The Prisoners of Breendonk
Personal Histories From a World War II Concentration Camp
HarperCollins · Print & ebook · August 4, 2015
Fort Breendonk was built in the early 1900s to protect Antwerp, Belgium, from possible German invasion.
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- Who it’s for
- A stark history assembled through prisoners’ stories, archival images, and photographs of the camp today.
- Themes
- World War II concentration camps, Nazi persecution and imprisonment, Prisoner survival
- Genres
- Holocaust History for Teens, Wars & Military History for Teens, Lives in History
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Fort Breendonk was built in the early 1900s to protect Antwerp, Belgium, from possible German invasion. Damaged at the start of World War I, it fell into disrepair . . . until the Nazis took it over after their invasion of Belgium in 1940. Never designated an official concentration camp by the SS and instead labeled a "reception" camp where prisoners were held until they were either released or transported, Breendonk was no less brutal.
Continue reading
About 3,600 prisoners were held there—just over half of them survived. As one prisoner put it, "I would prefer to spend nineteen months at Buchenwald than nineteen days at Breendonk." With access to the camp and its archives and with rare photos and artwork, James M. Deem pieces together the story of the camp by telling the stories of its victims—Jews, communists, resistance fighters, and common criminals—for the first time in an English-language publication. Leon Nolis's haunting photography of the camp today accompanies the wide range of archival images. The story of Breendonk is one you will never forget.
History in Human Detail
A stark history assembled through prisoners’ stories, archival images, and photographs of the camp today.
Come here for
- Prisoner histories across distinct groups and experiences
- Archival images alongside photographs of Breendonk today
Expect
- A sobering account of Nazi brutality at a camp labeled a “reception” camp
- Stories of Jews, communists, resistance fighters, and common criminals
Where it sits
| Holocaust History for Teens | 97% |
|---|---|
| Wars & Military History for Teens | 58% |
| Lives in History | 44% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Lives in History
- Political Lives
- European History
- Holocaust History for Teens
Show all 8 publisher categories
- Wars & Military History for Teens
- Modern History for Teens
- Europe for Teens
- Photography for Teens
- Authors
- James M. Deem
- Publisher
- HarperCollins
- Published
- August 4, 2015
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Theme
- World War II concentration camps · Nazi persecution and imprisonment · Prisoner survival
- Reading lane
- Lives in History