MAS Museum

At the MAS Museum in Antwerp, the exhibition Stad in Oorlog (City at War) sheds light on how the Second World War unfolded in the city. Rather than providing a single narrative or comprehensive historical overview, the exhibition presents a series of personal stories, objects, and events that reflect the diversity and complexity of wartime experiences.

The focus is on people and the choices they made under occupation. Through testimonies, documents, and objects, visitors encounter a wide range of individuals: those who collaborated, those who resisted, those who were persecuted, and those who tried to navigate daily life in uncertain and dangerous times. The exhibition does not pass judgement but instead poses questions: Why did people make certain decisions? What were the consequences? How do we view those choices today?

The war is not shown as a distant or abstract event, but as something that unfolded in the lives of ordinary Antwerp residents, at home, in the streets, in workplaces and schools. Visitors are encouraged to consider what they would have done in similar circumstances, and how far war can reach into private and civic life.

Stad in Oorlog also raises broader questions about remembering and forgetting. Thee exhibition prompts reflection on how such histories are told, or not told, over time. It leaves space for visitors to think about how Antwerp deals with its wartime past, and what role memory plays in shaping collective understanding.