• Holocaust Memorials in Charleroi
Located in the Jewish section of the Marcinelle district cemetery in Charleroi are two memorials, dedicated to the Jews murdered in the Holocaust.
Image: Charleroi, 2009, The 1964 Memorial to the Jews of Charleroi, Jacques Gurnicky
Charleroi, 2009, The 1964 Memorial to the Jews of Charleroi, Jacques Gurnicky
Charleroi is the largest city in the region of Wallonia and it is located in the heart of the »Pays Noir« (English: black country), the Belgian coal pan. Prior to World War II, there were about 600 Jewish families living in Charleroi, making it home to Belgium's fourth largest Jewish community - after Brussels, Antwerp and Liège. Most of them had immigrated to Belgium from Eastern Europe following World War I. After the German invasion of Belgium, anti-Jewish decrees aimed at suppressing the Jewish population and excluding it from society were issued by the military administration - this also affected the Jews of Charleroi. Between October 1940 and September 1943, the occupying forces issued a total of 18 anti-Jewish decrees which entailed an exclusion of Jews from public life, expropriation of their belongings and prepared their impending deportation and extermination. Charleroi was one of the four cities in Belgium in which Jews were allowed to live during the occupation. In August 1942, the SS began deporting Jews from the Mechelen collection camp to Auschwitz and other concentration camps in the east. In all, 446 Jews from the region of Charleroi fell victim to the National Socialist policy of extermination. Today, only about 40 Jews live in Charleroi.
Image: Charleroi, 2009, The 1964 Memorial to the Jews of Charleroi, Jacques Gurnicky
Charleroi, 2009, The 1964 Memorial to the Jews of Charleroi, Jacques Gurnicky
Presumably 446 Jews from the region of Charleroi perished in the Holocaust.
Image: Charleroi, 2009, The 1993 Memorial to all victims of the Holocaust, Jacques Gurnicky
Charleroi, 2009, The 1993 Memorial to all victims of the Holocaust, Jacques Gurnicky
There are two memorials in the Jewish section of the Marcinelle cemetery in Charleroi. The first was set up on initiative of the Jewish community of Charleroi and the »Union des déportés et résistants juifs de Charleroi« (English: Association of Jewish Deportees and Resistance Fighters of Charleroi) and unveiled on April 19, 1964. It honours the 446 Jews from the region of Charleroi who were deported to concentration camps in the east and murdered there. The second memorial - dedicated to all six million victims of the Holocaust - was erected in 1993.
Image: Charleroi, 2009, Close-up of the memorial to the Jews of Charleroi, Jacques Gurnicky
Charleroi, 2009, Close-up of the memorial to the Jews of Charleroi, Jacques Gurnicky

Image: Charleroi, 2009, Inscription on the second memorial, Jacques Gurnicky
Charleroi, 2009, Inscription on the second memorial, Jacques Gurnicky
Name
Monuments de l'Holocauste à Charleroi
Address
rue des Sarts
6001 Charleroi
Web
http://www.jewishcom.be/wordpress/2009/03/01/la-communaute-israelite-de-charleroi-de-israelitische-gemeenschap-van-charleroi/
Open
Daily 8.00 a.m. to 4.30 p.m.