Dossin

Dossin is a surname and a toponym that has various historical and contemporary uses. The most prominent modern reference is Kazerne Dossin (Dossin Barracks) in Mechelen, Belgium, a former military installation that now operates as a museum and national memorial.

Kazerne Dossin is a historic complex located in Mechelen that was used as a military barracks dating from the 18th century. During World War II, under Nazi occupation, the site served as part of the Mechelen transit camp, where Jews and Roma from Belgium were detained before deportation to concentration and extermination camps. After the war, the complex was preserved and repurposed as a site of remembrance. It currently houses the museum Kazerne Dossin: Memorial, Deportation and Resistance, which presents exhibitions on the Holocaust, Belgian deportations, the resistance movement, and related human-rights topics.

As a surname, Dossin appears in Belgian and French records from the 19th and 20th centuries, though its precise etymology is not clearly established in standard references. The name is relatively uncommon and does not have a single widely known bearer who defines its usage.

In addition to Kazerne Dossin, the term may appear in local toponyms or family names in regions with French or Flemish linguistic influence. The Mechelen site remains the best-documented and internationally recognized use of the name, due to its role in Holocaust history and memory.