under the High Patronage of His Majesty the King

Also with the support of the European Commission

This journey of remembrance - the Train of 1000 - has come to an end. The young participants return home … to Belgium, Portugal, France, Italy, Hungary, Estonia, Croatia, Germany, the Netherlands, Luxemburg or the Czech Republic. The youngsters have gotten quite a lot of new impressions in Auschwitz-Birkenau. Now the time has come to digest these.

The Train of 1000 is not only about confrontation with the past. It is also a moment to reflect on extremism, xenophobia and exclusion that even today threaten our society. It is a commitment to our own role in society.

As during the preparations for the trip, afterwards the youngsters reflect together with their group. All of them do it their way. In several places in Europe the y share their Auschwitz-learnings with their environment. Their new role: transmitting remembrance!

Participants to the Train of 1000 in 2015

• Germany
  • Historical research and presentation
    At this event 350 people from Germany were present.
    It took place in Bebra, on 19 May 2015.
    German participants conducted research on the deportees from the city of Bebra. They retraced the life and the deportation of Lilly Jahn's family and presented the results to hundreds of other young people and to the press.
  • Meeting
    At this event 25 people from Kessel, Germany, were present.
    It took place in Kessel, on 11 June 2015.
    Ulrich Schneider, Secretary-General of FIR (International Federation of Resistance Fighters), spoke about his Train of 1000 experience.
  
  

   

  • Exhibition
    At this event 60 people living in the region of Fulda, Germany, were present.
    It took place in Fulda, on 18 June 2015.
    The youngsters living in the region of Fulda invited their parents and some guests. They presented them their pictures and talked about their impressions on the Train of 1000. They told on the impact of this event on the youngsters and on the European perspectives.
  • Presentation
    At this event 240 people from the region of Bebra, Germany, were present.
    It took place in Bebra, on 24 June 24 2015.
    The youngsters living in the region of Bebra invited young people and told them about their Train of 1000 experience. The Train of 1000 is an interesting way of learning about history, as well as being an opportunity to meet other European youngsters.

• Walloon Brabant:
  • Interview
    Young participants from the province of Walloon Brabant were interviewed on their return from the Train of 1000.
  • Article published in L'Avenir - Brabant wallon , 16 May 2015 (PDF)
  • Screening of “Les Héritiers” and testimonial
    At this event 25 people were present.
    It was held in Genappe, Belgium, on 17 November 2015.
    After the film “Les Héritiers” an open exchange was held on “what is the duty of Remembrance ...”, with the participation of Mr. André Flahaut, Minister of State , Mrs. Erika Donis, President of the association “Ami Entends-Tu?”, and Julien Van Roy, a youngster who participated in the journey of the Train of 1000.
  • Presentation of the film-discussion-expo “Les Héritiers” in Genappe on Facebook
  • Blog of Mr. André Flahaut, Minister of State

  
  

• Bertrix:
  • Play Irena Sendler, Mère des enfants de l'Holocauste
    At this event 120 people from Bertrix, Belgium were present.
    It was held in Bertrix, on 22 May 2015.
    Twice the youth of Bertrix performed 2 times a play about Irena Sendler, a resistance fighter and Polish activist who saved 2,500 Jewish children during World War II.
  • Photos on Facebook
  • Review by Nicole Haelemeersch and Étienne Bauvir of Institut Notre-Dame with links to Facebook - photo galleries taken during the Train of 1000, their visit to the Struthof-Nazweiler camp and the play “Irena Sendler” (PDF)
    
    
    
    
  • “Never again...”
    At this event 120 people from Bertrix, Belgium were present.
    It was held in Bertrix, on Christmas Eve 2015.
    Train of 1000 participants from the town of Bertrix conducted a slideshow about their experience in the train, which they presented to other young people in their school. This was followed by a debate.
    
    
    
    
  • Slideshow presented at Christmas Eve 2015: “En route pour une page bien sombre de notre histoire …” (Photos of the PowerPoint presentation)
  • Information and photos on the group TR1000's page on Facebook
    
    
  • “Journey of remembrance...”
    A group of 55 people from Bertrix, Belgium, organized a remembrance trip.
    This visit to Natzwiller, France, took place at the end of May 2015.
    Together with those having travelled with the Train of 1000, some youngsters who participated in a literary contest, visited the Struthof camp.
    
    
    
    
  • Photos on Facebook

• Court-Saint-Etienne:
  • “In order not to forget ...”
    At this event 200 people from Court-Saint-Etienne, Belgium were present.
    It took place at Court-Saint-Etienne, on 22 May 2015.
    During this commemorative afternoon, the youth of the town who participated in the trip presented to other youngsters and local journalists a film about their journey with live comments. They also presented the exhibition they made and unveiled a memorial.
    
    

• Etterbeek:
  
  • The track of the youngsters during Train of 1000
    At this event 825 people from Brussels, Belgium were present.
    It took place in Etterbeek, on 26 June 2015.
    Upon the proclamation a montage was shown describing the students' experiences on their journey as well as some parts of Mr. Alberto Israel's testimony.
  • “History Train”
    At this event 650 people from Brussels, Belgium were present.
    It was held in Etterbeek, from 26 January until 3 February 2016.
    The exhibition consisted of the presentation of their pop-up monument, an exhibition of the Institute for Veterans, an exhibition on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict following a journey 16 people of Etterbeek to Israel, and an exhibition about their journey with the Train of 1000, including the presentation of five witnesses and the history of the place during the war.
    
    Report on the exhibition - Pop-up monument “History Train”
  
  
  • Exhibition in collaboration with “Amnesty International”
    At this event 1,850 people from Brussels, Belgium were present.
    It took place in Etterbeek, from the 3^rd until the 10^th of March 2016.
    The exhibition consisted of the testimony and photos of participants in the Train of 1000. The purpose was to draw a parallel between the events of the Holocaust in the 1930s until 1945 and the current situation of refugees in Western Europe.
  • Encounter with Mr. Alberto Israel
    At this event 245 people from Brussels, Belgium were present.
    It was held in Etterbeek, in March 2016.
    Mr. Israel spoke to the young people about his experiences as a deportee and Auschwitz survivor.
    
    

• France
  
  • Study day and intergenerational meeting
    At this event 500 people from France were present.
    It was held in Lille, on 9 November and 15 December 2015.
    Five hundred youngsters witnessed the testimony of two Auschwitz survivors, Mr. Paul Sobol and Mr. Alberto Israel.
    
    
    
    
  • Presentation of the project (PDF)
  • Presentation
    240 youngsters living in the region of Lille, France, attended the exhibitions.
    These events took place in Lille, from 14 till 29 May 2015.
    On their return the youngsters who travelled on the Train of 1000 organized a number of exhibitions in order to share their experience with other youngsters.
    
    
    
    
  • “L'écriture est parole et silence à la fois”
    Eight youngsters from the region of Saint-Omer, France, wrote a number of press articles. In doing so they reached 18,000 to 20,000 people living in the region of Saint-Omer.
    This event took place in Longuenesse, France, from 12 till 19 May 2015.
    The youngsters who travelled with the Train of 1000 met during two evenings. Together, they wrote two press articles that were published by the local press, thus sharing their Train of 1000 experience with a large local audience.
  • Text by Alexandra Biallais (PDF)
  • Text by Lucas Lefebvre “70 ans en arrière, retour au cœur de l’histoire avec le Train des Mille” (PDF)
  • “Raconter pour ne pas oublier”
    Some 512 youngsters living in the region of Saint-Omer, France, attended this event.
    It took place in Longuenesse, France, from 18 till 31 May 2015.
    On their return the youngsters wished to share their experience, feelings, and emotions with their friends. During religious education lessons at their school, they told their schoolmates about what they learned on the Train of 1000.
  • “Une image vaut mieux que mille mots”
    At this event 120 people living in the region of Saint-Omer, France, were present.
    It took place in Saint-Omer, on 5 June 2015.
    The youngsters organized an exhibition with their pictures to evoke their Train of 1000 experience. The parents were invited. The exhibition deeply touched the public.

• Hasselt:
  
  • “Citizen learning project”
    At this event 37 people from Hasselt, Belgium will be present.
    It will take place at Auschwitz and Birkenau, Poland, from the 10^th until the 15^th of April 2016.
    The project aims to integrate the history of the Holocaust in the larger context of human rights and children’s rights. The educational remembrance purpose is “not to forget the past and to love the future”. To do so, the young people first visited the Dossin Barracks on 19 December 2015 and the Memorial “Fort Breendonk” on 27 February 2016.
  • Project visits and trip in 2016 (PDF)
    
    

• Italy
  • Exhibition: ‘I won’t forget you’
    At this event 400 people from the region of Formia, Italy, were present.
    It took place in Formia, Italy from 22 to 28 January 2016.
    Two youngsters who travelled with the Train of 1000 organized an exhibition with pictures illustrating the remembrance trip. This way they shared their experience with their environment. The mayor of Formia and a number of persons representing ANPI inaugurated this exhibition.
  • Exhibition (photo gallery coming soon)
    
  • Report on the exhibition (PDF)
    
    
    

• Jambes:
  
  • “Le Train des 1000 s'arrête en gare de Saint-Joseph”
    At this event 580 people from Belgium were present.
    It took place at Jambes, from 28 January to 23 February 2016.
    The exhibition began with an awareness day. A film was shown and the participants also visited two existing exhibitions by Remembrance of Auschwitz (“1914-1945” and “Liberation of the camps”), as well as an artistic exhibition on the Holocaust carried out by youngsters from Jambes supervised by participants of the Train of 1000. The exhibition was open to the public and concluded when Auschwitz survivor Paul Sobol spoke about his experience to some 120 people.
  • Report on the exhibition - Pop-up Monument
  • Exhibition (photo gallery)
  • Photos on the Facebook page of the Train of 1000
  • Additional photos on the Facebook page of Carine Hermal
  • Booklet produced by the participants and distributed on 23 February (PDF)
  • Article by Freddy Gillain, “Le train des 1000 s’arrête à Saint-Joseph” published in L'Avenir , 4 February 2016, p. 7 (PDF)
  • Article by Freddy Gillain, “ Un rescapé d’Auschwitz à Saint-Joseph” published in L'Avenir , 25 February 2016, p. 4 (PDF)
  • Report “Jambes: un rescapé d’Auschwitz face aux élèves” broadcast on television CanalC
    
    

• Knokke:
  
  • Film
    The event took place in Knokke, Belgium,
    The youngsters from Knokke who participated in the trip made a film about it and presented it to other young people.

• Landen:
  
  • “Remembrance Tree”
    At this event 150 people from Landen, Belgium were present.
    It took place in Landen, on 27 January 2016 .
    Several youngsters from Landen created a “pop-up monument” on the occasion of Holocaust Remembrance Day, in the presence of the mayor of Landen. This monument was a tree decorated with hands on which were written the names and ages of the youngsters deported from the Dossin Barracks.
  • Report on the Pop-up monument “Een boom voor de herinnering” on the Facebook page of the Train of 1000
  • Article by Georges Wemans “Herinneringsboom voor gedeporteerde kinderen Wereldoorlog II” published in Het Belang van Limburg , 31 January 2016
  • Article “Leerlingen Bovenbouw Sint-Gertrudis huldigen herinneringsboom in” published on the website of the newspaper HLN Regio , 28 January 2016
  • Facebook page “Herinneringseducatie” of the Bovenbouw Sint-Gertrudisschool
  • Photo gallery on the remembrance tree on this Facebook page
    
    

• Liège:
  
  • Exhibition “Valises miroirs”
    This event was attended by 250 people from Belgium.
    It took place in Liège, from 19 to 30 May 2015.
    Youngsters from Liège made an exhibition on the life of 28 witnesses to the Nazi barbarity. To this effect they created 28 suitcases and related products (various booklets on these witnesses), and they also drew a parallel between a witness from the past and the current situation.
  • Page on this website with the postcards, the suitcases and the booklets made for the exhibition about the people at the time (resistance fighters, journalists, deportees ...) (in French)
  • Exhibition catalog at Territoire de la mémoire (PDF)
  • Photos of the exhibition
  • Photos of the exhibition on Facebook
  • Report “Train des Mille: une expo Valises-miroirs” on the television RTC (Radio Television Liégeoise)
  • Blog of the lycée Saint-Jacques “Train des Mille 2015”
  • Status report on the realization of the exhibition (PDF)

• Virton:
  The participants held a debate on the subject, which was expanded to include racism. As part of his English exam at the Athénée Royal Nestor Outer one of the participants wrote a draft on the subject of the Train of 1000.
  
  • Interview
    Some 15 people attended this event.
    It took place in Virton, Belgium.
    On their return from the Train of 1000, youngsters from Virton were interviewed by Radio Luxembourg.
  • Text “My grandfather ...” by Lévi Gaziaux (PDF)
    

  

• Mouscron:
  
  • Trempoligne : Auschwitz
    This was distributed in Mouscron, Belgium, in May 2015.
    A special issue of the school's bimonthly paper, “Le Tremplin”, was published in response to the participation in the Train of 1000.
  • Special edition “Auschwitz” of the journal Trempoligne, no. 7, May-June 2015 (PDF)
  • Presentation of the publication on Facebook
  • Photo report on the trip
    
  • Testimonials and exhibition
    At this event 400 people from Hainaut, Belgium were present.
    It was held in Mouscron, on 26 May 2015.
    Young participants testified to their comrades about their experience during the Train of 1000 based on an exhibition they made. Local officials attended.
  • Article by Arnaud Smars, “Train des 1000: une expérience inoubliable” published in L'Avenir, 21 May 2015, p. 2 (PDF)
  • Speeches by participants on 27 January 2016 (PDF)
  • Four texts by participants in PDF: “Avant-propos avec une légende” - “Introduction” - “Livres pour les enfants” - “Terezin”
  • Presentation on Facebook

• Namur:
  • Following the Train of 1000, the participants will be making paintings to be exhibited at the Institut Félicien Rops in May 2016.

• Opwijk:
  
  • Debate and local publications
    At this event 45 people from Opwijk, Belgium were present. Through the local press about 2,000 persons were reached.
    It took place in Opwijk, at the end of May and August 2015.
    On their return and at the request of their teacher the students from ‘t Schoolhuis in Opwijk made a written and oral report on the Train of 1000 using their pictures or their Facebook page. In August 2015, their reports were published in their school magazine “'t Schoolhuis” and in the local magazine of their commune “Opwijk info”. During four afternoons four of the participants debated and exchanged their views with other youngsters.
  • Article “Herinneringseducatie in ‘t Schoolhuis” published in Opwijk info , no. 44, August-September 2015, p. 14-15 (PDF)
  • Article “De Trein der Duizend: Herinneringseducatie in 't Schoolhuis” published in 't Schoolhuis , no. 18/2, April-June 2015, p. 6-13 (PDF)
    

• Vellereille-les-Brayeux:
  
  • Audiovisual production
    At this event 149 people from Hainaut, Belgium were present.
    It was held in Vellereille-Les-Brayeux from 21 September until 2 October 2015.
    The youth of Vellereille who participated in the Train of 1000 presented their audiovisual report to other youngsters from the school. The goal was to share their story and also to incorporate the story of three Jewish families in the area, for which they did research.
  • Report by Anne Fachinat, history teacher, with photos and the text of a student (PDF)
    

• Woluwe-Saint-Lambert:
  
  • Screening of a film explaining the rise of a genocidal process
    At this event 250 people from Brussels, Belgium were present.
    It took place in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, on 24 June 2015.
    Eight young people who participated in the Train of 1000 made a five-minute film explaining a genocidal process. As a location they chose a “chicken run”, to avoid offending any religious, philosophical or political sensitivity.
  • Exhibition of photos, testimonials and a diary
    At this event 600 people from Brussels, Belgium were present.
    It took place in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, from 27 January until 11 March 2016.
    In the school hall there was an exhibition with photos from the trip and a number of texts. The participants to the Train of 1000 wanted to express their experience and they also wanted to get other people thinking. Also the diary of one of the participants was published online.
  • Exhibition (photo gallery)
  • “Ce que je retiens”, texts by seven participants of the Train of 1000 (PDF)
  • Journal de bord by S. Manjah (PDF)
  • Encounter with Mr. Alberto Israel
    At this event 92 people from Brussels, Belgium were present.
    It took place in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, on 22 February 2016.
    Mr. Israel spoke to the young people who were present about his experiences as a deportee and Auschwitz survivor

• Prev
• Next