under the High Patronage of His Majesty the King

Also with the support of the European Commission

Beginning September 2014, the participants started to prepare this project. In this period several groups of youngsters visited the National Memorial Fort Breendonk and Kazerne Dossin in Mechelen.

Specialized guides working for the Institute for Veterans and Victims of War and the Auschwitz Foundation - Remembrance of Auschwitz met with each group of youngsters telling them in detail about deportation and genocide, and explaining these concepts in their global historic context.

All participants received a briefcase (created by the Auschwitz Foundation - Remembrance of Auschwitz, Democratie ou Barbarie, the Institute for Veterans and Victims of War, and Kazerne Dossin). This briefcase contained a number of publications and pedagogic tools to help those responsible for the framework and support during the preparations for this trip.

On 3 March 2015, the Auschwitz Foundation - Remembrance of Auschwitz and the Institute for Veterans and Victims of War organized a workshop for those accompanying the youngsters. Specialists presented a scientific program on Remembrance. The program was completed with a session full of practical information.

A large number of groups organized additional activities to prepare for the trip or to raise some funds in order to help reduce the financial contribution of the young participants.

In the period leading up to 27 January 2015, the participants were asked to create a pop-up monument. Such an ephemeral monument is intended to commemorate the Holocaust and to denounce contemporary phenomena such as xenophobia, discrimination, and racism.

Some groups worked on this project with a lot of enthusiasm while at the same time involving their community (school, commune, library, social circle, and so on).

Visit to Breendonk
At this event 610 people were present, 568 of whom came from Belgium, 17 from France, and 25 from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
It took place in Breendonk (Willebroek), Belgium, from 14 October 2014 to 29 January 2015.
The participants were led on a three-hour guided tour in the fort, which allowed them to discover the building and its history in all its facets.

• Report on Facebook (participants from Aywaille)
• Text on Facebook (participants from Brecht)
• Photos on Facebook (participants from Landen)
• Photos on Facebook (participant from Liège)

Visits to the Dossin Barracks
At this event 610 people were present, 568 of whom came from Belgium, 17 from France, and 25 from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
It took place in Mechelen, Belgium, from 14 October 2014 to 29 January 2015.
The visit to the historical barracks and the new museum allowed participants to build up their knowledge on racial persecution.

• Report broadcast on 27 January 2015 during the television news of the VRT
• Report on YouTube (participants from Anderlecht)
• Photos on Facebook (participants from Landen)

Exhibition “L'art dégénéré selon Hitler” [Degenerate art according to Hitler]
This exhibition was attended by 150 people from all over Belgium.
It took place in Liege, Belgium, from 17 October 2014 to 29 March 2015.
For the first time this exhibition brought together several works of art found in German museums at the dawn of World War II, works qualified as “degenerate” by the Nazis and sold at an auction in June 1939. It allowed 150 participants of the Train of 1000 to discover another aspect of the Second World War.

Benefit concert for the Train of 1000
At this event 100 people from the Province of Liege, Belgium were present.
It took place in Liege, on 12 January 2015.
It was a classical concert by the cellist Mischa Maisky, accompanied by his two children, all of this in an effort to support the trip.

• Report about the concert on YouTube
  
• Photo gallery

“Pop-up monuments”
A this event 150 people were present from Izegem, Mouscron, Landen, Deinze, Brecht, Opwijk, and Anderlecht in Belgium.
It took place in those cities, on 27 January 2015.
The “monuments” were created by young people on the occasion of the 70^th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and to commemorate Holocaust victims.

• Photos on Facebook (participants from Anderlecht)
• Photos on Facebook (participants from Deinze)
• Participants from Landen:
  • Photos on Facebook
  • Video of the inauguration on Facebook
• Photos on Facebook (participants from Mouscron)
• Participants from Opwijk:
  • Article by Jean-Paul Van der Elst “’t Schoolhuis maakt monument voor Auschwitz” published on 27 January 2015 on the website of the newspaper Goeiedag
  • Report by Klaartje Van Rompaey broadcast on 27 January 2015 during the television news of RINGtv
  • Video on Facebook

Workshop on “Night and Fog” by Alain Resnais
At this event 100 people from Brussels, Belgium were present.
It took place in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert during February 2015.
Eight youngsters analyzed the film “Nuit et Brouillard”, which was then shown to other youngsters with accompanying commentaries and discussions. The goal was to introduce students to the topic of the Holocaust and to discuss issues like the representation of such an event, the status of the film etc.

Encounter with Mr. Alberto Israel
At this event 95 people from Brussels, Belgium were present.
It took place in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, on 2 March 2015.

Mr. Israel spoke to the young people about his life after being deported and how he survived the Auschwitz camp.

Encounter with Mr. Alberto Israel
At this event 246 people from Brussels, Belgium were present.
It took place in Etterbeek, in March 2015.
Mr. Israel spoke to the young people about his life after being deported and how he survived the Auschwitz camp.

Preparatory workshop
A this event 70 people were present, 69 from Belgium and 1 from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
It took place in Brussels, on 3 March 2015.
The one-day workshop in preparation for the trip entailed a presentation on a series of myths surrounding Auschwitz, a presentation on the organization of remembrance education,  and a session with practical information.

“Crossed Destinies: destinies of Jewish children surviving in Belgium under the Nazi storm”
At this event 1780 people from Brussels, Belgium were present.
It took place in Etterbeek, from 27 March to 29 April 2015.
The exhibition describes the journey of seven Jewish teenagers who survived the Holocaust. It also underlines the exemplary role of those who risked their lives to help Jews. The young participants of the Train of 1000 took the liberty to complete this exhibition with various materials, thus presenting their project and their involvement with remembrance.

Conference-testimonial and concert of a survivor
At this event 1200 people from Germany were present.
It took place in Fulda, on 17 April 2015.
Esther Bejarano survived Auschwitz and is one of the last survivors of the women’s orchestra in the camp. She testified to the youngstersa nd afterwards she also gave a concert.

Film club: “La vita e bella”
At this event 54 people from Brussels, Belgium were present.
It took place in Etterbeek, on 23 April 2015.
The film by Roberto Benigni was shown as a complement to the exhibition “Crossed Destinies”.

“Un soir de joie”
At this event 90 people from Brussels, Belgium were present.
It took place in Etterbeek, on 26 April 2015.
The film by Gaston Schoukens was shown as part of “Ecrans Résistants/Resistant Screens” under the patronage of the European Parliament and ANPI, with the participation of Mr. Jean Cardoen, manager of the Department of Remembrance within the Institute for Veterans as well as the participation of the daughter of Jean Plas, one of the printers of the “fake” newspaper Le Soir.

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