Breendonk. Les débuts ...

This book is based on the high-quality illustrations from a photo-reportage made by the German occupier and in particular Otto Kropf, a professional photographer who worked for the Propaganda Abteilung in the Breendonk concentration camp.
The photo reportage was certainly made in the first half of June 1941, meaning before the invasion of the Soviet Union. However, it was never used at the time for reasons unknown. The initial objective of the Germans was to create a so-called ‘objective’ image of an internment camp that struggled with a bad reputation. They wanted to prove that the living conditions were harsh but not inhumane. At that time there were less members of the resistance in this camp than "ordinary" criminals : petty criminals, traders on the black market, ‘anti-social elements’ or homeless people of all kinds. This included from 1 December 1940 a number of Jews, who during this period were still accused by the Germans of all kinds of "antisocial acts" before the actual racial persecution started in earnest. Otto Kropf put a heavy focus on certain physical characteristics of prisoners in order to support existing racial stereotypes and prejudices. It is likely the photos were rejected because of what they showed. The Militärverwaltung probably thought it counterproductive to use them. A few months later, Sturmbannführer Schmitt, head of the camp, would ban any photo of the inside of the camp. Perhaps that is why, for a good half century, the photos remained hidden in the archives of the ‘Otto Kropf Collections’.
They resurfaced in 1997 thanks to the Study Centre for the Second World War, later CegeSoma. Obviously, this time with a critical historical context that counteracted the original Nazi propaganda goals.

The Auffanglager Breendonk photographed by Otto Kropf from the Propaganda Abteilung.