Setup: Death Wire

THE FIRST WORLD WAR

During the First World War (1914 - 1918), thousands of Belgians fled from their area occupied by Germans to neutral Netherlands. There were also many Belgian war volunteers who wanted to join the Allies (England, France) through the Netherlands. Furthermore, there were the smugglers. Smugglers of goods and smugglers of espionage reports.
To prevent all of this, the border between the Netherlands and Belgium was closed along its entire length in 1915, from South Limburg to Zeeland, with a several meters high so-called 'Dead Wire'.

AN IRON CURTAIN

It became a triple separation; two rows of barbed wire and in between a fence with more than 2000 volts of electricity. For this, galvanized or copper wires were used that were attached with insulators to the poles up to more than 1.5 meters high. The wires were only 30 cm apart; how do you get through that? Many fell victim: smugglers, spies, refugees, border residents: more than 800 victims were 'electrocuted' in the war, as it was called.

A PASSAGE FRAME

Hundreds of refugees managed to flee to the Netherlands using, among other things, wooden barrels, with the help of woolen blankets, through a wooden bicycle rim, a passage frame, completely covered in rubber, and so on. The passage frame was a special clamp to reach the other side. The 'folding frame' consisted of strips with a slot in which a piece of outer bicycle tire was placed for insulation. At the ends, they were connected by two short hinged strips. By placing the device between the wires and opening it, an opening of 75 by 30 cm was created to crawl through. Clever.

Source: information panel at the exhibit

Eddy&Rita