Some of you know that my wife and I are researching the life of Benny, a Jewish kid who died in Auswitz in 1942 at 6 year old. We know Benny was brought to Westerbork, where he spend about 4 weeks before being shipped to Auswitz and we went there visiting the old camp site when we were in the neighborhood to get some impressions and maybe make contact with the people there and get some cooperation on our research. Here are some photos of our visit.
Westerbork was the place where most people from the Netherlands intended for the extermination and work camps were gathered. About 100,000 of them would be shipped to Germany and Poland to be exterminated later on. The camp was ironically build by the Dutch government to house the German Jews who fled their country because of the NAZIs before the war. They were also the first occupants when it became a durchgangslager (transition camp) in 1940. The people living there had a relatively good life. The hospital in the camp might have been the best in The Netherlands at the time. There was entertainment etc. All to fool them into keep quiet until they were brought to the "showers" in Auswitz.
The camp commandant's house is still there. People still lived in it until about 15 years ago. They put it now in a greenhouse to preserve it and stop it from decaying any further without having to change it too much. Commander Gemmeker lived here from 1942 until the end of the war.
Barb wire. Don't think it's original.
Overview of the camp site. All buildings were either demolished or sold and used as barns at farms in the 60ies of the last century. One original barrack has been brought back and somewhat restored. The locations of the original barracks are indicated by levelled ground as you see here. This used to be the kitchen.
Some original train wagons in which the people were transported to the termination camps. There was a railway line running through the camp connecting to the main Dutch railway and stopping at the far end of the camp.
The "appelplatz" is now a monument. A stone for all 102,000 people, Jews, Roma and Dutch that were brought from here to their death in the death camps.
The original barrack that was restored. It has served as a barn elsewhere in the country for about 40 years
Replica of a guards tower at the far end of the campsite.
The monument created by one of the survivors. It's exactly at the end of the railway track that ran through the camp. The rails has been deliberately bend upwards.
Part of the campsite has been used sinds the '70'ies for one of the biggest radio telescopes in Europe.
Westerbork was the place where most people from the Netherlands intended for the extermination and work camps were gathered. About 100,000 of them would be shipped to Germany and Poland to be exterminated later on. The camp was ironically build by the Dutch government to house the German Jews who fled their country because of the NAZIs before the war. They were also the first occupants when it became a durchgangslager (transition camp) in 1940. The people living there had a relatively good life. The hospital in the camp might have been the best in The Netherlands at the time. There was entertainment etc. All to fool them into keep quiet until they were brought to the "showers" in Auswitz.
The camp commandant's house is still there. People still lived in it until about 15 years ago. They put it now in a greenhouse to preserve it and stop it from decaying any further without having to change it too much. Commander Gemmeker lived here from 1942 until the end of the war.
Barb wire. Don't think it's original.
Overview of the camp site. All buildings were either demolished or sold and used as barns at farms in the 60ies of the last century. One original barrack has been brought back and somewhat restored. The locations of the original barracks are indicated by levelled ground as you see here. This used to be the kitchen.
Some original train wagons in which the people were transported to the termination camps. There was a railway line running through the camp connecting to the main Dutch railway and stopping at the far end of the camp.
The "appelplatz" is now a monument. A stone for all 102,000 people, Jews, Roma and Dutch that were brought from here to their death in the death camps.
The original barrack that was restored. It has served as a barn elsewhere in the country for about 40 years
Replica of a guards tower at the far end of the campsite.
The monument created by one of the survivors. It's exactly at the end of the railway track that ran through the camp. The rails has been deliberately bend upwards.
Part of the campsite has been used sinds the '70'ies for one of the biggest radio telescopes in Europe.
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