Le Mémorial national aux Martyrs juifs de Belgique commémore les 25 000 victimes de la Shoah
Some photos of what is generally known as the Brussels (or Belgian) Holocaust Memorial, more formally as the: National Monument to the Jewish Martyrs of Belgium Mémorial National aux Martyrs Juifs de Belgique Nationaal Gedenkteken der Joodse Martelaren van België (Brussels is bi-lingual French- and Dutch-speaking, so place names are given in both languages here.) More than twenty thousand names of Jewish dead are inscribed on the walls here, Jewish victims from all around Belgium, some of whom were killed on Belgian territory, but many of whom were shipped off to the death camps in the East for their extermination. These are photos from the daily life of Jewish-heritage writer and political refugee from the US, Dr Les (Leslie) Sachs - photos documenting my new beloved home city of Brussels, Belgium, my life among the people and Kingdom who have given me safety in the face of the threats to destroy me. Brussels has a noble history of providing a safe haven to other dissident refugee writers, such as Victor Hugo and Karl Marx, and I shall forever be grateful that Brussels and Belgium have helped to protect my own life as well. (To read about the efforts to silence me and my journalism, the attacks on me, the smears and the threats, see the website by European journalists 'About Les Sachs' linked in my profile, and press articles such as 'Two EU Writers Under Threat of Murder: Roberto Saviano and Dr Les Sachs'.) It was, appropriately enough, a rainy day when I visited and took these pictures, of this memorial site that was sadly vandalised the other year. My own heritage on my mother's side is Jewish, and it was my commitment to honour the memory of relatives and other Jews who died in the Holocaust, that led to my being forced to become a political refugee from the United States. - Back when living in the US, I received a letter threatening the book-burning of the books of this Jewish-heritage writer, and I responded strongly. A few weeks later my freedom to speak and write was banned, and threats to extort and murder me were put in motion. This story has been told in other places (see link to press articles in my profile), but suffice it to say here, that it was my honouring the memory of murdered Jews, which led me to be a Jewish-heritage political refugee today in Brussels. Though I am unitarian Christian by faith, the old Jewish sites of Brussels and Belgium strike deep chords within me, as I very much feel the spirit of the Jews who suffered and died under the kind of racist threats I have also suffered. One of the things I am often-asked, as a Jewish-heritage political refugee, is why the Jewish groups and Jewish leaders, do not say or do more to defend me, against the threats to have me murdered, against the lies and hoaxes spread about me, against the blocking of my own journalism sites from the internet search engines. - For example, in my efforts to stay alive these last few years, I have received much more comfort and assistance and support from brave Muslims, than from the Jewish people who share my own heritage. There are two main reasons for this kind of neglect of someone like myself by Jewish leaders. One is that I am not a political Zionist - I favour peace and justice for all the residents of the ancient holy lands of Palestine. - A second reason, is that there is a sad heritage among Jewish people, to stand by and do nothing while other Jews are attacked by the dominant power of the day. - It was that way in the old pogroms of Eastern Europe, it was that way under the Nazi-era exterminations, and it is that way today regarding the case of the United States. - Since it is the US regime which has been attacking me and forcing me to be a refugee here, Jewish 'leadership' simply does not want to confront the USA. Given that I am a non-Zionist, and a unitarian Christian in faith, well, that settles it as far as Jewish leaders are concerned, and they turn away and say nothing. But the Jewish heritage is there in me, and I am glad I honoured the memory of the Holocaust dead, even though it led me into terrible sufferings at the hands of US political figures and the US regime. One of the particularly emotional things for me about the Brussels Holocaust Memorial - being myself of Jewish heritage, and also being under threat of racist political murder - is that I found my own name here inscribed on the wall as among the Jewish dead, a chilling reminder that my own death may also come at the violent hands of others in the near future. The Brussels Holocaust Memorial is easy to reach by public transport. It is just a few hundred metres on foot from the Cureghem - Kuregem stop on tram line 81, and tram 81 directly runs between the two métro stations at Gare du Midi - Zuidstation, the main Brussels railway station, and the métro station at Saint-Guidon - Sint-Guido near to the Anderlecht house (still standing) where Erasmus lived in Brussels during the years 1517-1521. As you exit the tram number 81 at Cureghem - Kuregem, it is just a short walk eastwards along the Rue Emile Carpentier - Emile Carpentierstraat, to where it meets the Rue de Goujons - Grondelstraat, and there you find the Square des Martyrs Juifs - Joodse Martelarensquare, the site of the National Monument to the Jewish Martyrs of Belgium.