Testimony

Francois Muylaert – Kahla / Camp

For a moment I considered taking the equipment bonus, which I very much needed, but out of caution I did nothing about it. I was never imprisoned in Antwerp, to my knowledge no more than the members of my family. I was stopped on the street. I think it was due to denunciation. Since I got into the car, they insisted that I lead them to my meeting. I denied being part of the resistance. They drove me to Avenue de la Couronne, where I stayed until 8.8.44. While interrogating me, they discovered my true identity and told me that given my age I should have been working in Germany for a long time. Mr. Liegrois, with whom I had the meeting, lived on Avenue Notre Dame in Evere. Transport to Germany: In a full train from Etterbeek station, closed wagons, with armed guards: 2 or 3 guards per wagon. The journey took about 24 hours – without food. Among my companions were Jews and Brussels draft resisters/deserters as well as resistance fighters. Kahla: At Kahla, I got off with almost all my companions and was assigned to Camp E, where I stayed until the end. The Russians were just building it, and we then completed it. Barracks camp: Barbed wire, but no watchtowers. Bunks stacked on top of each other. Food: 125 g bread, a small piece of butter, and 1 liter of soup. Population: Majority Belgians, Italians, and about 2000 men in total. 6 or 7 km from Weimar near the village of Eichenberg, I worked in a nearby village on building a bunker – as well as on constructing a railway line, supervised by the SA (brown shirts). Page 13 We always left the camp in a convoy and returned in the evening, under constant guard by armed guards, even during work. We had no uniform. We kept our old civilian clothes. We had a registered number, which I no longer remember. Among my fellow prisoners were mainly: political prisoners, resistance fighters, etc. The Italians were members of Badoglio’s army. No salary. Liberated by the Americans on 15.4.45 and brought back home by STAEF. We had an ID for movement on the construction sites. Basically, one could not have relationships with civilians, but sometimes it was possible, and I myself sometimes managed by sneaking out and by begging or stealing a little food from the civilians. During my transport from Etterbeek to Germany, the Germans did not provide us with food, but we had some food from our families and the Red Cross nurses gave us food at the various stations. I was arrested as a resistance fighter on May 3, 1944, and interned in Louvain for a few days. Thanks to the intervention of the police officer Cuvelier, to whom I paid 7000 francs, I was provisionally released. I was arrested a second time on 4.8. and sent to the Kahla camp on 8.8. I was part of the first convoy that went to this camp. Upon our arrival, the camp had only 2 barracks; the rest was still under construction. There were no barbed wire fences; these were erected 3 months later. Initially, there were armed civilian guards, who were later replaced by SA men of the Volkssturm, Belgian SS. The first convoy included Belgians and French. We were made to listen to a speech translated by Mr. Lints, in which we were told that we would be punished for 3 months and that afterwards we would have a different regime. We received an ID that was practically useless. After some time, some could go out on Sundays and stay within a radius of 2 to 3 km. As for me, I never went out to spare myself worries and because of the fatigue resulting from forced labor. I was several times in the camp’s infirmary, which was ultimately run by a Belgian doctor named De Bruyn. I could not complain about him, although the care was completely useless. I was sent to the bunker for 2 days because I made a fire. Page 22 Punishments generally took place in Camp 0. I spent the last 2 months, March and April, in the camp’s infirmary and a few days before the liberation of the camp in the hospital in Hummelschein, which was set up in a castle a few kilometers from the camp. Camp E of Kahla was located in a valley on the edge of a small stream, 1 or 2 km from the mountain where an underground factory was. The camp consisted of about 15 barracks.