We exhibit unique objects that were entrusted to the research centre in the glass display case near the museum entrance. The contents of the display case change every four months. The objects all tell a unique story. This time, our display case is all about painting. Each of the objects in the display case refers to art created by prisoners in the Dossin Barracks. Many of the deportees were artists and painters. Some of them were taken to a painting studio, the Malerstube. Unfortunately, they were not able to give free rein to their creativity there. Instead, they were tasked with painting transport numbers on the badges worn by the prisoners. They were also made to paint portraits of guards and their mistresses. The artists also secretly painted scenes of daily life in the Dossin Barracks and portraits of their fellow prisoners.
Bottle of turpentine
This bottle once contained turpentine. The label attached to its neck reads “Terpentinol- nur mit 100 mlitter dosieren” in incorrect German (turpentine-only distribute by 100 millilitres). Turpentine was used to thin oil paints. This bottle was presumably used in the Malerstube. Turpentine was rationed, which explains the 100 millilitres. The fragments of paint around the bottle opening suggest this bottle may have been used in the painter’s studio.
The bottle was found in the Dossin Barracks in late 1944. Calixte and Emile Vandevelde, two brothers who both worked for the “Regie voor Telefonie en Telegrafie” (the Belgian national telephone and telegraph company), inspected vacant buildings that were occupied by German services during the war as part of their duties. They were also assigned to work in the Dossin Barracks. They took some of the items they found there home to use them. Calixte made lists of the objects they found, recording them in two notebooks. In 2011, Calixte Vandevelde donated the original objects to his grandson Jo Peeters. Jo also recovered the items that Emile Vandevelde’s widow had kept. In 2023, Jo and his wife, Sophie Van Krunkelveldt, loaned objects from their collection to Kazerne Dossin. That is how this turpentine bottle ended up in this display case.
Paint box
Although Carol Deutsch’s time in the Dossin Barracks was short, he did meet Irene Spicker there. He gave her this paint box. This is one of the items Irene took with her after the liberation of the Dossin Barracks. The paint box was donated to Kazerne Dossin by Uziel Awret, the son of Irene Spicker and her husband, Azriel Awret.
Boy with Cap
Today, there are only a handful of artworks that we know for sure were created in the Dossin Barracks. There may have been more, but they were either destroyed or lost. One of these remaining artworks is Irene Spicker’s ‘Boy with Cap’. The boy has never been identified. Irene created this painting during her imprisonment at the Dossin Barracks. The little boy was deported and presumably did not survive.
