Dylan Casteleyn, relative of Albert Vandewalle
Gedenkstätte Wolfenbüttel, 2023
Life before Imprisonment
Albert Vandewalle was born on 19 February 1917, in Gits, Belgium. He was the youngest son of Emma Casteleyn and René Vandewalle, who already had three daughters before him: Maria, Martha, and Bertha. Albert Vandewalle was a lumberjack by profession.
Forced Labour
On 31 March 1943, Albert Vandewalle left the station of Roeselare, Belgium, as a forced labourer heading to Hanover, where he was employed as a carpenter. Upon arriving in Germany, he was housed in the private home of the Brüsch family at Breiten Straße 47 in the mining town of Goslar.
Letter of referral of Albert Vandewalle with the stamp “Conscripted,” 31 March 1943
Archivdienst für Kriegsopfer, Belgisches Staatsarchiv, Statut deportierter Zwangsarbeiter, DEP 369565
Arrest in Germany
On 1 August 1944, Albert Vandewalle, along with three Frenchmen and three other Belgians, was arrested by the GestapoThe Gestapo, the Secret State Police of the Nazi regime, was the political police during the Nazi era. on charges of listening to foreign radio stations, a violation of the “Radio Regulation” of 1 September 1939.
In fact, the Belgian Elias Vanbecelaere, who was housed in a private home like Albert Vandewalle, had bought a radio in March 1944. The three Frenchmen and the three other Belgians, including Albert Vandewalle, visited him several times between April and July 1944 to listen to the radio.
They followed the D-DayThe landing of British, Canadian, and American soldiers on 6 June 1944 in northern France., the advance of Allied troops, and spread the news they heard. On 29 August 1944, the special court in Brunswick sentenced Albert Vandewalle to 18 months in prison after almost a month of pre-trial detention.
Imprisonment and Forced Labour
On 1 November 1944, Albert Vandewalle was transferred to the Wolfenbüttel Prison, where he was assigned to the external work site “Kalkwerk Oker” with the order number 1612.
Historical photograph of the Kalkwerk Oker, before 1953
www.technikmuseum-online.de
This work detail was particularly feared by the prisoners due to the high work demands with long shifts, harassing treatment by the supervisors, and poor supply of food and clothing. The lime dust damaged the respiratory tract and caused a disease that the inmates called “Oker disease.” Prisoners repeatedly tried to escape or mutilated themselves to escape the terrible working and living conditions.
Due to the development of the war situation, it was decided in early March 1945 to transfer all inmates working at the “Kalkwerk Oker” back to the Wolfenbüttel Prison. Albert Vandewalle, seriously ill, reached the Wolfenbüttel Prison and was admitted to the infirmary. It was overcrowded, and there was no medical staff.
Medical report by the deputy prison doctor Dr. Brose on the Kalkwerk Oker, 14 October 1940
NLA Abteilung Wolfenbüttel
After the Liberation
On 11 April 1945, the city of Wolfenbüttel and thus the Wolfenbüttel Prison were liberated by troops of the 9th US Army. In the prison infirmary, American soldiers found, among others, Albert Vandewalle, who by then weighed less than 45 kilogrammes. On 27 April 1945, he was transferred by the Americans from Wolfenbüttel to a hospital in the city of Salzgitter-Drütte for further treatment. From there, due to his poor health, he was further transferred to Hildesheim, where the Allies had set up an advanced landing ground on a former Wehrmacht airfield to repatriate prisoners of war and displaced persons. A field hospital with 600 beds had also been set up. To ensure better medical treatment for him, Albert Vandewalle was flown to Prosnes, France, on 1 May 1945, and further to Soissons, France, on 10 May. There, he was admitted to a US Army hospital.
Despite all efforts to save his life, Albert Vandewalle died at the age of 28 on 20 May 1945, due to the hardships and illnesses caused by forced labour and imprisonment. He was mistakenly buried in the US military cemetery in Champigneul and reburied in 1947 in the Belgian military cemetery in Leopoldsburg. The whereabouts of Albert Vandewalle’s body remained unclear to his family until 2019, as he was buried as a civilian in a military cemetery.
The file of Albert Vandewalle was considered closed by the International Tracing Service ITS Arolsen in March 1950, 21 March 1950
Arolsen Archives
Compensation
On 5 June 1947, René Vandewalle posthumously applied for his son to be granted the status of a “political prisoner.” The application was rejected on 19 September 1951, on the grounds that his conviction was not based on “selfless activity against the enemy.”
Compensation Efforts by the Relatives
Dylan Casteleyn,
relative of Albert Vandewalle
2023
Rejection of the application for the status of “political prisoner,”
19 September 1951
Archivdienst für Kriegsopfer, Belgisches Staatsarchiv,
Statut Prisonnier Politique, PP AD 4587 8925
He also applied for the status of “deported forced laborer” on 30 September 1947, which was granted by the Ministry of ReconstructionA ministry in Belgium that was responsible for processing applications for certain national recognition statuses in the immediate post-war period, such as the status of political prisoners. on 12 November 1954. However, since Albert Vandewalle was considered deceased, no compensation payments were associated with this status. It was merely an acknowledgement that he was a victim of forced labour and not a collaborator with the Nazis. The letter from the responsible Belgian Ministry of Reconstruction on 12 November 1954, stated:
“In consideration that he was forcibly employed from 31 March 1943, the day of his deportation, until 30 April 1945, the day of his presumed death […]. The deceased is entitled to posthumous recognition as a deportee for the purpose of forced labour during the war of 1940-1945.”
Commitment of the Next Generation
Dylan Casteleyn, a relative of Albert Vandewalle, came across an entry in the population register of Gits stating that Albert Vandewalle “probably died in Germany at the end of April 1945” while researching his family history. This piqued his interest, and he began to investigate the story of Albert Vandewalle. His research eventually took six years. Through his dedication, he was able to clarify Albert Vandewalle’s fate 75 years after his death. In 2019, he published a biography about him and corrected the previously incorrect gravestone inscription.
Dylan Casteleyn with the biography of Albert Vandewalle he published, 2023
Gedenkstätte Wolfenbüttel