Strange Fruit | 20240706

Kuttekoven track to Auschwitz… Right after the site where Simon Gronowski escaped from the 20th convoy, ‘Transport XX’, the railway bed of this former so-called ‘Fruitspoor’ (Fruit Track) crosses the village of Kuttekoven, with – on the horizon – the Church of Saint John the Baptiser , currently with the expo ‘Witzwart’ (Whiteblack) – aka Land(es)capes from the 20th Convoy – by the local photographer Jo Struyven.
Filmed Sunday early afternoon, January 26th, 2014, while scouting the place for a reportage with Simon Gronowski later that day.

Watch film at Miracles•Media or Miracles•Media’s Substack … https://substack.com/@michelvanderburg/note/c-61114479

Citation info : Strange Fruit | Miracles•Media | 20240706 | TakeNode d929ede7-817f-476d-854c-4c358012ec82

Construction Kazerne Dossin | 20240424

Citation info : Construction Kazerne Dossin | Miracles•Media | 20240424

Construction of the new Kazerne Dossin museum, across the Dossin barracks – transit camp during WWII – housing both the Jewish Museum of Deportation and Resistance, as well as apartments, April 20, 2011, Mechelen, Belgium.
Citation info : Construction Kazerne Dossin | Miracles•Media | 20240424 | TakeNode 7865a3f9-5a76-479f-af10-306a60fe982b

Close Up | Miracles Docs #2 | 20240423

Brussels, Belgium. February 28th, 2009.
Day two of my encounter with the TRANSPORT XX installation outside at the Royal park in Brussels, that presented 1200 photographic portraits of Jews deported from Mechelen (Belgium) to Auschwitz, April 19th 1943.
That day, Saturday morning, three close-up long takes – ‘traveller shots’ – of two rows of the installation were recorded. The first take of the bottom row is presented in slow-motion here. Two months later – April 19, 2009 – the short film TRANSPORT XX — installation Brussels was published.

Kazerne Dossin digitized the photo’s, that mostly are from the “National State Archives of Belgium. Ministry of Justice, Public Safety Office, Foreigner’s Police, individual files“.
Thank you: Marjan Verplancke and co-workers of the Kazerne Dossin / Jewish Museum of Deportation and Resistance in Mechelen (Belgium) of project “Give Them a Face”.

Encounter | Miracles Docs #1 | 20240419

Brussels, Belgium. February 27th, 2009. My first encounter with the TRANSPORT XX installation outside in the Royal park in Brussels, that presented 1200 photographic portraits of Jews deported from Mechelen (Belgium) to Auschwitz, April 19th 1943. That day, Friday afternoon, the start of a weekend break in Brussels, 15 years ago, walking via the Royal park to our hotel in the Leopold Quarter of Brussels, turned out to be a turning point in my life. Next morning 3 more long takes, close-up, were recorded. Two months later – April 19, 2009 – the short film TRANSPORT XX — installation Brussels was published.

Start of Miracles Docs series at Miracles•Media , on the 81th anniversary of Transport XX , April 19th, 2024

Fax Canvas Sketch ‘Transport XX’ | Miracles Making | 20240417

Fax Canvas Sketch ‘Transport XX’ | Miracles Making | Collection Marc Michiels | Miracles•Media | 20240417 01

Miracles Making… behind the scenes : Fax of sketch, April 16, 2007, archive Marc Michiels – Coordinator commemoration Transport XX, Boortmeerbeek, Belgium.
Since 2007, in Boortmeerbeek, during the commemoration of Transport XX, parallel to the Mechelen-Leuven railway line, four large canvases of three meters high and five meters wide have been placed ‘wagon-like’ next to each other. It shows the portraits of 236 deported Jews who managed to escape from the XXth transport on Belgian territory. The first of the four large canvases also features the three young men who stopped the train, Youra (Georges) Livschitz, Jean Franklemon and Robert Maistriau.

Fax Canvas Sketch ‘Transport XX’ | Miracles Making | Collection Marc Michiels | Miracles•Media | 20240417 02

Scout | Miracles Making | 20240415

Scout | Miracles Making | Miracles•Media | 20240415

Miracles Making… behind the scenes : Pegelsveld (Borgloon, Belgium) 16 Jan 2012. Wrong spot, but close… While we film Simon’s story, how he jumped from Transport XX – helped by his mother – we start to doubt whether this is the right place at the track of that former railway line – the ‘fruit line’. There is no trace here of a raised bed, an embankment. Actually there is trench…
A local tractor driver confirms that the trains used to run through that gully here, and further on along this railway track just before Kuttekoven on an embankment. He helps with the car route to that spot – in fact only 650 meters further along this railway track – to the actual spot we went, where Simon was pushed by his mother, jumped from Transport XX , rolled along the embankment, and escaped from that 20th convoy to Auschwitz, the night of April 19th , 1943. Picture taken by Michel van der Burg throught the tractor window, of Simon Gronowski and Max De Vries (resistance fighter) talking with the local.
Citation info : Scout | Miracles Making | Miracles•Media | 20240415 | TakeNode ac12a23f-14e1-42ed-8342-9038067c4fea

One Minute Transport XX Loop | Miracles Making | 20240414

One Minute Transport XX Loop | Miracles Making | Miracles•Media | 20240414 01

Miracles Making… behind the scenes : April 11, 2012. Mailing Marc Michiels (Coordinator commemoration Transport XX, Boortmeerbeek, Belgium) on Wednesday April 11, 2012 the DVD-Video copies of the loop version of the 1 minute film Transport XX.
The loop edition was screening continuously at the photo exhibition ‘Our World, at War’ at HaBoBIB, Boortmeerbeek April 16 – May 31, 2012.
Citation info : One Minute Transport XX Loop | Miracles Making | Miracles•Media | 20240414 | TakeNode 3f83db67-7ce8-4924-a234-d72de6187be0