Research by Marc Michiels on Transport XX. Collection

The municipality of Boortmeerbeek organises an annual ceremony to commemorate the rescue operation conducted by three young men - Youra Livschitz, Jean Franklemon and Robert Maistriau – in an attempt to liberate Jews from Transport XX. This deportation train carried 1,631 Jews from the Dossin barracks to Auschwitz-Birkenau on 19 April 1943. Thanks to Livschitz, Franklemon and Maistriau, 17 men and women were able to escape from the train and over 219 more jumped out of the fright wagons after the"attac". Although 26 escapees were killed during their flight and 90 more were recaptured, 120 were able to hide until the end of the war. Transport XX is the only deportation train carrying Jews that was attacked by outsiders in order to liberate prisoners during the war in entire Europe. The first commemoration in Boortmeerbeek was organised by Robert Korten in 1993, 50 years after the attack. From 1999 until 2013 Marc Michiels coordinated the ceremony. In 2012 he also published a book about Transport XX. 

In January 2014 Marc Michiels donated all the materials he collected while organising the commemoration of Transport XX in Boortmeerbeek (1999-2013) and research materials collected while working on his book (both digital and paper). 

Research by Marc Michiels on Transport XX. Collection 

An inventory of this collection is available at the reading room of the Kazerne Dossin Research Centre. 

30,464 digitised images (documents, photos, articles…) and 5 boxes with research materials (ca. 3 linear meters, not digitised) 

This collection consists of two intertwined sections : (1) documents and photos regarding the annual commemoration of the attack against Transport XX in Boortmeerbeek, including the ceremonial administration and delivered speeches ; (2) research materials – largely copies of documents, testimonies and research articles – collected by Marc Michiels in preparation for his book on Transport XX. This collection is only accessible at the Kazerne Dossin documentation centre. 

Contact Kazerne Dossin Documentation Centre: archives@kazernedossin.eu 

Contact Kazerne Dossin Documentation Centre: archives@kazernedossin.eu 

Part of the collection consists of only digitally available materials 

The collection has been arranged. The arrangement is visible in the inventory available in the reading room of the Kazerne Dossin Research Centre. 

KD_00121 - Belgian police reports on Jews escaped from Transport XX.; KD_00141 - Reichman-Lipschitz family KD_00846 - Simon Gronowski 

No further accruals are to be expected 

MICHIELS Marc, Het XXste transport naar Auschwitz. De ongelijke strijd op leven en dood, Antwerp, 2012 ; STEINBERG Maxime and SCHRAM Laurence, Transport XX Malines-Auschwitz, Brussels, 2008. 

Digital copy available as collection KD_00117 at Kazerne Dossin.