Single Leaf - Poem of mourning and revenge at the Nazis for the tortured prisoners and those perished at Breendonk Camp, printed on April 26, 1945 two weeks before the end World War II. Dutch.
Lied over de Folterbank van Breendonk Waar de menschen gefolterd worden tot de dood - Song about the "Torture bench at Breendonk where people are tortured to death". The song describes the Belgian prisoners captured by the SS and taken by them to the camp: “Gestapo what have you done?... Under the SS you subjected them to the torture bench... You will not escape punishment, for what you have done all of Europe demands the death penalty for you". The song describes the torture in the camps, fist punches, "The punches and fists were breakfast and lunch for the prisoners caught by the SS". Later it describes the suffering of mothers seeing the “Allies who are already here” towards the end of the war but their sons were murdered, and finally a call to pursue the Nazi fugitives fleeing their homeland and hiding from their fate "They will not escape the crime they committed".
During the German occupation of Belgium in World War II, Breendonk served as an internment and transit camp, housing Jews from the Belgian community as well. Prisoners stayed at the fort for an average of three months before being sent to concentration camps in Germany, Austria and Poland. They suffered from harsh living conditions, starvation, denial of medical care and cruel treatment by camp staff, and were subjected to forced labor; The Germans also conducted interrogations, torture and executions by hanging in the fort. Various 'political' prisoners were questioned under severe torture. The first German commanding officer of the fort, Philip Schmitt, was tried in Belgium in 1949, convicted, sentenced to death and executed in 1950.
[1] Leaf. 22x15 cm. Slight fold marks. Very good condition.
