WESTERBORK 1939-1945

It is one of the darkest pages from the history of the Netherlands: Camp Westerbork.

Between 1942 and 1945 it served as transit camp for over 100 000 Jewish people, 245 Sinti and some tens of resistance fighters. Less-known is the fact that the camp was purpose-built in 1939 as a refugee camp.


It was a camp of extremes. Its sole purpose was deportation; 93 trains departed from here to the concentration- and extermination camps. Despite this, there were schools for the children and there was a large hospital. There were concerts and sports competitions and, yes, there was even an excellent cabaret show.


Much material about the prisoners of the camp has been saved and is now presented in this book. There are, for example, unique film recordings from 1944, hundreds of photographs and many drawings. There are postcards and letters, diaries and many written memories.


Westerbork, 1939-1945 tells the story of the refugee and transit camp. The book gives a great deal of attention to individual stories, not only of victims and survivors, but also of perpetrators and bystanders. What you are about to read is a richly illustrated story with a large amount of previously unpublished material.
Camp Westerbork tells a part of the Holocaust in Holland, during the Tweede Wereldoorlog.