Maurice Flam, brother of Leopold Flam, survived deportation as a political prisoner. On his repatriation to Belgium in 1945, he brought with him a violin given to him by a musician friend in the Dora concentration camp. On the latter’s deathbed, Maurice had promised his friend that he would take good care of the instrument. However, Maurice did not survive long after his repatriation, at which point Leopold took care of the violin. In 2019 his son Platon Flam gifted the instrument to Kazerne Dossin.

Charlotte Leitersdorf was an artist. In August 1942 she and her sisters were deported from Dossin barracks. Their father hid several of Charlotte’s canvasses. As the only survivor of the family, shortly before his death in 1946, he gifted the works to one of his pupils, Félicie Gruszow-Bloch. Charlotte’s paintings hung in Félicie’s house until the latter’s death in 2018. In 2019 Félicie’s sons gifted one of the still lifes to Kazerne Dossin. Restoration work on the painting began at the end of 2019.

Jew and mother of two, Rachel Souritz joined the resistance during the war. She suffered a huge loss. Not only was her first partner executed, but her father, brother and sister were deported via the Dossin barracks and never returned. Rachel was a firm believer in the importance of human rights, a cause she championed throughout her life. In the name of the family, daughter Paulette De Coninck gifted original photographs and documents to Kazerne Dossin. Consequently, Rachel’s sister Pauline now has a face on the wall of portraits.

The Borisewitz family had four sons. Jacques was deported from France in 1942 and never returned. Simon joined the resistance, but was taken from the Dossin barracks with his family and mother and then murdered. Oscar, a pilot in the Belgian air force, flew to Morocco in 1940 where he died in 1942. Youngest son Robert managed to flee to Brazil and was the only member of the family to survive the war. In 2019 his children, grandchildren, nephews and other family members deposited more than 300 documents and photographs about their family history with Kazerne Dossin.

Jew and mother of two, Rachel Souritz joined the resistance during the war. She suffered a huge loss. Not only was her first partner executed, but her father, brother and sister were deported via the Dossin barracks and never returned. Rachel was a firm believer in the importance of human rights, a cause she championed throughout her life. In the name of the family, daughter Paulette De Coninck gifted original photographs and documents to Kazerne Dossin. Consequently, Rachel’s sister Pauline now has a face on the wall of portraits.

With the war over, Sonia Anoutchin alias Aimée Cuypers emigrated from Belgium to Canada. After Sonia’s death, her granddaughter Sara Hailstone discovered several documents in the cellar along with a Yellow Star worn by David Pelc in Brussels during the war. Sonia clearly never forgot her deported and murdered childhood friend. Sara gifted a digital copy of the items to Kazerne Dossin. A previously unknown photograph of David was added to the wall of portraits.

The 13-year-old Hanna Brigitta Jacobsberg arrived in Belgium from Germany in 1938 with the Kindertransport. During the war, she worked as a carer in the children’s home run by the Belgian Jewish organization (JVB) in Wezembeek-Oppem. After the razzia in the orphanage, she took on the false identity of Brigitte Leclerq and that is how she survived the war. In 2019 Brigitte Jacobsberg gifted original documents about her war years to Kazerne Dossin via her friend Annie Sliwka. Brigitte died a few months later.

Betti Blaugrund was born in Brussels in 1942. Her parents found a place of hiding for her on Louis and Odile Ceulemans-Gryson’s farm in Aarschot, where they were able to visit their baby occasionally. The Ceulemans family treated Betti like their own child. After liberation, the girl was reunited with her parents. In 2019 Betti’s personal testimony was recorded at Kazerne Dossin and her photograph albums and a number of objects digitized. Betti also gifted to the museum a writing desk used by her deported nephew and niece Jacques and Aline Klajn.

During the Second World War, the Verhage-Leenknecht family from Kortrijk hid the Jewish boy Norbert Vos. Mona Verhage, the only child in the family, looked upon him as her little brother. Norbert had to spend a lot of time inside and so whiled away the time playing with the buttons in the sewing-box of mother Julia Leenknecht. Norbert’s ‘sister-in-hiding’ Mona Verhage kept the tin box and in 2019 gifted it with its contents to Kazerne Dossin. The box will be on display in the remodelled Memorial due to open in 2020.

In 1945, Jozef Van Damme, a doctor in Blankenberge, was sent a handkerchief from Auschwitz by one of his patients. It was embroidered with her arm and tattoo number. In 2019 Jozef’s son Piet Van Damme gave the object to Kazerne Dossin. Research showed that the handkerchief belonged to Sarah Goldberg, one of Belgium’s best-known resistance workers. During the war, Sarah worked for the intelligence network Die Rote Kapelle. She survived deportation from Dossin barracks in 1943 and was an active witness until her death in 2003.

The Borisewitz family had four sons. Jacques was deported from France in 1942 and never returned. Simon joined the resistance, but was taken from the Dossin barracks with his family and mother and then murdered. Oscar, a pilot in the Belgian air force, flew to Morocco in 1940 where he died in 1942. Youngest son Robert managed to flee to Brazil and was the only member of the family to survive the war. In 2019 his children, grandchildren, nephews and other family members deposited more than 300 documents and photographs about their family history with Kazerne Dossin.

The 13-year-old Hanna Brigitta Jacobsberg arrived in Belgium from Germany in 1938 with the Kindertransport. During the war, she worked as a carer in the children’s home run by the Belgian Jewish organization (JVB) in Wezembeek-Oppem. After the razzia in the orphanage, she took on the false identity of Brigitte Leclerq and that is how she survived the war. In 2019 Brigitte Jacobsberg gifted original documents about her war years to Kazerne Dossin via her friend Annie Sliwka. Brigitte died a few months later.

Maurice Flam, brother of Leopold Flam, survived deportation as a political prisoner. On his repatriation to Belgium in 1945, he brought with him a violin given to him by a musician friend in the Dora concentration camp. On the latter’s deathbed, Maurice had promised his friend that he would take good care of the instrument. However, Maurice did not survive long after his repatriation, at which point Leopold took care of the violin. In 2019 his son Platon Flam gifted the instrument to Kazerne Dossin.

The Borisewitz family had four sons. Jacques was deported from France in 1942 and never returned. Simon joined the resistance, but was taken from the Dossin barracks with his family and mother and then murdered. Oscar, a pilot in the Belgian air force, flew to Morocco in 1940 where he died in 1942. Youngest son Robert managed to flee to Brazil and was the only member of the family to survive the war. In 2019 his children, grandchildren, nephews and other family members deposited more than 300 documents and photographs about their family history with Kazerne Dossin.

In 2019 Alice Spruyt gifted a Megillat Ester, the Book of Esther also known in Hebrew as ‘the Scroll’, to Kazerne Dossin. The text is traditionally read during the Purim festival. During the war, Marcel Bracke, Alice’s husband, worked as an electrician in Antwerp. In 1942, in an abandoned Jewish house near the municipal park, he came across the scroll amongst a lot of clutter left behind on the floor. He kept the Megillat until his death in 2007. The identity or fate of the original owners in unknown.

In 1945, Jozef Van Damme, a doctor in Blankenberge, was sent a handkerchief from Auschwitz by one of his patients. It was embroidered with her arm and tattoo number. In 2019 Jozef’s son Piet Van Damme gave the object to Kazerne Dossin. Research showed that the handkerchief belonged to Sarah Goldberg, one of Belgium’s best-known resistance workers. During the war, Sarah worked for the intelligence network Die Rote Kapelle. She survived deportation from Dossin barracks in 1943 and was an active witness until her death in 2003.