Welcome to the memorial website of Constant Julien Droesbeke. on C.J. Droesbeke

KZ Flossenbürg Photo Album

contact@droesbeke.ophet.net (C.J. Droesbeke) — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Warning: contains graphic images.

The Waltz in the Shadow

contact@droesbeke.ophet.net (C.J. Droesbeke) — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Foreword
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I dedicate these few pages to my wife who, despite her young age,
at the risk of her life, took part in the resistance by accompanying me during the execution of acts of sabotage while our homeland was occupied by the Nazi hordes.

I also dedicate this account to Colonel J. VAN RUYCHEVELT, whose father died in a concentration camp. He understands better than anyone what life was like for concentration camp inmates — slave labor under the rule of the SS and Gestapo.

Timeline

contact@droesbeke.ophet.net (C.J. Droesbeke) — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

° Constant Julien Droesbeke

April 25, 1907

CJ Droesbeke is born in Anderlecht.
Germany invades Belgium

May 10, 1940

At the age of 33, CJ Droesbeke was called up during the mobilization. He participated in the 18-day campaign. His service number was 256.379; he was a sergeant (wachtmeester) with the 9th squadron, 2nd Guides. CJ Droesbeke was among the first in Merchtem to own a car; he donated his vehicle to the Belgian army.
Belgium capitulates

May 28, 1940

CJ Droesbeke is a prisoner of war from May 25, 1940, to June 28, 1940. Due to the capitulation, his car also falls into German hands. He proceeds to steal his car back from the Germans and makes it available to the resistance. The car is hidden in garage Schelleman in Merchtem.
Resistance

1941 – 1944

After the 18-day campaign, CJ Droesbeke joins the resistance.

KZ Flossenbürg videos

contact@droesbeke.ophet.net (C.J. Droesbeke) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Videos from shortly after the liberation of KZ Flossenbürg
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(LIB 6223) Probably April 30, 1945. Camera pans from left to right showing an overview of the Flossenbuerg slave labor camp, barracks on hillside, trees and mountains in BG. German civilians gathered at entrance to camp. Inscriptions on concrete gate post. Sign: “Vorsicht! Hochspannung Lebensgefahr” and “Arbeit Macht Frei”. CU, electrified barbed wire around top of fence and guard towers. Makeshift handwritten banner on picket fence, “Prisoners Happy End! Welcome!”. INT, CU, four naked male survivors: two Jewish, one French, one Polish, with numbers tattooed on their chests. Multiple takes. Pan down to feet (2 have striped uniform pants pulled down). CU survivor’s emaciated backside. 02:44:59 SEQ: Former French prisoner in the camp conducts U.S. soldier through underground crematorium (entrance to underground through metal grate). View of camp. Survivors (in regular clothes) splitting and stacking wood. CU “Disinfektion” painted on brick wall. Disposing of hot ash from crematorium into nearby pit. Americans and civilians dig up dead bodies of slave laborers, killed during the death marches, all are clothed. VCU, dead. Three older male civilians talk to soldier. More corpses are dug up and laid side by side in rows. Various CUs, including a bloody chest and a prisoner uniform with a triangular patch and a necklace with a cross.

The Numbers of Hell: Transport December 16, 1944

contact@droesbeke.ophet.net (C.J. Droesbeke) — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

It is impossible to get a true sense of the brutality in KZ Flossenbürg if you haven’t been there yourself. We do well to read as many testimonies as possible, but just by looking at the numbers, you realize it was a true “death factory.”

The arrival of C.J. Droesbeke
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On December 16, 1944 – the same day the Battle of the Bulge began – C.J. Droesbeke arrived in Flossenbürg. Two transports arrived that day:

Welcome to the memorial website of Constant Julien Droesbeke. on C.J. Droesbeke

KZ Flossenbürg Photo Album

The Waltz in the Shadow

Foreword #

Timeline

° Constant Julien Droesbeke

April 25, 1907

Germany invades Belgium

May 10, 1940

Belgium capitulates

May 28, 1940

Resistance

1941 – 1944

KZ Flossenbürg videos

Videos from shortly after the liberation of KZ Flossenbürg #

The Numbers of Hell: Transport December 16, 1944

The arrival of C.J. Droesbeke #

Foreword
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Videos from shortly after the liberation of KZ Flossenbürg
#

The arrival of C.J. Droesbeke
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