Northern France and Belgium Liberation
Day 1
We began our journey in Brussels from where we travelled by bus to the La Coupole site in Northern France. What we found there was a reminder of the conflicts’ technological ambitions and human suffering of WWII. Inside this former V2 rocket base, we explored exhibits with interactive tools and learned about forced labour and the war machinery. In the evening, we reached Dunkirk, ready for the days ahead.
Day 2
In Dunkirk, we walked along the beaches where over 338,000 soldiers were rescued from 85 years ago. The history of the 1940 evacuation came alive through exhibits and personal stories we learnt about in the Operation Dynamo Museum. Inspired, we captured the experience in a video about the museum.
Content from the Participants
Day 3
The third day of the exchange brought us back to Belgium to the Mons Memorial Museum, which detailed the city’s military history. Later that day, following one of the Liberation Route Europe themed routes, we walked through the city’s historic streets, tracing the end of occupation and the return of freedom in Belgium.
Day 4
Back in Brussels, our final stop was the House of European History, where we connected local stories to the broader European narrative. As we moved through the exhibitions, we reflected on our shared European past and the events that define our continent. Check out the video we created there.
Content from the Participants
