The National Memorial of the Fortress of Breendonk was created by law in 1947. Although not all Belgian political prisoners were imprisoned in Breendonk during the occupation, the obscure reputation of the former Auffanglager meant that the legislator wanted to make Breendonk a permanent symbol of remembrance for all those who suffered or lost their lives during the war.
On 11 June 1946, the socialist member of parliament Gaston Hoyaux submitted a first bill to the Belgian Chamber of Representatives. As a former prisoner of Breendonk and of the Buchenwald concentration camp, he expressed the wish to erect, on the remains of the fortress, on this “sacred site”, a “Monument to the memory and recognition”. This place should become “an active and permanent centre of broad civilian propaganda”.
The bill followed the traditional legislative route: discussion in the Commission of National Defence, discussion of the amendments, approval in the Senate. On 10 July 1947, the House of Representatives passed the law by an absolute majority (167 votes to 169, two members abstained).
On 19 August 1947, Prince Charles signed the law creating the National Memorial of the Fort of Breendonk. The Memorial became an autonomous public institution, managed by a board of directors in which former prisoners or their successors were widely represented.
The law clearly defines the dual mission of the Memorial: on the one hand, to “ensure the permanent preservation of the buildings and works of the Fortress” and, on the other hand, to “take all useful measures so that the memory of the Fortress of Breendonk and of the events that took place there remains alive in the spirit of the nation, fosters its citizenship and promotes the patriotic education of young people”. From the outset, the law laid down the educational mission of the Memorial.
On 16 October 1947, the list with the names of the first trustees of the newly established memorial was published. Among them are the following former prisoners of Breendonk or their successors:
Georges CANIVET (President of the Association of Former Prisoners of Breendonk),
Gaston HOYAUX (author of the bill, former prisoner of Buchenwald and Sachsenhausen),
Jules JODOIGNE (ex-prisoner of Vught and Sachsenhausen)
Paul LEVY (journalist with the national broadcasting company I.N.R.),
Xavier RELECOM (former prisoner of Sachsenhausen),
André SIMONART (professor at the University of Louvain, former prisoner of Buchenwald)
Albert VAN ROY (town clerk of Willebroek)
and
Hilda SEVENS (former prisoner of Ravensbrück and widow of the Antwerp substitute prosecutor Dirk Sevens, who died in the Breendonk camp as a result of severe torture).
After some time, the members of the board of directors were replaced, in view of their age, by non-veterans.
Tot de oprichting van het War Heritage Institute op 1 mei 2017 werd het gedenkteken beheerd door de raad van beheer. De laatste bestuursleden waren:
Voorzitter : Dhr Baudouin SOMERS, Lt-Generaal bd, ere-vleugeladjudant van de Koning
Ondervoorzitter : Dhr Denis HARDY, Generaal-Majoor van het vliegwezen bd
De gouverneur van de provincie Antwerpen : Mevr Cathy BERX
De burgemeester van de gemeente Willebroek : Dhr Eddy BEVERS
De vertegenwoordigers van het Koninklijk Museum van het Leger en de Krijgsgeschiedenis, Mevr Christine VAN EVERBROECK en Dhr Piet DE GRYSE
Een lid benoemd op voordracht van de Franse Gemeenschap, Dhr Joël MATHIEU
Een lid benoemd op voordracht van de Vlaamse Gemeenschap, Dhr Martin RUEBENS
Een lid benoemd op voordracht van de Duitstalige Gemeenschap, Dhr Herbert RULAND
Leden benoemd op voordracht van de minister van Landsverdediging:
Dhr Vital CRAENINCKX
Dhr Senator Francis DELPEREE
Dhr Fred ERDMAN
Dhr Jean CARDOEN
Mevr Linda MOREAU-SEVENS
Dhr Franky BOSTYN
Dhr Edmond EYCKEN
De Inspecteur van Financiën bij de minister van Landsverdediging was van rechtswege betrokken bij de werkzaamheden van de Raad van Beheer.
The Presidents
| Baron André SIMONART Baron Paul M.G. LEVY Mevr Linda MOREAU – SEVENS Prof. em. Roger COEKELBERGS Lt-gen. bd Baudouin SOMERS | 1947 – 1975 1975 – 1997 1997 – 2000 2000 – 2011 2012 – 2017 |
