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Camp Westerbork was a World War II concentration camp in the province of Drenthe, the Netherlands.
In 1939 the Dutch government erected a refugee camp in Hooghalen, ten kilometers north of Westerbork. In Kamp Westerbork Jews of mostly German, but also Austrian, Czechoslovakian and Polish origin were housed who had tried to escape the Nazi terror in their homeland. During World War II the Nazis used the facilities and turned it into a deportation camp for Jews, about 400 Gypsies and in the very end of the War for some 400 women from the resistance movementA resistance movement is a group dedicated to fighting an invader in an occupied country. The term can also refer to any organized effort by supporters of a common goal against a constituted authority. Thus resistance movements can include any irregular a.
Between 1942Events January January 1 World War II: The word " United Nations" is first officially used to describe the Allied pact. January 2 World War II: Manila is captured by Japanese forces. January 5 Amy Johnson disappears in flight over River Thames estuary ass and about mid- 19431943 is the common year starting on Friday. Events January January 4 End of term for Culbert Olson, 29th Governor of California. He is succeeded by Earl Warren. January 11 The United States and United Kingdom give up territorial rights in China. January 1, almost every Tuesday a cargoCargo is a term used to denotes goods or produce being transported generally for commercial gain, usually on a ship, plane, train or lorry. Nowadays containers are used in all inter-modal long-haul cargo transportation. See also Cargo airline Containeriza trainThis article is about trains in rail transport. For other types of train see train (disambiguation Coventry, England In rail transport, a train consists of several connected rail vehicles that are capable of being moved together along a guideway to transp left for the concentration camps Auschwitz-Birkenau and Sobibór. In the period from 1942 till 1945Events January January 5 The Soviet Union recognizes the new pro-Soviet government of Poland. January 7 British General Bernard Montgomery holds a press conference in which he claims credit for victory in the Battle of the Bulge. January 12 World War II: a total of 107,000 people passed through the camp. Only 5,000 of them survived, most of them in Theresienstadt or Bergen-Belsen, or were liberated in Westerbork.
Anne Frank and her family were put on the first of the three last trains (the three final transports were most probably a reaction to the Allies offensive) on September 2, 1944 for Auschwitz. Three days later they arrived. Canadians liberated the camp April 12, 1945. Several hundreds of inhabitants were still there.Following its use in the 2nd World War, the Westerbork camp was first used as a penalty camp for alleged and accused Nazi collaborators, then to house Dutch nationals who fled the former Dutch East Indies ( Indonesia). In 1950- 1970 the camp was renamed to 'Kamp Schattenberg' and used to house refugees from the Maluku Islands.
In the 1970s the camp was demolished. On the site there now is a museum and a monument in rememberance to those transported and killed during the 2nd World War.
The Westerbork Synthesis Radio telescope (WSRT) was partially constructed on the site of the camp in 1969.