Fort Breendonck appeal for mini statuettes reveals tension in Belgian society following WWII

The former Nazi prison camp Fort Breendonk near Mechelen is appealing to the public to donate miniature versions of its symbolic statue De Weerstander (The Resistance Fighter).

These small replicas of the famous bronze statue by Jewish Romanian artist Idel Ianchelivici were issued in the 1950s to help finance the work of art.

Ahead of the 71st anniversary of the statue’s unveiling on 25 April, the fort and the War Heritage Institute believes the statuettes are probably still in circulation, in the hands of buyers or their descendants.

De Weerstander is visible to anyone driving along the A12 between Brussels and Antwerp. Standing four metres high atop a natural stone plinth and gazing skywards, the figure is "kneeling, but not enslaved," just like Belgium during the war, according to the artist.

The monument serves as a tribute to all those who resisted oppression during the war. It was erected in memory of the victims of the fort, which is one of Belgium's preeminent symbols of Nazi terror.

Originally built between 1906 and 1913 as part of a defensive ring protecting the strategic port city of Antwerp, the military installation was converted into an internment camp by the Nazis. It held around 3,600 people between 1940 and 1944, including Jews, resistance fighters and political prisoners.

Conditions in the camp were particularly harsh with prisoners subjected to forced labour, torture and executions. For many it was a holding station before being sent to extermination camps such as Auschwitz. Of the identified prisoners, at least 1,733 did not survive the war.

In 1947, the fort was declared a national memorial and its management entrusted to former prisoners. But a conflict arose around the placement of Ianchelivici’s statue that reflected a polarisation in post-war Belgian society.

“The statue's somewhat isolated location, outside the walls of Fort Breendonk, stems from the tensions that followed the Second World War,” explains the War Heritage Institute.

Ongoing discussions around collaboration, repression and the Royal Question amid the beginning of the Cold War, had repercussions within the fort’s management.

The statue became the subject of a power struggle between Communist and Catholic factions. The former wanted to erect it inside the fort itself, a location that was opposed by the Catholics. Finally, a typically Belgian compromise was reached with De Weerstander being installed on the ‘neutral’ lawn outside the fort.

It was in 1954 that the unveiling ceremony took place (pictured above), attended by King Baudouin and then prime minister Achiel Van Acker.

Although the statue was partly financed by the Belgian state, the money raised via the mini figurines was an early form of crowd funding, points out the War Heritage Institute. It asks anyone who owns a statuette to contact it at com@warheritage.be.

The internationally-renowned sculptor and draughtsman Idel Ianchelivici (1909-1994) settled in Belgium in the 1920s. The MiLL museum in La Louvière is dedicated to his work. Other important public sculptures include Le Plongeur in the yacht port of Liège as well as L’Appel in La Louvère.

Photos: ©War Heritage Institute