During the Second World War, Camp Westerbork was known as ‘the gateway to Hell’. It was a transit camp to concentration camps like Auschwitz and Sobibor. However, the camp, built in 1939, was first used as a refugee camp for Jews fleeing from Germany and Austria.
Until its demolition in 1971, the camp was used almost continuously. Learn more about each time period below.
On 16 May 1944, there was an enormous razzia in the Netherlands. 578 Sinti and Roma were captured and taken away to Camp Westerbork. Before the Second World War broke out, around 4,500 Sinti and Roma travelled around the Netherlands with their violin orchestras and sales ware. They were banned from travelling. A share of the Sinti and Roma took up residence in houses out of fear of being deported.
On 14 May 1944, the German occupier sent a telegram to the Dutch police forces in the Netherlands with the task to execute ‘a central arrest of all persons residing in the Netherlands that bear the characteristic “gypsy”.’ All Sinti and Roma families had to be brought to Camp Westerbork.
In Westerbork, it became clear that the Dutch police forces had taken the term ‘gypsy’ too broadly. Around 200 people did not appear to be Sinti or Roma, but were travellers (caravan dwellers). They were released shortly after their arrival. Over 50 Sinti and Roma carried passports of a neutral or allied country – they, too, were allowed to leave the camp.
Questions for which there was no answer.
The other almost 250 Sinti and Roma ended up in the punishment area of Camp Westerbork. For three days, they were guarded here by the Jewish Ordedienst (OD) of the camp. Edgar Weinberg was one of the guarding OD-members: ‘It was an odd group who was brought into the camp. They were no Jews but gypsies. We were tasked to guard them during the night. So, there we were, with a large torch at the ready. Every now and then, women came up to us who would carefully ask questions about what was going to happen to them. These were questions we couldn’t answer, either.’
On 19 May 1944, 247 Sinti and Roma were deported from Camp Westerbork to the destruction camp Auschwitz-Birkenau. One of them was Settela Steinbach, now world famous by the footage of her in the wagon opening that was made in Westerbork that day. Settela was born in 1934 in Borne. During the Second World War, she and her nine brothers and sisters lived on a mobile home camp near Eindhoven. On 16 May 1944, Settela ended up in Camp Westerbork, in barrack 69. Three days later, she was put on transport.
Witness of departure
This transport was recorded for the Westerborkfilm by camp prisoner Rudolf Breslauer. Years after the war, Sintezza Crasa Wagner, who was in the same wagon as Settela, testified about the departure from Camp Westerbork. And about Settela. ‘I was in the wagon with that girl. I was sitting flat on the ground next to her, and she was in front at that door. Her mother yelled for her to go away from there. Because we heard the bolts go onto the doors outside. “Go away from there,” the mother yelled, “Or else your head will be caught between them!” I believe she was looking at a dog, which was walking outside the train. Her mother pulled her away from that door in the end.’
On 22 May 1944, the deported Sinti and Roma arrived in Auschwitz-Birkenau. They were put up in a special ‘Zigeunerlager’, a part of Birkenau in which more than 22,000 Sinti and Roma were imprisoned during that period. At the end of July 1944, the ‘Zigeunerlager’ was vacated. The Sinti and Roma who were still able to work were transferred to other camps. Those who remained were murdered.
Of the 247 Sinti and Roma that were taken away from Camp Westerbork, only 32 would survive the war. On 3 August 1944, Settela Steinbach was killed in the gas chambers of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
During the first few weeks of the occupation, the Nazis left the Jews in peace. It was the fanatical members of the NSB (National Socialist Movement) that sped up the harassment of the Jews. But this was not all. On June 1st, 1940, Jews were banned from being members of the Air Defence Corps. Initially, this seems to be an almost harmless move, but two months later a ban on the ritual slaughtering of animals was enforced, hitting at the heart of devout Jews. This was typical of how the Nazis disguised their sanctions as decisions which were apparently humane. Gradually, the Jews in the Netherlands became separate from the rest of the population. There was a whole new series of rules and laws, and Jews were removed from cultural life. Jewish businesses came under strict scrutiny and a detailed description of what constituted ‘Jewish’ was issued.
All government workers had to sign the Ariërverklaring (declaration of Aryan descent) to say whether they were Jewish. This was followed by the dismissal of Jewish government employees. They had to leave the ministries, town halls, universities and schools. This hit the Jews very hard, as they were completely locked out of their jobs. In the Jewish neighbourhoods of Amsterdam, there were strong-arm gangs causing scuffles and fist-fights. Many non-Jewish Amsterdammers sided with their discriminated-against neighbours. The last straw was when four hundred Jewish men were arrested in a raid. On 25th February, 1941, a strike broke out. There was anger about the hunt for the Jews, bitterness about the growing poverty and general discontent amongst the working classes. A short time later, despite these protests, inmates from the prison camp in Schoorl, near Bergen, were sent on a train to the Buchenwald concentration camp. Those who survived were later sent to Mauthausen.
In the year 1941, the division between Jews and non-Jews was made much wider with a series of rigorously-applied sanctions. The sign ‘Forbidden for Jews’ appeared on the doors and gates of cafes, swimming pools, sports fields, museums, zoos, libraries, theatres, markets and many other public places. Jews had to hand over their money, and their businesses were confiscated. All associations had to expel Jewish members. In November, Jews were not even allowed to travel without permission. From 2nd May, 1942, it became compulsory for all Jews to wear a visible Star of David. The deportation of Jews from the Netherlands started not long after this. For this purpose, on 1st July, 1942, Camp Westerbork became the Polizeiliches Juden Durchgangslager (Police-supervised Jewish Transit Camp).
