Last week, a motivated group of young participants joined the four-day program of the first exchange “Battle of the Scheldt” which occurred 80 years ago from 2 October until 8 November 1944 in the provinces of Zeeland and North Brabant, the Netherlands, and Flanders, Belgium.
The first day happened to be the 80-year anniversary of the liberation of Breda, where the group was introduced to the Maczek Memorial and the Polish field of honor. It was the occasion to discover the story of General Maczek and the Polish liberators who freed the city. The granddaughter of General Maczek, Carolina Maczek was present and gladly shared her grandfather’s memory. Participants dived into different stories and created videos, and podcast episodes, and did historical research.
Later, the participants headed South to the province of Flanders in Belgium for a stay at the “Huis over Grenzen” youth hostel at the impressive German War Cemetry of Lommel. The second day focused on this location with a guided tour and time for content creation. With 40,000 resting souls, the cemetery has many stories to tell.
On the third day, the group went to the city of Antwerp to visit the Museum Aan de Stroom (MAS) and its temporary exhibition “City at War” which provided more information on the Battle of the Scheldt. Later, the group followed a guided tour through the city centre, showing the traces of the German occupation from May 1940 until the liberation of Antwerpen by the Canadian troops in September 1944.
The last day consisted of a visit to the Kazerne Dossin in Mechelen, a former military barrack which was transformed into a transit camp for Jews, Roma and Sinti. The group followed two guides telling the story of this location and the escalation of the discrimination of the Jewish people. After this emotional tour, the participants took part in the “Every name counts” project, recording each a name of a deported person.
Participant Helena, 23 years old from Spain: “I like engaging with other young people that are interested in the same topics as me and learning how to prevent such a war from happening again. I like gaining field experience and learning in an in-person approach with a close connection to the historical sites.”
The next exchange “The Battle of the Bulge and the breakthrough to Germany” will take place in February 2025. Sign up here!
