In the IWM series “Royal Navy: lower deck 1910-1922,” British Petty Officer/Court Marshal William Halter (born 1894) speaks with interviewer David Lance about his time in British Navy between 1911 and 1924.

Halter belonged to the Signals and Submarine section. He was part of the 1st Royal Naval Division, sent to Belgium by the British Admiralty in October 1914, a few months after the start of World War I, to try to keep the city of Antwerp out of the hands of the Germans. When that failed, the British soldiers, along with a million Belgians, fled to the Netherlands. Here, as part of the Dutch neutrality policy, they were interned in Groningen.

In 2001, the Neighbourhood Development Corporation, the Heritage Cell and Amsab joined forces in search of a new vision for the destination of Petroleum South. The Flemish government and Urban II breathe financial life into the project. Two artful screenings highlight the stories of local residents: “Woeste Gronden” (after T.S. Elliot) in 2002 and “Line 13 – Protteknie Petrol Zuid” the following year. In 2007, the city decided to prepare for the effective rehabilitation of the area and its redevelopment into a high-quality business park.

Per the concession, the remaining companies can continue their operations until 2035. Some 200 people still work at Petroleum South today. What was once a glorious, leading petroleum port is now on the eve of a spectacular transformation. Already, the brand new Herenpolder bridge connects Petrol to Emiel Vloorsstraat. The old Kruger Bridge may yet be converted into a cycling and walking bridge. But so much more is in the pipeline.
Soon our phoenix will reawaken here in a completely new outfit!

© photo: privat collection Jef De Paepe. Design: Nicole Schellekens

Lijn 13 – Protteknie : 100 jaar Petrol Zuid
Published on the occasion of the exhibition of the same name
Authors: Vera De Boeck, Annick Schreuder, Martine Vermandere, Ilse Cockx, Hugo Manson, Marc Jacobs, Petrol Zuid (Antwerpen), Archief en Museum van de Socialistische Arbeidersbeweging (Gent), Antwerpen, Stad Erfgoedcel, Buurtontwikkelingsmaatschappij (Antwerpen)
Publisher: City of Antwerp, 2003
Length: 45 pages

During the roundups of 1942, arrested Jewish Antwerp citizens were gathered in municipal buildings. This also happened in primary school 16, the current urban primary school Crea 16. 

On the occasion of the commemoration of the events that took place on the playground
of Crea 16 on 28 August 1942, an elaborate educational programme was made “Urban primary school Crea 16 during the Second World War”. 

An audiovisual part consists of edited video fragments of about 10 to 12 minutes.
Five witnesses reflect on their experiences as children during the war years. These video testimonies came about thanks to a school project of the Stedelijk Lyceum Linkeroever about going to school in wartime. The Peace Centre supported this project.

Inspiration collection Youth in wartime

A young look at the Second World War

This collection of inspiration was created on the occasion of the commemoration of the events that took place in the Crea 16 playground on 28 August 1942. At that time, hundreds of Jews were rounded up in the Zurenborg neighbourhood and gathered on the school playground. In the early morning, they were taken to the transit camp de Dossin Barracks in Mechelen. This story can be found here in the reading text “Stedelijke basisschool Crea 16 tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog”. Let this elaborate example inspire you to get to work yourself.

This inspiration booklet will help you on your way.
This bundle for teachers consists of 6 parts:
1. An audio-visual part (video fragments);
2. Three pillars of remembrance education;
3. Teaching opportunities;
4. Texts for teaching and a timeline;
From the archive: time documents;
6. Suggestions for additional activities

In 2019, it was 75 years since Antwerp was liberated from German occupation. With the passage of time, passing on this past to future generations gains importance.

Therefore, on Sunday 3 February 2019, people came to the FelixArchief with their stories, objects and documents from the Second World War. The testimonies were recorded.

A photo and a description were made of the objects brought along, so that the corresponding story is preserved.

Some of the material (both audio and the collected archive documents) served as the basis for an exhibition.

Conforta, Arena and Unitas are old working-class districts in Deurne, Antwerp with a special historical and architectural character. In Conforta, you will find the first owner-occupied dwellings for workers, the Unitas neighbourhood is a textbook example of a garden suburb, and Arena – designed by Renaat Braem – is a modernist monument to social housing. The project was not just an investigation into the history and architecture of the districts. The residents were intensively involved. The residents of the neighbourhoods were intensively involved. The project also tries to strengthen social relations in the neighbourhoods.

The project culminates in a door-to-door magazine that every resident receives, and an exhibition of photos, documents and testimonies in the party hall of the local secondary school. In a lounge – set up in a lower part of the banquet hall – visitors can look at family photos and the video with testimonies from residents at home and impressions of the neighbourhood.

For the film, four residents were sought who were prepared to appear on camera and who were contagious storytellers. They had to live in a place that was representative of the neighbourhood. By filming the residents in their homes, their stories as well as their living conditions could be revealed. In order to locate the various neighbourhoods and homes in relation to each other, a brass band was called in, which followed an elaborate route through Deurne. Length of film: 30 minutes.

The international cultural heritage project A World of Diamond: Diamond Workers in The Netherlands, Belgium and France, 1895-2000 will collect, describe and disseminate the dispersed heritage of the international diamond workers during the twentieth century and beyond. A consortium will be created bringing together partners from The Netherlands, Belgium and France. The project will study and testpilotstrategies to digitally aggregate, improve and disseminate the digitized documents, images and testimonies of the worlds of diamond workers.

Publication on the occasion of the project “A world of diamond: diamond workers in Belgium, the Netherlands and France, 1895-2000”.

48 p.
ISBN: 9789464330045

This archive contains a wealth of information about the Jewish presence in Antwerp and also testifies to the life and work of Sylvain Brachfeld, author and guardian of the history and memory of the Antwerp Jewish community. The archive consists of two large parts: the manuscripts and publications of Sylvain Brachfeld himself, with hundreds of articles, various books and poems written by him. In them, he describes every possible facet of Jewish life. The second part contains the testimonies he collected, including some 200 audiocassettes, more than 1200 photographs, slides, negatives and videotapes. Various books and studies relating to Judaism in Belgium are also present. The audio cassettes form a very important part of the archive. In the 1970s, Mr Brachfeld interviewed many Jewish families in Antwerp, resulting in about 120 stories with precious memories, since many of those witnesses are already deceased. He himself belongs to the last generation who can still testify directly about the Shoah.

Sylvain Brachfeld used his research for several publications