page_title: Zwijndrecht, Belgium
section_title: World Wars
hierarchical_section_title: Zwijndrecht, Belgium / History / World Wars
caption_attribution_description: English: Fort of Kruibeke in Zwijndrecht-Burcht, BelgiumNederlands: Fort van Kruibeke in Zwijndrecht-Burcht, België This is a photo of onroerend erfgoed number 14746
context_page_description: Zwijndrecht is both a village and a municipality located in the Flemish province of Antwerp, in Belgium. As well as Zwijndrecht proper, the municipality includes the village of Burcht. As of January 1, 2006, Zwijndrecht had a total population of 18,231.
  The total area is 17.82 km² which gives a population density of 1,023 inhabitants per km².
context_section_description: During World War I, Zwijndrecht and Burcht and its two forts were part of the Belgian defensive line. By 1914, the two villages were full of Belgian soldiers, and orders were issued to reinforce the Fort of Zwijndrecht and the Fort of Kruibeke. Local civilian residents were recruited for the reinforcement work, soldiers were quartered in private homes and factories, farmers were required to loan their horses and carts for military use, and food and goods were confiscated for the military. In spite of all efforts, Belgium fell to the Germans in October 1914 and Burcht and Zwijndrecht, like all the German-occupied communities in Belgium, suffered greatly for the next four years from food shortages. By the end of the war, 80 young people from Zwijndrecht and Burcht had perished on the front. 82 civilian unemployed civilians from Burcht as well as 99 non-unemployed citizens had been deported to Germany as forced labor. In addition, 5 civilians were deported to Germany for political reasons. A total of 8 citizens from Burcht lost their lives as a result of these deportations. Zwijndrecht counted 155 forced laborers and civilian prisoners deported to Germany, of which 5 did not survive. Three of these, Jan Baptist Wathy and Jozef and Frans Van Gaever lost their lives when the ship transporting them was torpedoed.
  By 1939, Zwindrecht and Burcht were once again preparing for war with Germany. On May 18, 1940, the Swastika flag had already been raised on the Antwerp Cathedral. Although retreating Belgian troops attempted to blow up the two tunnels leading to the left bank of the Scheldt to prevent the Germans from crossing easily, the explosives in the pedestrian tunnel failed to detonate completely, allowing the German troops to cross the river. During the resulting battle on the streets of Zwijndrecht, 16 German and 29 Belgian soldiers lost their lives, in addition to 32 civilians.
  After years of Nazi occupation, the British army liberated Antwerp in September 1944. In an attempt to prevent the Allies from being able to use the Port of Antwerp, the Germans bombarded the harbor with V-1 and V-2 rockets. However, most of the rockets missed their intended target (the port) and fell instead in the surrounding areas, including Burcht and Zwijndrecht. A total of 76 V-bombs fell on Zwijndrecht-Burcht between October 25, 1944 and March 28, 1945. In Zwindrecht, a total of 19 civilians were killed and 48 were wounded by the V-rockets and 85 houses were rendered uninhabitable. In Burcht, 14 citizens were killed. 50 houses were destroyed completely, and more than 250 houses were badly damaged.
caption: Fort of Kruibeke in Burcht, built in 1870 as part of the national redoubt of Belgium.
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