Westerbork
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Concentration camp Vught, also known as concentration camp Herzogenbusch , was the only purpose built concentration camp in the Netherland. The other 2 major camps, Westerbork and Amersfoort, were already built before the war as a refugee center and army barracks. The construction of Camp Vught began in May 1942. The camp consisted of 36…
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Approximately 25,000 Jews from Germany and Austria sought refuge in the Netherlands in the 1930s after the Nazis came to power. They were welcomed in the Netherlands because many Dutch were appalled by the treatment of the Jews in Germany. The photograph above shows a large protest meeting in the Amsterdam R.A.I. in 1938 against…
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On the eve of World War II, the Jewish population of the Netherlands numbered approximately 140,000–150,000 people, representing about 1.5 percent of the country’s total population. The community was highly urbanized, with Amsterdam serving as its undisputed cultural and demographic center. Known affectionately by its Hebrew-derived nickname Mokum (“place” or “city”), Amsterdam was home to…
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I came across an excerpt from the book Wiswassebeesjes by author Dieta Kalk. I can’t think of a proper translation for the word, but that doesn’t really matter. In the book the writer, recalls the removal of the Wallage family from Aprikozenweg 21 in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, a day after seeing the Star of David.…
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We are only a few weeks away from the 2026 FIFA World Cup. This milestone inspired me to look back at players who never had the chance to compete in major football tournaments, either as players or coaches. Before diving into their individual stories, consider the context of the photograph above: a game of football…
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The Holocaust wasn’t only the mass murder of Jews and others, it was preceded by other crimes. Although many people would not have perceived them as crimes, because they were legalised by Nazi laws. The greed of the Nazis was expressed in a large number of measures, orders and ordinances (VO) with the force of…
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The involvement of the Dutch railways (Nederlandse Spoorwegen, or NS) in the Holocaust is a deeply tragic chapter in Dutch history. During World War II, the NS played a significant role in the deportation of Jews and other persecuted groups to Nazi concentration and extermination camps. Context and Occupation The Netherlands was occupied by Nazi…
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The “Westerbork Film” refers to a film shot by Rudolf Breslauer at the Westerbork transit camp during World War II. This film is a significant historical document because it provides a rare visual record of life in a Nazi transit camp. The film was commissioned by Albert Gemmeker, the Westerbork Camp Commandant in 1944. He…
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Starting in May 1942, wearing a yellow fabric star in the Netherlands, called the “Star of David,” was made compulsory by the Nazis. This measure made it easy to identify Jewish people and was designed to stigmatize and dehumanize them. This was not a new idea; since medieval times many other societies had forced their…
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Martin Haas was born Martijn Haas, at the end of 1936 in Breda, a small city in the south of the Netherlands. Just before the war started, about two hundred Jews lived in Breda. Martin survived because his parents kept him safe in hiding. His parents and 2 of his siblings did not survive. His…
History of Sorts 