At the border station Herbesthal 1938/39 played dramatic scenes.
Exactly 80 years ago, between 2 and 8 January 1939, the Belgian border police in Herbesthal refused to allow seventy-five unaccompanied Jewish children to enter Belgium and send them back to the Reich. The Belgian public was outraged.
In mid-January 1939, Justice Minister Joseph Pholien authorized the entry of some 750 additional Jewish children under the age of 14 to Belgium.
Arriving at the Herbesthal train station was an unforgettable moment in the memory of the children's transport children. They had to leave their parents and their homeland, but at least until the German invasion of Belgium they were free and safe from Nazi henchmen.
As a sign against forgetting should be remembered locally. As in other places, for example in Gdansk, Berlin and London, a memorial to the former Kindertransport will soon be on the former Herbesthaler station grounds.
We look forward to see you on the International Day of Remembrance to the Victims of the Holocaust, on Sunday, January 27, 2019 at 2:00 pm, to invite to the solemn inauguration of the monument in memory of the Jewish children's transports. The Aachen artist Sebastian Schmidt will present his work and students of the Community School Herbesthal am from Robert Schuman Institut (RSI) Eupen will present their topic-related school projects.
J. GROMMES, Municipality Associate Lontzen-Herbesthal; P. THEVISSEN. Mayor Lontzen-Herbesthal; Dr. H. RULAND, Scientific Director, GrenzGeschichteDG em.
