Belgium · Mechelen
Mechelen concentration camp
Data is aggregated from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date. Always verify with primary sources before acting on any figure. See data sources.
For families
How to send mail, money, and visit Mechelen concentration camp
Step-by-step guidance using the Belgium system — addresses, money services, visit booking, what to bring on your first visit.

Operational period: 1942–ongoing/unknown.
Background
The Mechelen transit camp, officially SS-Sammellager Mecheln (lit.â'SS Assembly Camp Mechelen') in German, also known as the Dossin barracks, was a detention and deportation camp established in a former army barracks at Mechelen in German-occupied Belgium. It served as a point to gather Belgian Jews and Romani ahead of their deportation to concentration and extermination camps in Eastern Europe during the Holocaust. The camp was established in March 1942 and was the only transit camp in Belgium. It was managed by the Sicherheitspolizei (SiPo-SD), a branch of the Reich Security Main Office, and was used to hold Jews and Romani ahead of their deportation to Auschwitz-Birkenau as well as other camps including Heydebreck-Cosel. Between 4 August 1942 and 31 July 1944, 28 trains left from near the camp and deported over 25,800 people.
Source: Wikipedia article lead, CC-BY-SA.
Capacity
84
Current population
—
Occupancy
—
Year opened
1942
Operational
Figures from official sources · verified 16 Jun 2026 · methodology
Facility profile
Operator
SterkhuisPopulation held
Mixed/unknown
Opened
1942
Region
Mechelen
Security level
—
Death-row facility
No
Conditions
No conditions summary available yet.
Visiting
No visiting information available.
Mailing
No mailing information available.
Practical info
Contact the operator's website for inmate-specific procedures.
Known issues
No major issues documented in our database.
Notable inmates
Haïm Vidal Séphiha1923–2019 · university teacherHaïm Vidal Séphiha (28 January 1923 â 17 December 2019) was a Belgian-French linguist and professor emeritus at several European universities, notably the Sorbonne.
- Paul GroÃmeyer1913 · merchant
- Moritz Lindemann1880–1944 · art dealer
- Jos Hakker1887–1967 · pastry chef
- Rosa Seligmann1891
- Régine Krochmal1920–2012 · resistance fighter
Simon Gronowski1931 · juristSimon Gronowski (born October 12, 1931) is a doctor of law, lawyer, jazz pianist, Holocaust survivor and author of the autobiography "L'Enfant du XXe Convoi" (The Child of the 20th Convoy).
Showing 9 of 12. Source: Wikidata + Wikipedia.
Contact & address
Conditions Risk Score
Derived signal — not a judgement. How it's calculated
Related facilities
Same country, matched on type + security level where possible.
- Proven SS-Baubrigade IConcentration camp
- Breendonk concentration campConcentration camp
- Kortemark SS-Baubrigade IConcentration camp
- Prison of Haren
- Gevangenis van Gent
- Repatrieringscentrum 127bisSteenokkerzeel
Compared to other facilities in Belgium
78 peersData completeness
52%How many of our profile fields are populated. We surface this so families and researchers know the limits.
Sources
- EHRI Authority Record
- Wikidata entity
- Wikipedia — Wikimedia Foundation
- OpenStreetMap — OpenStreetMap Contributors
- Wikidata — Wikimedia Foundation
- EHRI Authority List of Camps and Ghettos / USHMM Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos — European Holocaust Research Infrastructure (EHRI) / United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM)
- Wikidata (Q542231)
- Wikipedia
- See /data-sources for our overall methodology.
Cite this page
Under CC-BY-4.0. Include the URL and access date; the site is a living reference and entries can change.
World Prisons. (2026). Mechelen concentration camp. Retrieved October 20, 2026, from https://worldprisons.com/prisons/mechelen-concentration-camp
"Mechelen concentration camp." World Prisons. Accessed October 20, 2026. https://worldprisons.com/prisons/mechelen-concentration-camp.
@misc{worldprisons-mechelen-concentration-camp,
author = {{World Prisons}},
title = {Mechelen concentration camp},
year = {2026},
url = {https://worldprisons.com/prisons/mechelen-concentration-camp},
urldate = {2026-10-20}
}