Spoon belonging to Jan van der Vlies
Jan van der Vlies was one of the many Dutch forced laborers who worked and were interned in labor camps in Kassel between 1933 and 1945. He was among those who were transferred from the labor camp to the punishment camp Breitenau for disciplinary reasons. The spoon bears van der Vlies' initials in the form of holes drilled through the metal. This perforation helped both in the recognition of the spoon that belonged to him and in better being able to fish out morsels from the thin soup served in the camp. Today his spoon is exhibited in the Breitenau Memorial.(Source: «Breitenau 1933-1945 - Bilder, Texte, Dokumente», Stephan von Borstel und Dietfrid Krause-Vilmar. Reproduction: Pola Sieverding)
