Calixte Vandevelde. Collection

This collection contains: two photos of Calixte Vandevelde ; a number of items recuperated from the SS-Sammellager Mecheln (Dossin barracks) in the weeks following Liberation in September 1944, including two dice, a purse belonging to Jewish secretary Benita Hirschfeld, an empty parcel box imprinted “Brunita margarine”, a children’s book entitled “De speeldoos van Langelot”, a shoe with wooden sole and 37 tin buttons fabricated in the camp workshops, the pocket watch of the deported Leon Brener with a piece of cloth with a handwritten text in Yiddish tucked inside, the necklace with pendant of the deported and repatriated Hana Tannenbaum, a pair of children's glasses in celluloid, a wooden box used to carry documents confiscated by the Anti-Joodsche Centrale [Anti-Jewish Office], a Gevaert cardboard box containing the glasses and a part of the fake ID of the deported Anni Buchbaum, a washbasin, a wooden stick used as a clothesline, the room divider used at the Aufnahme [registration office] behind which people were physically searched upon arrival, the clippers and mirror used by one of the camp barbers, a kitchen apron made of tablecloth, a bracelet with the imprint “Aufnahme” (damaged by fire), a fur coat belonging to the deported Rosa Chaim, a spoon used for internal examination of the newly arrived prisoners, the electric doorbell of gate 2 of the camp, cutters, a diamond scale belonging to the deported Jaak Brandon, a metal flask for turpentine used to dilute paint at the Malerstube, a wooden cabinet used to store administrative documents ; a number of items which might have been recuperated either from the SS-Sammellager Mecheln (Dossin barracks) or from the former offices of the Brüsseler Treuhandgesellschaft in Brussels, including an iron film reel casing with the inscription “Leist. Auf. Stelle SLMD 23/V 1943 Spule III”, a bakelite film reel casing with the inscription “Leistung Aufn. Stelle Sa. Lager Mecheln – Krull E. Brü. Treuhandges. 23/V 1943 Spule II”, a leather briefcase with the inscription “IIIb – Entscheidigung”, a wooden drawer with the imprint “40 bis 80 – Entscheidigung” and a typewriter (German model from 1942) ; a baby doll with a house key hidden inside, recuperated from one of the wagons of transport XX ; a briefcase for the technical documentation, stored in the engine serving French railroad line 67 in 1942 via which Jewish men from Belgium, held at the Organisation Todt labour camp Les Mazures, were transferred to the Dossin barracks and from there to Auschwitz-Birkenau in October 1942. Reproduction of all images in this collection is subject to the written permission of Jo and Sofie Peeters-Van Krunkelveldt (info@hbfv.be). Calixte Vandevelde was born on 18 October 1922 in Hoeleden, today part of Kortenaken, Belgium. His parents, who were farmers, built a large family. Calixte had ten siblings. He attended a local primary school until the age of fourteen and then started working for the Blavier construction company in Oreye. When Nazi-Germany invaded Belgium on 10 May 1940 most members of the Vandevelde family fled to Meensel, about 10 kilometers from Hoeleden, where they found refuge at the home of family friends. Father Vandevelde and the two eldest sons, Marcel and Maurice, stayed behind at the family farm in Hoeleden to take care of their animals. On 18 May 1940, Calixte, his mother and his other siblings returned home, after which Calixte continued to work in construction. On 2 April 1941 Calixte followed the example of his good friend Felix Loddewijcks and jouned the Boutersem branch of the Nationale Koninklijke Beweging (NKB) - Mouvement national royaliste (MNR) [National Royalist Movement], an armed partisan movement. He subsequently became involved in the burning of rapeseed fields and in the transportation of clandestine newspapers and pamphlets from Tienen to Glabbeek as a member of the network of Victor Mertens, who led the NKB in Glabbeek. On 14 February 1942, for unknown reasons, Calixte Vandevelde was fired from his job at the Blavier construction company. Nonetheless, Blavier provided Calixte with false papers, such as stamps to collect holiday pay, to make it seem as if he was still employed, because of which he could not be claimed for forced labour in Germany. Meanwhile, in reality, Calixte was working at the family farm. In September 1942 Calixte’s older brother Emile found him a job as a welder with the Regie van Telegrafie en Telefonie or RTT, Belgium's national telegraph and telephone company. Within the RTT, Calixte was forced to work for department 875, which was responsible for the maintenance of the German telephone and telex lines. Calixte was therefore able to enter several buildings housing German organisations and services, including the offices of the Brüsseler Treuhandgesellschaft at Cantersteen in Brussels, and learned his way around. In May 1943 Calixte was arrested in Bunsbeek. He and his comrades Jozef Den Ruiter and Georges Lambrechts were denounced for burning rapeseed fields. The three of them were taken to the SS-Nebenstelle in Tienen, which was supervised by Robert Verbelen and his SS-band from Leuven. Calixte was able to jump from the truck in Vissenaken when he was taken from Tienen to the prison in Leuven. His friends could not and were executed later on. Calixte then hid in a loam house in Heibos, Ransberg, where he remained until Liberation. His mother and youngest sister Magdalena brought him food so he and two others hiding there could survive. Upon Liberation Calixte quickly rejoined the ranks of the RTT which was looking for personnel to rebuild and recondition the telephone and telex lines. Calixte and his older brother Emile were sent to buildings which used to house German services as they knew the systems there well because of their earlier work for department 875. Among other locations, they had to work at the offices of the former Brüsseler Treuhandgesellschaft. The brothers were also sent to the former SS-Sammellager Mecheln, the Dossin barracks, as the site was being refurbished to lock up people suspected of collaboration. On 16 November 1946 Calixte married Maria Bergmans, born in 1928 in Hoeleden. They had children and grandchildren, including donor Jo Peeters. Calixte continued to work for the RTT until he retired in 1986. Calixte passed away in 2013. This collection is only accessible at the Kazerne Dossin reading room.