On April 13, 1945, the concentration camp Westerbork was liberated by the Canadian Army. 70 years later we go to Westerbork. The village celebrates the end of the war. In my blog, I tell you more about history, the festivities, and my visit to “Kamp Westerbork”. Remembrance Day is annually celebrated on the 4th of May.

Two trains a week to Auschwitz

The Nazis (нацист) brought together Jewish people from all over Holland in concentration Camp Westerbork and from there they were “transported” to Auschwitz. Anne Frank followed this fatal route along with 70 others pushed in the carriage of a freight train. Westerbork was the main transit camp to Auschwitz. (Judendurchgangslager) in the Netherlands. We visit Camp Westerbork on April 13, 2015. A bus takes us from the Memorial Center Westerbork to the concentration camp. Fierce winds and ice rain castigate an open field flanked on one side by a row of radio telescopes. I shiver. A surrealistic scene unfolds. Are these telescopes seeking contact with the 102.000 people who passed through this antechamber of death? At the entrance, the residence of the camp commander is inevitably marked as a token of apocalyptic history. The place, encased in glass construction, delivers a clear message: We will never forget! The last train from Westerbork to Auschwitz left in September 1944. In April 1945 Canadians find 900 Jewish people in the camp. Some of them went home immediately. But Holland was not completely liberated yet. So, others stayed in the camp to guard Dutch collaborators that were imprisoned in the former concentration camp. Ironically the camp was founded and financed in 1938 by the Dutch National Jewish league to house Jews who fled Germany after the Kristallnacht. A Chronological Overview of the Persecution of The Dutch Jews and the function of Westerbork in the master plan of the Nazis is displayed at the Memorial Center about the holocaust (ホロコースト) in Westerbork, Holland. The Center is open every day. Some people stay overnight with their camper on the parking lot.
➔ READ MORE – Anne Frank Diary written at Anne Frank House

 Commemorate and celebrate the liberation of Westerbork

The village of Westerbork buzzes with activity. The historical events that took place on April 13 1945 are replayed by actors, volunteers, and an impressive convoy of military vehicles. The final attack on the German headquarters is reenacted. Shots, smoke, the rattling of tanks, and children crying. History materializes in a vast parade of old military vehicles. The guys with their vehicles are already two weeks on the road. They reenact “The final Push” of the Canadian forces to liberate the North of Holland. In Holland, a club called “Wheels” keeps old Willy Jeeps, trucks, motorcycles, and tracked vehicles rolling. The convoy of “Keep them Rolling” continues the day after to Groningen. The guys, mainly single men, spend the night in tents or in their vehicles in a bivouac in the village.

Where to find the Memorial Center Westerbork?

Originally was Westerbork concentration camp built by the Dutch government in 1939 as a refugee camp. However, during World War II, it was repurposed by the Nazis as a transit camp for Jews being deported to extermination camps. How horrifying, over 100,000 Jews, Roma, and Sinti were deported from Westerbork, making it a tragic symbol of the Holocaust’s horrors.

Address: Memorial Center Westerbork, Oosthalen 8, 9414 TG Hooghalen.
Telephone: 0593 – 592600
Opening hours: The Center is open every day from 10 am till 17 pm on weekdays and from 13 to 17 pm on weekends. The Memorial Center is about 170 km from Amsterdam.
➔ READ MORE – Memorial Center Westerbork

How to get from Amsterdam to Westerbork

Visit the former Nazi Concentration Camp Westerbork and the Memorial Center Westerbork. A privat guide will tell you all there is to know about the history of Camp Westerbork, 2e World War, deportations, Anne Frank and other jewish, Siti and Roma and the holocaust.
➔ READ MORE – GetYourGuide – From Amsterdam to Westerbork

Where to stay overnight near Camp Westerbork

At the center of the little village Westerbork you find only one hotel, “Hotel Abdij de Westerburcht“, this hotel can be booked at Booking.com. In the area nearby Westerbork are more hotels and B&B’s to find, for example “Gasterij de Koekoekshof“, this hotel is run by a nice family and is near Nature Parc Drentse Aa.
➔ READ MORE – Hotel Abdij de Westerburcht
➔ READ MORE – Gasterij de Koekoekshof

Literatuur about Westerbork

Letters from Westerbork, history of Wesrterbork, what happend at Camp Westerbork during WW2?
If you are interessted in books about Westerbork? You can order them at Bol.com.
➔ READ MORE – English literature about Camp Westerbork

Do you like to know more about WW2 and trains?

Railways and steamtrains in WW2 in Belgium. Annual at 4 and 5 May is a journey back to the past. Make a ride on a steam train, visit the Museum Steam Train and Train Materials. 
Dutch and Belgian Liberation Celebration in Maldigem, Belgium 
➔ READ MORE – Railroad to Victory Festival in Maldegem, Belgium