Escape Landscapes from the 20th Convoy – 236 Photo Exhibition

236 — Land(es)capes from the 20th Convoy

Jo Struyven / Luc Tuymans

From 20 January 2023, the Jewish Museum of Belgium, in partnership with the Auschwitz Foundation, presents the exhibition entitled ‘ 236, Land(es)capes from the 20th Convoy ‘. It is set up in the museum’s project space and offers an artistic look at an exceptional and forgotten event in the Second World War.

The 20th convoy

At 10 p.m. on April 19, 1943, the 20th convoy departed from the Kazerne Dossin transit camp in Mechelen with 1,631 Jewish deportees in cattle cars, heading for Auschwitz.
Thanks to resistance actions, both inside the wagons and from outside, 236 of these deportees managed to jump from that train, that was leading them to extermination. An unique event in Europe under the Nazi administration.

Jo Struyven, photographer

The work of the Belgian photographer Jo Struyven (°Sint-Truiden, 1961) takes us back to these acts of resistance – commemorating the 80th anniversary in 2023 – and gives us a glimpse of the landscapes in which this striking story took place.
Taking the perspective of those who jumped off that train, an act for which many of them paid with their lives, Struyven creates a contemporary ‘memorial’ with 19 large ‘nocturnal’ black and white images, and one colour print.

Jo Struyven :

The 20th convoy, heading for the unspeakable “Auschwitz”, crossed the area where I grew up, barely 50 meters from my childhood bedroom — I found out 2 years ago after meeting Simon Gronowski. Ever since, I imagine the distress of the deportees. The destination was unknown to them. Some, sensing the worst, tried to escape it. I wanted to give an account of this border between life and death, between resignation and the impossibility of choosing, and the freedom regained with resistance to the oppressor’s plans.

Works presented by Jo Struyven

Land(es)capes from the 20th Convoy, 2020-2022, 19 black and white prints, 1 color print, 90×60 cm (Private collection – Belgium)

Jo Struyven, Land(es)capes from the 20th convoy 2020-2022, black and white print, 90x 60 cm, Wijchmaal (Private Collection, Belgium)

Jo Struyven, Land(es)capes from the 20th Convoy 2020-2022, black and white print, 90x 60 cm, Bierbeek (Private Collection, Belgium)

Jo Struyven, Land(es)capes from the 20th Convoy, 2020-2022, black and white print, 90x 60 cm, Borgloon (Private Collection, Belgium)

Jo Struyven, Land(es)capes from the 20th Convoy, 2020-2022, black and white print, 90x 60 cm, Piringen (Private Collection, Belgium)

Jo Struyven, Land(es)capes from the 20th Convoy, 2020-2022, black and white print, 90x 60 cm, Botzelaer (Private Collection, Belgium)

Luc Tuymans, visual artist

In dialogue with Jo Struyven’s photographs, two works by Belgian visual artist Luc Tuymans (°Mortsel, 1958) evoke the destruction of the Jews and Roma of Europe. Die Wiedergutmachung (The Reparation) depicts body parts – left the eyes of gypsy children who had been experimented on by the Nazis. … images that in its incompleteness, reflect the inability to represent facts and memory .

Works presented by Luc Tuymans

Luc Tuymans, Our New Quarters, 1986, Oil on canvas, 80,5 x 120 cm (MMK – Germany) (Photo Ben Blackwell, courtesy David Zwirner, New York, London)
Luc Tuymans, Die Wiedergutmachung, 1989, Oil on cardboard, mounted on plywood, Oil on canvas; diptych, 36,6 x 43 cm, 39,4 x 51,8 cm, courtesy: Private collection (Photo Studio Luc Tuymans)

Art after the Shoah

“Writing a poem after Auschwitz is barbaric”, wrote German philosopher Theodor W. Adorno in 1949. Through two contemporary perspectives from the visual arts, this exhibition seeks to address this question of the (im)possibility of art after the Shoah in a new way.

Testimonies & Catalogue

This exhibition will be accompanied by a catalogue book edited by Daniel Weyssow and Jo Struyven and published by the Auschwitz Foundation entitled Land(es)capes from the 20th Convoy (press release on April 19, 2023), as well as an educational space presenting the testimonies from interviews and archives of convoy escapees.

Info+ ( & Français | Nederlands)

236
Land(es)capes from the 20th Convoy
Jo Struyven / Luc Tuymans
Exhibition at the Jewish Museum of Belgium, in Brussels, Belgium
20 January – 14 August 2023
Brussels
Website https://www.mjb-jmb.org

Auschwitz Foundation, Brussels, Belgium
Website https://www.auschwitz.be/en

News

Jan 20, 2023 – Vernissage ‘236’ Land(es)capes 20th convoy.

Vernissage ‘236’ Land(es)capes 20th convoy | 20230120

Video report : Vernissage ‘236’ Land(es)capes 20th convoy

Thursday January 19th, 2023, the vernissage of the photo exhibition 236 — Land(es)capes from the 20th Convoy was opened with speeches by Philippe Blondin, President of the Jewish Museum, and by Pierre-Yves Jeholet , Minister-President of the Government of the Federation Wallonia-Brussels. Next, the Belgian photographer Jo Struyven presented his work — escape landscape photographs glowing in the dark — like being lit by moonlight — as well as paintings contributed by Luc Tuymans in the project space. The exhibition runs from January 20 – August 14, 2023 in the Jewish Museum of Belgium, Brussels, Belgium. Video report (20230120) Michel van der Burg | Miracles•Media .

Jan 20, 2023 – VRT | Kristien Bonneure (Belgian Flemish Broadcast) 20 jan 2023

Post and podcast interview (dutch) Jo Struyven – link https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2023/01/18/expo-xxe-konvooi/

BRUZZ 19 Jan 2023 — Brusselse fotograaf stelt tentoon in Joods Museum: ‘Vluchtlandschappen vastgelegd’

https://www.bruzz.be/videoreeks/donderdag-19-januari-2023/video-brusselse-fotograaf-stelt-tentoon-joods-museum

236 Land(es)capes 20th convoy | 20230126

New edition 236 vernissage video report with the focus on the presentation by Jo Struyven of the images .

Meet the artist : Jo Struyven

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2023 AT 3 PM
Musée juif de Belgique
https://www.facebook.com/events/584997116296632

Updates

Sunday January 22th, 2023. Updated Museum’s poster image, and the Vernissage news item , editing text, plus embedding video. Added BRUZZ news item

Friday January 27th, 2023. News item added : 236 Land(es)capes 20th convoy | 20230126

Saturday January 28th, 2023. News item added : Meet the artist : Jo Struyven

Samudaripen – Genocide of the Gypsies – Claire Auzias

Samudaripen – Genocide of the Gypsies – Claire Auzias

The French author, historian and libertarian, Claire Auzias researches social movements, women’s history and Roma’s history (1). She has written several works on the Roma’s history in the last 20 years. Samudaripen, the Genocide of the Gypsies, first appeared in 1999/2000 (2,3), and is now followed by the 3rd edition (4) published by L’Esprit Frappeur (Paris).
In her book Samudaripen, Claire Auzias sheds light on this poorly documented genocide in the III Reich , Eastern Europe, and Western Europe. This entirely revised 3rd edition now includes two new chapters — one on Switzerland by Claire Auzias, and one on The Netherlands by Erik Van Den Muijzenberg. Claire Auzias , in her foreword (5) : “…the patient discovery of the identity of an anonymous icon of the deportation, in the guise of a Dutch Sinti girl, made the chapter on the Netherlands obligatory, at least for those of the French gypsies who do not read foreign languages.”

Notes

1 – Dr Claire Auzias Researcher Associate At Socius. URL https://socius.rc.iseg.ulisboa.pt/cv_membros/ClaireAuzias_CV_ING_Setembro2011.pdf

2 – Claire Auzias interview (2009) “Samudaripen” – Un entretien avec Claire Auzias, auteure du livre “Samudaripen, le génocide des Tziganes” aux éditions L’Esprit frappeur. Réalisé fin octobre 2009 par Bruno Boudiguet pour Télé Liberté / Le Cobaye international . Dailymotion URL https://dai.ly/xb9lah

3 – Jean-Jacques Gandini (2000) Samudaripen, le génocide des Tsiganes | Claire Auzias – L’Esprit frappeur, Paris, 2000. Le Monde diplomatique , Oct 2000 . URL https://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/2000/10/GANDINI/2512

4 – Claire Auzias (2022) Samudaripen, le génocide des Tsiganes (Samudaripen, the Genocide of the Gypsies), Paris, L’Esprit Frappeur (3nd edition 2022) ISBN 978-2-85103-051-1 | URL https://livrelibre.fr/categorie/livres/editeurs/esprit-frappeur/

5 – Claire Auzias (2022) Samudaripen, le génocide des Tsiganes (Samudaripen, the Genocide of the Gypsies), Paris, L’Esprit Frappeur (3nd edition 2022) ISBN 978-2-85103-051-1 | Avant Propos : “…la découverte patiente de l’identité d’une icône anonyme de la déportation, sous les traits d’une fillette sinti hollandaise, rendait obligatoire le chapitre sur les Pays-Bas, a minima à l’attention de ceux des Tsiganes français qui ne lisent pas les langues étrangères.”

License info :
Samudaripen – Genocide of the Gypsies – Claire Auzias | 20221210 | Settela•Com

TakeNode 794567ca-5db5-4945-8ffd-84949ec736ef

TAGS #ClaireAuzias #France #Netherlands #Europe #IIIReich #nazi #genocide #zigeuner #Tsigane #Gypsy #Roma #Sinti #Samudaripen #Settela #book #Esprit #Frappeur #Rom #Manouche #Roma #Sinti #Holocaust #Porajmos #Porrajmos #1Memo #SettelaCom #michelvanderburg

Samudaripen Book Cover

Samudaripen Book Cover | 20221118 | Settela•Com


For Settela•Com , Michel worked with Elisabeth Obadia at the small publishing house L’Esprit Frappeur in Paris and the Tokyo based French visual artist Benoit Dupuis (eden-olympia.net), by preparing a high quality camera-original still image of Settela (Ref 1) from the Westerbork film (Ref 2, 3) for the cover of the 3rd edition of the book Samudaripen, le génocide des Tsiganes (Ref 4) — the genocide of the Gypsies – by author, historian, Claire Auzias. Proud with the result. Waiting for the book to arrive …

REFERENCES

1 – Settela | 20220629 | Settela•Com | URL https://settela.com/2022/06/29/.

2 – Westerbork Film 🎦 2021 | 20220302 | Settela•Com | URL https://settela.com/2022/03/02/

3 – Westerborkfilm Introduction | 20220507 | Michel van der Burg | Settela•Com | URL https://settela.com/2022/05/07/

4 – Claire Auzias (2022) Samudaripen, le génocide des Tsiganes (Samudaripen, the Genocide of the Gypsies), Paris, L’Esprit Frappeur (3nd edition 2022) ISBN 978-2-85103-051-1 | URL https://livrelibre.fr/categorie/livres/editeurs/esprit-frappeur/

TakeNode aacc6868-73f9-4693-9eb6-41fc1b9ecad3

TAGS #Samudaripen #Settela #ClaireAuzias #Tsigane #Gypsy #book #cover #illustration #art #France #BenoitDupuis #EspritFrappeur #ElisabethObadia #AnnaMaria #Steinbach #portrait #still #image #Westerborkfilm #documentary #Westerbork #film #Rudolf #Breslauer #restauration #Roma #Sinti #Holocaust #Porajmos #children #concentration #camp #deportation #Jew #Netherlands #railcar #train #station #transit #UNESCO #film #Auschwitz #BergenBelsen #documentary #resistance #1Memo #SettelaCom #MiraclesMedia #michelvanderburg

Westerbork Film Shots Order

Breslauer films Settela after Degen kids | Excerpt (20220510) from Westerbork Film 🎦 2021 | Michel van der Burg | Settela•Com – Click image for video clip (Link in REF 10).

The original deportation footage of the annotated 2021 Westerbork film (REF 1) provides insight into Breslauer’s way of filming.

Focussing on film roll 2 of the deportation reel it is evident that Breslauer — right after filming the toddlers Marc and Stella Degen (REF 11) in 3rd class carriage I at the front of the train ( 00:16:49 ) — for his next shot ( 00:16:52 ) went all the way to the rear of the train for a close-up of the 9-year-old Settela Steinbach in cattle car number 16 — with Romani and Sinti people bound for Auschwitz (REF 6,12).
Further note that the first shot that day also focusses on a child, here in cattle car #7 with Jewish people (REF 6) bound for Auschwitz (00:20:18 start of roll 4/4 of reel E198).

The 2021 Westerbork film as mentioned in the recently presented Westerborkfilm Introduction (REF 2) is the outcome of a thorough search that started Spring 2019 for all available film cans in the Dutch media archives of Sound & Vision and the EYE Filmmuseum. All restored unique shots using both the camera original film and film copies (duplicates – when no original is known) were used for the new restored Westerbork film compilation made available as ‘display edition’.

Sound & Vision curator Valentine Kuypers reported in her dutch blog 12 May 2021 (REF 3) that a total of 23 film cans were found, including 2 cans with camera-original negative film – a discovery , because before only reels with film duplicates (copies) were known with only a few minutes section of original footage (see below). For the new 2021 Westerbork film “a compilation of unique scenes in the highest quality was made. Eight films from the archives of Sound & Vision and Eye were used for the compilation, consisting of: 16 mm original negative, duplicate negative, duplicate positive and original reversal film. ” [my translation].
Digital restoration with a conservative approach was used to stabilize and reframe the images , deflicker , and remove dust, scratches, and visible splices (REF 4). The display copy for distribution was color graded and adjusted for the correct playback speed.

Examination of the Westerbork Film for annotation showed the film starts with the two newly discovered camera-original reels E325 and E198, resp.
The first reel (E325) has sections of footage shot at various work sites of the Westerbork camp — starting 00:00:29 and ending at 00:14:22 — that can be traced back in the 1986 RVD Westerbork Film duplicates Act 2 and Act 3 , listed with numbers 5 , 17 , 12 , 5, 18, 9, 10, 9, 10, 19, 20 resp. in the post (REF 5) Westerbork Film – full version (RVD). The last scene on this reel E325 – a newly discovered clip of a few seconds – is showing a soldier standing guard at the camp entrance.
Dutch researchers Koert Broersma and Gerard Rossing reported in their new book on the film (REF 6) that the footage on both reels – although original – has been cut — with reel E325 showing 7 splices. I wasn’t able to discover splices, probably because of the digital restoration. The next reel E198, however, with the deportation footage, clearly does show 2 of the 3 spices reported by Broersma and Rossing — these show up as white transitions in this digital display edition around 0:16:22  and 0:18:14  resp. The location of that 3rd splice that is no longer showing in this restored film could be traced with help of the image of that splice published in Broersma and Rossing ‘s book , page 110 (REF 6) – right after Gemmeker looking up , starting 00:20:18  .
Since the splices between the film rolls on this reel could be identified here , the film roll numbers 1 to 4 are specified in the annotations.

The display edition of this deportation footage shows the order of the rolls found on reel E198. For the correct chronological order clearly rolls 1 and 4 have to change places, as shown before in the reconstruction Deportation Westerbork Film | 20210719 (REF 7).

The reels E325 and E198 with original film are followed by reels with restored duplicate films – omitting scenes already shown as original footage :

i) first, the 4 reels (acts) of the restored RVD film (REF 5);

ii) next, the so-called Unknown Westerbork Film Reel…F1014 (REF 8) starting with the Transport data animation at 02:03:31 ;

iii) and finally, the so-called Forgotten Westerbork Film Reel…F1015 (REF 9) starting at 02:11:53 with the Gevaert logo. Footage of the Religuous service on this F1015 reel was reported by Broersma and Rossing (REF 6) to be original film also .

CREDITS

Special thanks to researchers, authors, Koert Broersma, Gerard Rossing, and Aad Wagenaar, to curator Valentine Kuypers and her Sound & Vision colleagues Gerard Nijssen and others. The new Westerbork film project is a joint effort of four dutch organizations : the Dutch media archive Sound & Vision, Camp Westerbork Memorial Centre , the NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, and the Jewish Cultural Quarter in Amsterdam.

Westerbork Film Shots Order | 20220511 | Michel van der Burg | Settela•Com – CC BY 4.0

REFERENCES

1 – Westerbork Film 🎦 2021 | 20220302 | Michel van der Burg | Settela•Com | URL https://settela.com/2022/03/02/westerbork-film-🎦-2021-complete-remastered-edition-20220302/

2 – Westerborkfilm Introduction | 20220507 | Michel van der Burg | Settela•Com | URL https://settela.com/2022/05/07/westerborkfilm-introduction-20220507/

3 – Restauratie Westerborkfilm (May 12, 2021) Valentine Kuypers | Sound & Vision (accessed 2021 Jul 19) URL: https://bit.ly/3kGteVs

4 – Restauratie De Westerborkfilm (Oct 2020) Paulo Veiga da Fonseca and Valentine Kuypers | Sound & Vision | Presentation AVA_Net Kennissessie. (accessed 2022 May 10) URL https://library.avanet.nl/ava_net-kenissessie-restauratie-van-de-westerborkfilm/

5 – Westerbork Film | Full version RVD 1986 | 20190605 | Michel van der Burg | Settela•Com  (accessed 2022 May 10) URL: https://wp.me/p91enH-1x

6 – Kamp Westerbork gefilmd (May 2021) Koert Broersma, Gerard Rossing (editor Gorcum B.V., Koninklijke van) ISBN 9789023257622. URL https://www.vangorcum.nl/product/100-392_Kamp-Westerbork-gefilmd

7 – Deportation Westerbork Film | 20210719 | Michel van der Burg | Settela•Com (accessed 2022 May 10) URL https://settela.com/2021/07/19/deportation-westerbork-film-20210719/

8 – Unknown Westerbork Film Reel…F1014 | 20190616 | Michel van der Burg | Settela•Com – CC BY 4.0

9 – Forgotten Westerbork Film Reel…F1015 | 20190615 | Michel van der Burg | Settela•Com – CC BY 4.0

10 – Breslauer films Settela after Degen kids | Excerpt (20220510) from Westerbork Film 🎦 2021 | Michel van der Burg | Settela•Com | URL https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxedHAwh0UTAsa1iLmhvFtAxNNegNxAJ20

11 – Children of the Holocaust Who Are Anonymous No More | May 18, 2021 by Nina Siegal | The New York Times |
URL https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/18/arts/children-of-the-holocaust-who-are-anonymous-no-more.html

12 – Settela, het meisje heeft haar naam terug (1995-2007) by Aad Wagenaar ISBN 9789089751898 / English translation by Janna Eliot ‘Settela’ (2005-2016) ISBN 978-0-9933898-2-5 .

TAGS #chronological #order #Westerborkfilm #documentary #book #analysis #Westerbork #film #arbeitslager #transitcamp #Lagerfilm #industry #activity #scenario #Rudolf #Breslauer #Degen #toddler #original #footage #restauration #discussion #inventory #shot #scene #review #holocaust #barracks #children #concentration #camp #deportation #guard #Jew #DiamondJew #labor #machinery #Netherlands #railcar #Roma #Sinti #StarsofDavid #train #station #transitcamp #uniform #Westerbork #UNESCO #Settela #Gemmeker #Auschwitz #BergenBelsen #resistance #SoundVision #ValentineKuypers #GerardNijssen #KoertBroersma #GerardRossing #AadWagenaar #1Memo #SettelaCom #MiraclesMedia #michelvanderburg

Updates

20220604 – Minor changes references

Gestapo Methods | Evrard Voorpijls

Evrard Voorpijls – Belgian political prisoner , resistance fighter – told a grim story on Gestapo torture methods, during the Last Witnesses – “De Laatste Getuigen” – book (ISBN 9789054877370) presentation by Marc Van Roosbroeck (chairman of vzw “De werkgroep 10 december 2008”) on 20 May 2011 in Tongeren , Belgium.
Evrard Voorpijls (born 6 March 1923) died at the age of 89 (March 5, 2013) in the town he was born, in Maaseik, Belgium.

First post 20210520 – Updated film (for music copyright reasons dd 20210521 by shortened film edition, with replacement of the Belgian national anthem ‘La Brabançonne’ by an U.S. Navy performance of François Van Campenhout’s composition (public domain retrieved from commons.wikimedia.org) .

TRANSCRIPT

Ik ben aangehouden geworden, nieuwjaar 1944.

Ik werd overgebracht van Maaseik naar Hasselt, naar de gevangenis.

En de tweede dag dat ik in die gevangenis zat in Hasselt, heeft de Sicherheitsdienst die gehuisvest was op de Havermarkt te Hasselt, recht tegenover het gerechtshof …

Ik werd daar naartoe gebracht.
En met handen op de rug achter de stoel gebonden.

Scherp licht op mijn ogen gezet.

En ze hadden juist, de opdracht, wat ik deed in de weerstand.

Ik werd ondervraagd, en ik heb dat altijd doen afschreeuwen.

Ik werd beschuldigd, dat ik wapens en munitie van Wallonie naar Maaskant bracht.

Dat ik de sluikpers verspreidde – dat was in die tijd de ‘De Rode Vaan’.

Ik heb Russische en Franse krijgsgevangen – die ontvlucht waren – heb ik geholpen.

En eventueel zelfs piloten die ik aangewezen kreeg, dat ik die dan naar een weerstands-huis moest brengen, en van daaruit gingen ze dan terug naar Engeland, over Frankrijk en Spanje.

Ik heb het altijd afgeschreeuwd, waarvan ik beschuldigd werd.

En ik heb gezegd tegen de ondervragers:
Hoe kan ik dat gedaan hebben ?

Ik, als mijnwerker, want …

Als mijnwerker, was het geluk onder den oorlog – ge werd nooit naar Duitsland gevoerd, want ge werkte voor de Duitsers – daar werd wel sabotage gepleegd in de kolenmijnen.

Ze hebben mij geslagen en gestampt.
Totdat ik bewusteloos neerviel op de vloer.

Ik kreeg een kom water over mijn gezicht gesmeten.
Terug … ondervraagd , drie dagen aan één stuk.

Dan hebben ze me weer terug naar de gevangenis gebracht in Hasselt.

En de week daarna zijn we overgebracht worden, naar Antwerpen, naar de Begijnenstraat, naar de Wehrmacht gevangenis.

Daar ben ik dan ondervraagd geworden door de Gestapo in de Dellafaillelaan onder in de kelder.

Toen ze mij daar binnen brachten – zag ik bloedplekken op de muren.
Toen begon ik toch een beetje te bibberen, zal ik maar zeggen.

Maar van de ene kant – ik ben een stijfkop.
En dat ben ik nog – wat ik voor heb , dat moet gebeuren.

Ze hebben me weer ondervraagt .
Dezelfde vragen gesteld als in Hasselt.

Ik bleef altijd hetzelfde zeggen.

En te lange laatste, na 3-4 dagen ondervraging…
…hebben ze mij duimschroeven opgezet –
op deze vingers – want dat zijn de pijnlijkste vingers , als ge aan het werk zijt.

Nog niet bekennen – aandraaien , aandraaien, aandraaien – nog niet toegeven.

En toen, hebben ze tandenstokers onder mijn nagels geklopt.

Nog niet toegeven.
En toen, hebben ze ijskoud, die nagels uitgetrokken.

En als ge wilt – ge kunt het zien :
Ze zijn mismaakt – en met die handen kan ik niet veel doen.

Zelfs de grote tenen – hebben ze de nagels uitgetrokken.

Dat was hier bij de ondervraging door de Gestapo.

Marc Van Roosbroeck (voorzitter) : Dank u wel Evrard, voor deze zeer moedige getuigenis.

TRANSLATION (20210525) by Michel van der Burg

I have been apprehended, New Year 1944.

I was transferred from Maaseik to Hasselt, to prison.

The second day in that prison…
taken to the Sicherheitsdienst…
housed at the Havermarkt in Hasselt…
right in front of the court.

I was taken there.

And…with hands behind my back…
tied to a chair.

Bright light, put on my eyes.

They were right…about my assignment…
what I was doing in the resistance.

I was interrogated…
and that, I always have screamed away.

I was accused, of bringing weapons and ammunition,
from Wallonia to the Maaskant.

That I distributed the clandestine press…
that was ‘De Rode Vaan’ at the time.

I helped Russian and French prisoners of war, who had fled.

And, on occasion, even pilots that I was assigned.

I had to take them to a resistance house…
from which they went back to England – over France and Spain.

I have always denied their accusations.

And I said to the interrogators:
How could I have done that?

Me, as a miner, because…

As a miner…luck was…during the war…
you were never taken to Germany…
because, you worked for the Germans…
though, sabotage was committed there in the coal mines.

They hit and kicked me.
Until I fell unconscious on the floor.

I got a bowl of water thrown in my face.
Then, interrogated again, three days in a row.

Then, they brought me back to prison, in Hasselt.

And the week after, we were transferred…
to Antwerp, to the Begijnenstraat, to the Wehrmacht prison.

There, I was interrogated by the Gestapo…
in the Dellafaillelaan, in the basement.

When they brought me in there…
I saw blood stains on the walls.

Then, I started to shiver a bit…so to speak.

But on the other hand…I’m a pigheaded person.
And I still am : what I’m planning, that must be done.

They interrogated me again.
Asked the same questions as in Hasselt.

I always kept saying the same thing.

And finally, after 3-4 days of interrogation…
they put thumbscrews on me…
on these fingers…
because, those are the most painful fingers…
when you are at work.

Still don’t confess…
tighten, tighten, tighten…
still don’t give in.

And then, they knocked toothpicks under my fingernails.

Still don’t give in.
And then, they icily, pulled those nails out.

And if you like…
you can see it :
they are deformed…
and I can’t do much with those hands .

Even the big toes…they have pulled out the nails.

That was here at the Gestapo interrogation.

Marc Van Roosbroeck (chairman) : Thanks for this very courageous testimony.

Credits

Testimony by Evrard Voorpijls during the Last Witnesses – “De Laatste Getuigen” – book (ISBN 9789054877370) presentation by Marc Van Roosbroeck (chairman of vzw “De werkgroep 10 december 2008”) on 20 May 2011 in Tongeren , Belgium.

Transcript & Translation (20210525) by Michel van der Burg.

Gestapo Methods | Evrard Voorpijls | 20210520 2nd edition 20210521 | Michel van der Burg | Settela•Com 

News

20210525 – English translation CC added in YouTube video. Both transcript (Flemish) and translation added in website post.

TAGS #EvrardVoorpijls #Gestapo #resistance #1Memo #MiraclesMedia #michelvanderburg #partisan #MarcVanRoosbroeck #Weerstand #torture #Belgium #political #prisoner #testimony #Tongeren #holocaust #witness #Maaseik #Antwerpen #getuigen #education #school #Evrard #Voorpijls

Updates

20220604 – changes credit line