With the establishment of the so-called “room for reflection and meditation” in Vinkt (Deinze) the Ename Center found the right balance between providing information and giving incentives for reflection. At the beginning of the Second World War, 140 civilians lost their life because of the executions performed by the German Army. More than 70 years later, the wounds are still not healed. Thanks to a multiannual collaboration with the local committee dedicated to the remembrance of what happened in the small village of Vinkt and with the support of the Province of East-Flanders, the Ename Center could develop a unique approach that is relevant for the people of today and that aims at thinking through occurrences such as those that took place in Vinkt, May 1940.
On 21 and 22 October 2010, representatives of 7 European countries met in Deinze (Belgium) to debate the how and why of commemorating massacres and other war crimes against civilians in Europe during the Second World War. Mr Herman Van Rompuy, President of the EU, attended the ceremony and paid tribute to the victims.
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