The diary of helga deen, written at vught concentration camp. The first commandant of the camp was ss captain karl chmilewski, who was well known for the atrocities he had committed at gusen, a subcamp of mauthausen. Notable books, diary of david koker guide camp vught national memorial. Andrew mcewen to enlighten the people of today how concentration camps were like. Oct 24, 2012 darkness at vught concentration camp by holocaust resistance worker, diet eman october 24, 2012 by lighthouse trails author ltrp note. Camp vught national memorial nationaal monument kamp vught. Auschwitz, on the other hand, was not built until 1940, but it soon became the largest of all the camps and was both a concentration and a death camp right from its construction.
Les premiers prisonniers arriverent a vught le janvier 1943. Remembrance tour to national memorial camp vught ww ii. Herzogenbusch concentration camp was a nazi concentration camp located in vught near the town of shertogenbosch, netherlands. The 4th kings own scottish borderers had arrived in france in late october and, in late november, found themselves taking over positions from the canadians in holland.
Waiting for the liberators was a small contingent of caretakers, made up of a group of men from the town of vught who had been detailed there since the 22nd of september. Soon, she became part of the christian resistance movement with her fiance and other young people. The first nazi camps were erected in germany in march 1933 immediately after hitler became chancellor and his nazi party was given control of the police by reich interior minister wilhelm frick and prussian acting interior minister. Herzogenbusch concentration camp was a nazi concentration camp located in vught near the. Another distinction is that vught was truly a concentration camp, or holding camp. The vught camp was directly controlled by the ss and primarily fulfilled a dual role. I checked train time table and it is about an hour train ride from. The poet is sent to a secret camp where prisoners are given an.
The holocaust lest we forget concentration camp vught. The camp of amersfoort was located along the highway utrecht amersfoort, in the province of utrecht. Thanks so much to kathy bjegovich and her father norman turner, canadian ww2 veteran and liberator of vught concentration camp for the informations they kindly sent me concerning the liberation of the camp. Herzogenbusch main camp vught the holocaust encyclopedia. When they arrived at the camp, they were put to work building barracks. This article lists some of concentration camps set up by the third reich, and includes camps such as dachau which was set up at first to help the nazis keep power and control political opponents, and other camps such as auschwitz which was set up to help fulfil the final solution. Vught camp dark tourism the guide to dark travel destinations. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Herzogenbusch became known as one of the few concentration camps located. The construction of a large concentration camp in the woods at vught started in may 1942. Amersfoort was with vught and westerbork one of the three concentration camps operated by the nazis in holland. Search results concentration camp living conditions.
Nov 01, 2009 diet was in her early 20s when holland was invaded by hitler. In september 1943, the gallows was used for the executions of 20 belgian prisoners. A regular tour for a group of adults costs 80,00 plus 4,50 per participant max. Lublin kl reception, prisoners daily life, sub camps. List of nazi concentration camps simple english wikipedia. It was an oftrepeated myth that the nazis made jews use soap made from the fat of previous holocaust victims. The nazis performed many experiments on the inmates of various camps, one of which was to gauge the damage of drinking seawater. Camp vught the konzentrationslager herzogenbusch, as camp vught was called by the german occupying forces, was the only official ss concentration camp in the netherlands. To date, no conclusive evidence has ever surfaced to support this claim, but that didnt stop the nazis from telling inmates that it was true. Darkness at vught concentration camp by holocaust resistance worker, diet eman october 24, 2012 by lighthouse trails author ltrp note. Konzentrationslager, kl or kz throughout the territories it controlled before and during the second world war. There were several convoy from vught to the major camps located in germany and poland.
Thanks also to historian wim kievits who corrected the information regarding which forces first. Thanks so much to kathy bjegovich and her father norman turner, canadian ww2 veteran and liberator of vught concentration camp for. The camp held male and female prisoners, many of them jewish and political activists. A few days ago, we were told about a youtube video recently posted of lighthouse trails author diet eman, telling the story of when she was in the christian resistance movement in holland during wwii. Vught a concentration camp for political prisoners jan vogel. The concept of concentration camp, finds its origin long before the world war ii, but their notoriety only increased when they were used as an aid for the holocaust. Hi there, i will be in amsterdam for 3 days and would like to visit the concentration camp in vught. You can book a tour in the language of your choice at an advantageous rate. The dutch called it vught after the nearby municipality where it was located. Apart from these general publications, the last decade has witnessed books. The camp was first used in 1943 and held 31,000 prisoners.
Nationaal monument kamp vught 2020 all you need to know. This is a thoughtful novel that offers insights into human existence, and it will likely stay with readers long after they have turned the last page. Also, the museum has a memorial book of testimonies of those who survived the horrors of the german concentration camps. It was constructed in late 1942 and was the only official konzentrationslager kl outside the borders of greater germany under the authority of the ss economics and administration. The famished and abused prisoners arrived at the railway station in vught and were marched off along the streets. Nationaal monument kamp vught offers free parking on site which it shares with the main vught prison of today. The jewish transit camp at vught was a section within the concentration camp herzogenbusch near the provincial capital hertogenbosch in the south of the netherlands. He was removed in october 1943 for misconduct and later sentenced to 15 years in prison by an ss court. Holocaust survivors and victims database list of c. Vught, also called herzonenbusch, small german nazi concentration camp in the town of vught, 2 miles 3 km south of the city of hertogenbosch, north brabant, neth. In the administration room the personal details of prisoners who had died, were being kept in a sterbebuch death book. Kamp vough was one of the nazi concentration camps in nl during wwii, from here thousands of jews and nl political prisoners were. Mar 23, 2020 it was strictly a concentration camp at first, but in 1942, the nazis built extermination facilities there. Built in march 1933, shortly after adolf hitler was appointed as reich chancellor, dachau would serve as a model for all subsequent concentrations camps in the third reich.
Concentration camp vught was liberated, but only a few people were present to really enjoy their freedom. Set up in early 1943, it was essentially a transit camp for dutch jews, who were worked in slavelabour projects and then shipped east to the extermination camps this article was most recently revised and updated by melissa. Camp vught, or other concentration camps around amsterdam. These data indicate that the concentration of camp under basal conditions is 1. Hans eppinger forced approximately 90 gypsy inmates to drink nothing but seawater just to see what would happen. Most prisoners were brought to majdanek in freight trains in tightly closed, crowded cattle cars deprived of any sanitary facilities, without food and water. This dehydration was so severe that inmates reportedly licked the. Herzogenbusch vught concentration camp war traveller. The konzentrationslager herzogenbusch, as camp vught was called by the german. The first prisoners arrived at the camp before it was finished at the end of 1942. Hello, i am going to amsterdam next week and i really want to see a concentration camp. The camp held male and female prisoners, many of them jewish and political activists, captured in belgium and the netherlands.
Visit to vught concentration camp amsterdam forum tripadvisor. It was the only official ss concentration camp in occupied north west europe. Herzogenbusch was, with natzweilerstruthof in occupied france, the only concentration camp run directly by the ss in western europe outside germany. Officially, in occupied holland, only vught was considered by the nazis as a concentration camp konzentrationslager herzogenbusch.
Construction of a large concentration camp in the woods at vught started in may 1942. Camp vught was the only ss concentration camp outside nazi germany. The camp was taken over by the wvha in late 1942 and was redesignated konzentrationlager herzogenbusch, which now housed political prisoners and jews, held in transit awaiting. The combined memorial centre and museum features during renewal in 2019 a memorial room and wall of reflection. Persons are placed in such camps often without benefit of either indictment or fair trial. I wanted to try and get to germany at some point to see one, but havent made it, so i am trying to get the experience in amsterdam. It was part of camp herzogenbusch, but usually better known as kamp vught camp vught. Camp vught took up a special position, because it was in fact the only official concentration camp in the netherlands. Notable inmates, anton constandse, helga deen, david koker. Dischs 1968 sciencespeculative fiction, alternate history set in the near future where the united states has declared war on the entire world and features main character louis sacchetti, a poet who resists the draft and chooses prison rather than the army.
In total, some 30,000 victims passed through the camp at vught. From 1933 to 1945, the nazis ran about 20 concentration camps with multiple subcamps within germany and poland, constructed to remove political dissidents and anyone they considered untermenschen german for subhuman from the larger society. View of the barbed wire fence and a watch tower at vught after the liberation of. And on the other hand it had the role of a transit camp for jews, of whom about 12,000 were subsequently deported to the death camps in poland especially. The german ministry of justice, in 1967, named about 1200 camps and subcamps in countries occupied by nazi germany. Theresienstadt was a concentration camp and as a transit camp en route to the killing centers in. Les premiers prisonniers juifs arriverent le 16 janvier.
Concentration camps at auschwitzbirkenau persecutions in german occupied territories paula nardai, a romni from oberwart, austria, recalls the fate of her family. Experience the history and the current importance of the former ss camp. Jehovahs witnesses, distributors of illegal pamphlets, and people who had. A camp for dutch political prisoners was established at vught, near the city in southern holland near the city of hertogenbosch, capital of the noordbrabant province. I dont have a car and therefore have to take a train or bus to the camp. You can book a tour at the camp vught national memorial, and arrange a date and time in consultation with the staff. Herzogenbusch main camp vught few concentration camps located outside the reich territory reichsgebiet. Camp vught holds a special place in dutch history of the second world war. The three most important camps were located in amersfoort, westerbork and vught. Part of the prisoners were moved to other camps shortly before the allied forces liberated the camp in 1944. Camp vught was a nazi concentration camp located near the city of shertogenbosch. Lager borkum, lager helgoland, lager norderney, lager sylt. For the most part, prisoners were placed at vught on their way somewhere else.
Camp vught national memorial nationaal monument kamp vught is located on part of the former ss camp konzentrationslager herzogenbusch, also known as camp vught january 1943 september 1944. A high wall surrounding part of the concentration camp at vught topped with steel spikes and broken glass. Amersfoort concentration camp jewish virtual library. For the german administration, amersfoort was a police camp polizeiliches durchgangslager amersfoort. Set up in early 1943, it was essentially a transit camp for dutch jews, who were worked in slavelabour projects and then shipped east to the extermination camps. It was directly under the control of the economic directorate of the ss in berlin, like the concentration camps in germany. This just goes to show the horrific lengths nazis went to to break prisonerseverything in the camps had to have the.
Although, 90% of the concentration camps were populated by jews, the remaining 10% comprised members of other political parties, journalists, prisoners of wars, clergy, or anyone. Camp concentration is one of those sf books that falls squarely into the literature category both for the eloquence of dischs writing and the timelessness of his ruminations on life and war. Camp vught konzentrationslager herzogenbusch vught. Herzogenbusch main camp vught between 1933 and 1945, nazi germany and its allies established more than 44,000 camps and other incarceration sites including ghettos. When it was first put into use in 1942, the prisoners themselves bore the burden of completing its construction. Today you will find a memorial center at the former camp site. Some were temporary holding camps detention or assembly, and a few of these camps also served as death or. Like any other nazi concentration camp, vught had its own gallows and crematorium.
Jul 08, 20 vught was the only concentration camp in the netherlands. The camp was first used in 1943 and held 31,000 prisoners and 749 prisoners died in the camp. Vught is known for having been the site of a transitconcentration camp herzogenbusch built by nazi germany during its occupation of the netherlands in world war ii. The vught camp was directly controlled by the ss and primarily fulfilled a. During the occupation of the netherlands, the germans built various types of concentration camps. Special thanks to kathy bjegovich and her father norman turner, canadian ww2 veteran and liberator of vught concentration camp, for the information they kindly sent me concerning the liberation of the camp. Concentration camp, internment center for political prisoners and members of national or minority groups who are confined for reasons of state security, exploitation, or punishment, usually by executive decree or military order.
Cytoplasmic camp concentrations in intact cardiac myocytes. The brochure does not provide a full translation of everything in the exhibition. In september 1944 the camp was largely evacuated by the ss, i. The concentration camp of dachau, 10 miles northwest of munich, was one of the first concentration camps in nazi germany. Diet was in her early 20s when holland was invaded by hitler. The diary of helga deen, written at vught concentration camp helga deen wrote her diary in a threemonth period of time in 1943, the year she was eighteen, and also the year she died. Nazi germany maintained concentration camps german. Transit camps in western europe during the holocaust ehri. The perpetrators used these locations for a range of purposes, including forced labor, detention of people deemed to be enemies of the state, and mass murder. Helga deen stettin, germany, 6 april 1925 sobibor, 16 july 1943 was the author of a diary, discovered in 2004, which describes her stay in the herzogenbusch concentration camp in vught, where she was taken during world war ii at the age of 18. The site of one of the smaller former concentration camps in the netherlands set up. Born in stettin, germany, on april 6, 1925, she was deported to vught camp with her parents and brother.
Vught was the only concentration camp in the netherlands. Watchtowers and barbed wire fences at herzogenbusch concentration camp in vught. Vught is known for having been the site of a transit concentration camp herzogenbusch built by nazi germany during its occupation of the netherlands in world war ii. In this excerpt, diet crosses paths with corrie and betsy ten boom on a train heading toward the vught concentration camp. Holocaust concentration camps, jewish history, books.
473 1486 52 1375 577 806 1598 193 890 1366 1488 630 723 1524 375 1419 1273 1439 1632 739 1223 1209 994 301 683 1265 1289 327 177