Kamp
Westerbork is located near the town of Assen in the rural province of Drenthe.
It was originally built by the Dutch government to house Jewish refugees fleeing
Germany in the 1930s. When the Germans invaded the Netherlands, however, they
found the camp a convenient location for a transit camp for Dutch Jews. It served
as the primary concentration camp for Dutch Jews eventually sent to the East.
Clockwise
from top left: Drenthe countryside near Westerbork; Entrance to camp; two views
of walls in fields on grounds of camp
Jews
were sent from all over the Netherlands to Kamp Westerbork. In all, approximately
100,000 Jews went through Westerbork to the concentration and death camps of
Auschwitz, Sobibor, Thereisenstadt, and Bergen-Belsen. People were held here
anywhere from a few days to many months. As such, the camp functioned as a small
city with schools, factories, and recreation centers. However, prisoners could
not escape the reality of their detention as trains left weekly bound for camps
in the East.
In the 1950s, most building at the camp were torn down due to their deteriorating
condition.
Two
views of brick monument to Dutch Jewish victims of Holocaust on grounds of camp
(above); Entrance to SD Bunker (left); Reconstruction of bathroom facilities
as they were when camp was in operation (bottom left); Modern wall and mound
marking where building once stood (below)
