Exterior view of the museum on Rue Van Lint in Andelecht
Photo: Wikipedia
Museyroom
The power lies in the museum. Do not you believe? Come on in! Every month we present one, in text and pictures. Just as James Joyce wrote in “Finnegans Wake”: “This is the way to the museum room.”
The National Museum van de Weerstand in the Belgian municipality of Anderlecht (Brussels-Capital Region) was founded by members of the Belgian Resistance against the German Nazi occupiers to preserve the history of resistance for future generations. On display are primarily objects and documents from the “Independence Front” (Onafhankelijkheidsfront/Front de l’indépendance, OF/FI for short) and memorabilia provided by resistance fighters.
On May 10, 1940, the German Wehrmacht occupied Belgium. In May 1941, the Belgian Communist Party published a “manifesto to the Flemish and Walloon people” for the country’s independence. Nazi Germany’s attack on the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941 meant that the Belgian communists found allies. The new structure was initially called the “Walloon Front for the Liberation of the Country” and was officially presented in the first issue of the Liège biweekly “La Meuse” in October 1941. It brought together communists, Walloon militants, anti-fascist intellectuals and “Anglophiles” and served as a model for the OF/FI, which was founded in certain regions between the end of autumn 1941 and the beginning of winter 1941-1942. It was not until March 1942 that the movement organized nationwide and everywhere adopted the name “Independence Front” to emphasize the nationwide aspect of the struggle.
The museum exhibits refer to underground operations and repression by Nazi troops. Militaria can be seen as well as clandestine documents, newspapers and posters, forged papers, uniforms, flags, telecommunications and observation equipment and photographs.
When I visited the museum, I was struck by a photo of four armed women and inspired me to write the following poem:
National Museum of the Resistance, Van Lintstraat, Brussels1
Four women dressing up with hand grenades to attack
The Nazi enemy.
How inconsequential a woman’s rouge is to cling to
To the narcissistic friend.
The poem can also be found in: Jürgen Schneider: Then & When. Moloko Print, 50 p., br., 10 €.
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