On Friday 6 and Friday 13 June, around 200 students from eight schools in northern France visited Kazerne Dossin. This educational visit was organised by the Mémorial de la Shoah, in collaboration with the Conseil départemental du Nord and the Académie de Lille.
The excursion focused on the history of Jews, Sinti and Roma who were deported from the Nord–Pas-de-Calais region via Mechelen between 1942 and 1944. During their visit, the pupils took part in the commemorative project Every name matters.
At the heart of this project lies a simple yet powerful gesture: reading aloud the name of a deportee. During the Second World War, 25,843 people were deported from Kazerne Dossin to Auschwitz-Birkenau. By saying their names out loud, the students helped to restore these individuals’ identities and give their names back, at the very place where they had been taken away.
Each time we say these names out loud, we build a monument to all those who were deported.
Tomas Baum, director of Kazerne Dossin
This initiative highlights the many historical ties between Belgium and northern France. Many Jews, Roma and Sinti who were arrested in the north of France were deported via Mechelen. In addition, Jewish forced labourers living in Belgium were sent to northern France to help build the Atlantic Wall, after which they too were deported.
Today, more than 9,000 names are still waiting for a voice.
