Beverloo Camp (, ) was a

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

installation at

Leopoldsburg Leopoldsburg (; ; ) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg. On January 1, 2006, Leopoldsburg had a total population of 14,403. The total area is which gives a population density Population density (in agriculture: Stand ...

(Bourg-Léopold in French),

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

; 70 km southeast of

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

. The camp was created in 1835, shortly after the independence of Belgium from the Netherlands. It acquired a permanent character in 1850. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

it was occupied by German troops. In May 1944 the camp was bombed by the Allied forces, damaging some blocks. A part of the Camp was also used as a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

camp by the Germans. A museum celebrating the camp's history exists at what used to be its hospital building.Kamp van Beverloo
/ref>

Beverloo Soldiers' Council

The Beverloo Soldiers' Council was set up by mutinous German soldiers in November 1918 as part of the November Revolution. The first mutiny, by Alsatian soldiers occurred on 12 May 1918. They worked closely with the

Brussels Soldiers' Council A Soldiers' Council () was established in Brussels on 10 November 1918 after news of the Kiel mutiny, naval mutiny at Kiel and the German Revolution of 1918–1919, November Revolution reached Imperial German Army, German troops in German occupati ...

Interwar years

In 1920, the facilities hosted the

pistol A pistol is a type of handgun, characterised by a gun barrel, barrel with an integral chamber (firearms), chamber. The word "pistol" derives from the Middle French ''pistolet'' (), meaning a small gun or knife, and first appeared in the Englis ...

and

rifle A rifle is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting and higher stopping power, with a gun barrel, barrel that has a helical or spiralling pattern of grooves (rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus o ...

shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missile ...

events for the

1920 Summer Olympics The 1920 Summer Olympics (; ; ), officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad (; ; ) and commonly known as Antwerp 1920 (; Dutch language, Dutch and German language, German: ''Antwerpen 1920''), were an international multi-sport event held i ...

. While those events took place,

combat engineers A combat engineer (also called pioneer or sapper) is a type of soldier who performs military engineering tasks in support of land forces combat operations. Combat engineers perform a variety of military engineering, Tunnel warfare, tunnel and l ...

detonated

grenade A grenade is a small explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a Shell (projectile), shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A mod ...

s four kilometres from the shooting stands. For

, during the German occupation, following the

Battle of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembour ...

, 10,000 members of the

Hitler Youth The Hitler Youth ( , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth wing of the German Nazi Party. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. From 1936 until 1945, it was th ...

forming the

12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend The SS Division Hitlerjugend or 12th SS Panzer Division "Hitlerjugend" () was a German armoured warfare, armoured division of the Waffen-SS during World War II. The majority of its junior enlisted men were drawn from members of the Hitler Youth, ...

were trained at the camp. During the war, it was also used as a transit camp for the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

. Josef Nassy, an American black artist of Jewish descent, was imprisoned here during World War II.

* Beverloo Camp Railway * A website about the history of Leopoldsburg and Beverloo Camp
3970Leopoldsburg.be

References

*
Sports-reference.com Shooting overview of the 1920 Summer Olympics.US Holocaust Museum profile of Josef Nassy.
* ;Specific Venues of the 1920 Summer Olympics Olympic shooting venues Defunct sports venues in Belgium Infrastructure of the Holocaust World War II sites of Nazi Germany World War II sites in Belgium Sports venues in Limburg (Belgium) {{Summer-Olympic-venue-stub

Beverloo Soldiers' Council

Interwar years

More

References