The Diary of Remi

Remi Berghman, born on 15 January 1924 in Geluwe a west Flemish town, near Roeselare (Belgium) was arrested on 6 August 1944 in hisr  apartment. From here he is taken him to Roeselare  and then to Brussels.

Together with many  others he  is  taken on foot to the Schaarbeek railway station, where they board  the  train, which takes them to Kahla. 

Remi has recorded his experiences  day after day  in  a  diary. .  This diary consists of  101 pages and  is very detailed and well written. This historically valuable document has now been handed over to our association.

We would like to publish some excerpts from his diary here.

Remi writes…

I was arrested at four o’clock in the afternoon on Sunday 6 August 1944. Then I arrived in Roeselare, where I and others were imprisoned in the seminary of the Catholic Church.  We couldn’t escape.  On Monday my sister came and brought me food.

Then a short visit to the doctor, who declares us suitable for work in Germany.

Then we went  by car  to Brussels, to the  gendarmerie barracks  of  Etterbeek.  Under heavy guard  we walked  from here, on a very warm day, to the train station of  Schaarbeek.  On the way we sing our national anthem and  we are cheered by the people. In the train station,  the Belgian Red Cross hands out food, cigarettes and drinks for the upcoming trip.

Our journey  goes from Brussels to Leuven, via Liege, Maastricht, Herzogenrath, Mönchengladbach, Wuppertal, Hagen, Kassel, Eisenach, Gotha, Erfurt, Weimar, Jena and ends in Kahla.

Finally arrived in Kahla, we have to leave our suitcases and continue on foot. I’m tired.  It has become very warm.  Finally we arrive at the camp, which is only half-finished.

The first few hours were a bitter disappointment… with 40 men in a room, the barrack not finished, no light, no cupboards, tables or chairs. No drinking water, no toilet, no kitchen, nothing…

In the evening our suitcases finally arrive, many items have been stolen.

It is September, the first letters arrive from Belgium and every day we look full of expectation at the list that is hung in the camp  and hope that mail is there for us.

On September 9th I get a small package from home for the first time.  I am so happy because it contains tobacco.   I also know  that  my first letters have been well received.

Belgium has since been  liberated, a moral support for the Belgians in Lager E. The days passes  by and the work and work on the construction site “REIMAHG”  continues at high speed…

On September 18th we drive with 10 men of the Lagerkolonne from Kahla to Hermsdorf.  There we are to dismantle barracks in order to rebuild them later in the camp.   Life  there in the camp is much better, with good food.  I am also allowed in the  city, to pick up the food. So the weeks pass until All Saints’ Day.  Then we go back to Eichenberg.