78th National Pilgrimage and Memorial Ceremony at Fort Breendonk. Commemoration of the political prisoners of the Second World War and all victims of persecution and oppression.

Under German occupation during the Second World War, Fort Breendonk was an SS prison camp, where more than 3,600 prisoners were incarcerated. More than half of them did not survive the war. Today, the Fort is a national memorial and one of the best-preserved witnesses of Nazi terror in Belgium.

During the triennial pilgrimage at the Fort, we commemorate prisoners and victims. The ceremonial part of the ceremony is traditionally supported by the Belgian Defence Forces, as an expression of the enduring recognition of the sacrifices made for values ​​such as freedom, human rights, and democracy. For despite the fact that we have enjoyed more than 80 years of peace in our country, we see increasingly close to home how these values ​​are coming under pressure.

Dr. Yulia ‘Tyra’ Paieveska will testify about this during the ceremony. As a Ukrainian military doctor, she ended up in Russian captivity in the notorious Isolatzia prison. In this former factory and cultural center, prisoners of war and civilians were imprisoned and tortured by the Russian occupiers.

The commemoration is musically framed by the Royal Air Force Band and the vocal ensemble Roots of Juniper. In addition, young people from the Bornem Academy make an artistic contribution to the program, actively passing on the memory to new generations.

The ceremony concludes with a floral tribute to the victims of Breendonk and a military parade.