The Amicale Internationale KZ Neuengamme (AIN) is an international association of the national organizations of survivors of the Neuengamme concentration camp as well as the families and friends of former prisoners of the Neuengamme concentration camp. It consists of different member organizations, spread out over various European countries:
- Belgian Amicale Neuengamme
- N.C.P.G.R. Meensel-Kiezegem ’44 (BE)
- Danish Amicale KZ Neuengamme
- Dutch Foundation Vriendenkring Neuengamme
- October 44 Foundation (Putten, NL)
- French Amicale de Neuengamme
- German Amicale KZ Neuengamme
- Polish Amicale KZ Neuengamme
- Spanish Amical Neuengamme
Over 70 years after the end of World War II and the liberation of the concentration camps, the work of the board of the AIN now lies in the hands of the children and (great) grand-children of former prisoners of the Neuengamme concentration camp and its satellite camps. They continue the international collaboration of the national associations: They speak up for the memory of nazi crimes and discuss the future of remembrance as well as the importance of the transmission of memory in families and societies.
We spoke to some of the descendants that are active members of the national organizations of the AIN to find out more about their family history, how it has shaped them and their commitment to a lasting culture of remembrance. To read the full interviews, please click on the names below.
Vital Craeninckx was named after his paternal grandfather Vital Craeninckx who died in Neuengamme on November 16, 1944 at the age of 51. Also Vital’s grandfather from his mother’s side of the family, Frans Pasteyns, was deported and died at the age of 48 on February 23, 1945 in the camp Meppen-Versen. He was one of the men from Meensel-Kiezigem who were deported to Germany following “retaliation measures” in 1944. Vital Craeninckx told us about how this tragedy made him the person he is today.
– Vital Craeninckx, N.C.P.G.R. Meensel-Kiezegem ’44
Rafael Priego is a great-nephew of Gabriel Priego Gonzáles, who fought with the Third Mixed Brigade of the Spanish Republican Army during the Spanish Civil War. At the end of the war, Gabriel Priego Gonzáles fled to France where he was interned in a camp for Spanish refugees. Following the German defeat of France in 1940, he was deported to Germany. Gabriel Priego Gonzáles died in the Neuengamme concentration camp in December 1942. Rafael told us about how he learned what happened to his great-uncle, how this story shaped him as a person and about his involvement in the Spanish Amical of Neuengamme.
– Rafael Priego, Spanish Amical Neuengamme
Viviane Cauwbergs is the granddaughter of Evrard Cauwbergs who was arrested during the second raid in Meensel-Kiezigem and deported to the Neuengamme concentration camp where he died. Viviane told us about her growing up with a father whose father died at the hands of the Nazis, about the silence shrouding her grandfather’s story for a long time and her way to becoming an active in the National Association Meensel-Kiezigem ’44.
– Viviane Cauwbergs, N.C.P.G.R. Meensel-Kiezegem ’44
Knud Lynge, Lars Lynge’s father, was arrested at his workplace at the Royal Danish Nautical Charts Archive on November 14, 1944. On this day, the Gestapo stormed the building to look for an escaped person which is when they found a gun in Knud Lynge’s bag. During the war he taught resistance fighters to shoot which is why he occasionally had a gun on him. Carrying a weapon was strictly forbidden so he was taken to the Vestre prison and interrogated before being transported to Neuengamme on December 15, 1944. His son Lars told us how he learned about his father’s story and about their lives following his father’s imprisonment.
– Lars Lynge, Danish Neuengamme Association
Pascale Evans is the daughter of Pascal Valliccioni who was arrested for being active in the French resistance and deported to Germany. He survived his imprisonment and lived to tell his story. His daughter answered our questions about what remembrance work means to her and what values she wants to pass on to her children.
– Pascale Evans, French Amicale de Neuengamme
Jozef Lemmens is the son of Frans Lemmens who was arrested on August 11, 1944 during “retaliation measures” in Meensel-Kiezigem and deported to Germany. He died in the Neuengamme concentration camp. Jozef Lemmens answered our questions about his involvement in the National Association Meensel-Kiezigem ’44 and what he would like to pass on to next generations.
– Jozef Lemmens, N.C.P.G.R. Meensel-Kiezegem ’44
My name is Paulina, and I am the granddaughter of a former prisoner of the Neuengamme concentration camp – my wonderful, beloved Grandma Krystyna Razińska. I grew up with the belief that the world is good, I learned how to love other people, forgive and not harbor anger in myself.
– Paulina Miecznikowska-Chyła, descendant from Poland
Aurélie Boisseau is the great-granddaughter of Raphaël Gicquel, a resistance fighter from France. When the Gestapo found the weapons he had been hiding on his farm, he was arrested and deported to the Neuengamme concentration camp. He died on the Cap Arcona on May 3, 1945.
– Aurélie Boisseau, French Amicale de Neuengamme
Wilma Knoppersen is a member of the board of the October 44 Foundation (Putten, Netherlands). Both of her grandfathers, Heimen Knoppersen and Johan Wendt, were arrested during the raid in Putten on October 1 and 2, 1944 and deported to Neuengamme on October 14, 1944, where they both died the following year.
– Wilma Knoppersen, October 44 Foundation (NL)
Marianne Rüsz’s father Børge Emil Pedersen was imprisoned in the Neuengamme concentration camp and the Versen satellite camp. She became an active memeber of the Danish Neuengamme Association to fulfil the promise that her father and other prisoners who survived made to their fallen comrades: “They shall not be forgotten”.
– Marianne Rüsz, Danish Neuengamme Association
