The memorial is closed from 11 February till september. The museum remains open at all times.
In the old barracks, you will find a memorial, which commemorates countless people who stayed here in despair and fear and who died later in unspeakable circumstances. For visitors it provides an opportunity to silently commemorate the victims and to bow their heads in their memory. For the descendants, this place has a very special and intense meaning. Not only is it the bearer of an almost tangible memory of dramatic hours and days experienced by family members, but it is also the place of the missing grave around which family members and friends meet to mourn.
Centrally placed in the first room are three photos: a young Jewish couple that radiates happiness discreetly, a young gypsy woman staring at us intensely, and four small Jewish kids who pose happily. Centrally placed on this ground floor are sober and tender objects: the last trails of a life that was abruptly interrupted. A handkerchief, a desperate note from the barracks or the departing train, a marionette made by a theatre director who spent months in the Dossin barracks, only to be deported and killed later. A tragic story is attached to each object. The monument ’15 August 1942, Lange Kievitsstraat, Antwerp’ by Philip Aguirre y Otegui can be seen in the room in the middle.