Kuttekoven 2014 | Miracles Making | 20240707

Newspaper image Jan 28, 2014 | André Rouvrois | Het Belang van Limburg | URL https://www.hbvl.be/cnt/eid201382# | Miracles•Media | 20240707_01

Miracles Making… behind the scenes : Kuttekoven (Borgloon, Belgium), Jan 26, 2014. Filming Simon Gronowski’s talk in Clee Castle, and afterwards interviewing Mrs. Mia Valkeneers who recounted her childhood experience with the escapes from Transport XX in Kuttekoven.

Filming Simon Gronowski’s talk in Clee Castle, Kuttekoven, Jan 26, 2014 | Miracles•Media | 20240707_02 | TakeNode 2ecf8775-017b-4ea4-a019-a7b47aaf1a8a

Then, with a select company of some 10 residents of Kuttekoven, we went to the former train track, and while it started to rain — and one of the women bravely assisted me by holding my umbrella while I was recording on video – Simon spoke about his escape at that very spot at the track – the spot we had discovered two years earlier, Jan. 2012.

Still film Simon Gronowski’s talk in Clee Castle, Kuttekoven, Jan 26, 2014 | Miracles•Media | 20240707_03 | TakeNode b72f0ee1-0524-408a-9852-d06c2d4e090f

Later, that night while driving home (a ca 2 hour drive to Holland) – I was no longer thinking about perhaps paying Max De Vries a visit – the former resistance fighter, who had become 100 y old that month. But, by serendipity, when I crossed the town, Wellen, were Max lived, I briefly noticed , through the pouring rain, the road sign were Max lived, and in a reflex turned into that street, stopped somewhere – it was raining too hard for me to be able to look up Max’s house number in my papers – so I just rang a bell of one of the houses, and this turned out to be a neighbour, living 2 houses away from Max’s place. For 15 minutes (I really needed to continue that difficult ca 2 hours rainy night drive home) I was in the cosy kitchen talking with Max at the kitchn table and his wife Nicole, and congratulated him being 100 (no images made). Max passed away October 2014.

Citation info : Kuttekoven 2014 | Miracles Making | Miracles•Media | 20240707

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”.

Citation info : Close Up | Miracles Docs #2 | Miracles•Media | 20240423 | ISAN 0000-0007-329C-0002-O-0000-0000-2 | TakeNode bd204248-3ea2-4bd2-94f0-a17ed8aaa372

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

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”.

Citation info : Encounter | Miracles Docs #1 | Miracles•Media | 20240419 | ISAN 0000-0007-329C-0001-Q-0000-0000-X | TakeNode 420ffcda-2046-444c-b27f-826e9fd0d5a7