The Prisoners of Breendonk

Resource Information

The work The Prisoners of Breendonk represents a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in DC Public Library System. This resource is a combination of several types including: Work, Language Material, Books.

Label

The Prisoners of Breendonk

Creator

• Deem, James M

Subject

• Biography & Autobiography
• History
• Politics
• Young Adult Nonfiction

Summary

Stories of the Holocaust victims imprisoned at the little-known Belgium concentration camp. "A sobering study of man's inhumanity to man."—Booklist (starred review)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. 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 even common criminals—for the first time in an English-language publication. Leon Nolis's searing photography of the camp in its current state accompany the wide range of archival images. The story of Breendonk is one you will never forget."Deem's unflinching look at the prisoner experience at Breendonk . . . gives voice to Breendonk's victims . . . a thorough history."—VOYA"An important book that demands serious consideration and discussion."—Booklist (starred review)"For many, Breendonk had been only the beginning, and by following a handful of prisoners to their various ends, Deem illustrates that each story had a unique trajectory."—Horn Book Magazine

Nature of contents

dictionaries