as possible. The Nazi's had a passionate hate towards the Jews. JW's don't hate anyone. They care for all of them and supported everyone they met in the camps. They consoled eachother. And approximately 2000 Jehovah's Witnesses died. But the number does not matter. I know all of this because i have heard it from survivors of the concentration camps. I have seen Documentaries of their personal experience and
I have even met one. He said that what happened to him was too much to tell.
October 31, 2009 at 5:29 PM