Last year, 19 individuals guilty of racist, discriminatory, or hateful acts visited the Kazerne Dossin in Mechelen as part of an alternative to judicial prosecution, according to the annual report published on Tuesday.
Kazerne Dossin, a former Belgian army barracks, was used during Second World War by German occupiers as a transit camp to deport Jews and Romani people to concentration camps like Auschwitz-Birkenau, Buchenwald, and Ravensbrück.
Today, the site serves as a memorial, museum, and documentation centre focusing on the Holocaust and human rights.
Since 2021, the museum in Mechelen offers educational programmes through guided tours, providing offenders of racism, hatred, or discrimination a chance to avoid judicial proceedings. Last year, 19 people participated in this programme, and the museum expanded its cooperation with all prosecutors in Flanders.
In recent years, several notable figures have taken part in this alternative measure, including Vooruit party leader Conner Rousseau and former Vlaams Belang MP Dries Van Langenhove.
Kazerne Dossin also partners with the Royal Belgian Football Association, where offenders of stadium-related incidents may be sent to visit the site. Last year, it hosted five individual visitors, one family, and two sports clubs for guided tours.
In total, 67,510 people visited Kazerne Dossin last year, a decrease from 76,528 visitors in 2023.
