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Belgium · Mechelen

Mechelen concentration camp

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Verified 28 May 2026
Fresh · 1d ago

Data is aggregated from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date.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.

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Photograph of Mechelen concentration camp

Background

The Mechelen transit camp, officially SS-Sammellager Mecheln (lit. '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

Facility profile

Operator

Sterkhuis

Population 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.

Contact & address

48 Hanswijkstraat, Mechelen 2800

Conditions Risk Score

Derived signal — not a judgement. How it's calculated

Insufficient data
We don't have enough public data on this facility to score it. Have something to add? Send us a correction.

Compared to other facilities in Belgium

78 peers
Capacity (beds)this: 84 · peers avg: 276 (70%)

Data completeness

44%

How many of our profile fields are populated. We surface this so families and researchers know the limits.

Sources