KOSHER DELIGHT - YOUR JEWISH ONLINE MAGAZINE!
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THE HOLOCAUST |
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CONCENTRATION CAMP:
Polizeiliches Durchgangslager Amersfoort (PDA)
A
view of the prisoner barracks in Polizeiliches Durchgangslager
Amersfoort. The guards were notorious for their harsh treatment of Jews
and communists.
Kamp Amersfoort
Loes van Overeenlaan 19
3832 RZ Leusden
The Netherlands
Phone: +31 33 4613129
Fax: +31 33 4615695
Email: info@kampamersfoort.nt
Website:
http://www.kampamersfoort.nl/indexuk.html
There was a concentration camp near the city of
Amersfoort during the Second World War. The camp, officially called
Polizeiliches Durchgangslager Amersfoort (Police Transit Camp
Amersfoort), better known as Kamp Amersfoort, was actually located in
the neighboring municipality of Leusden. After the war, the leader of
the camp,
Joseph Kotälla, was sentenced to death, but died in prison.
The camp of Amersfoort was
located along the highway Utrecht - Amersfoort, in the province of
Utrecht. Amersfoort was with Vught and Westerbork one of the three
concentration camps operated by the Nazis in Holland. For the German
administration, Amersfoort was a Police Camp (Polizeiliches
Durchgangslager Amersfoort). Not much information is recorded
concerning living conditions in this camp. What is known is that
thousands of Dutch and Belgian civilians received harsh and cruel
treatment at the hands of the Nazis and hundreds were executed at
this camp.
In the early stages of Nazi
measures against the Jewish people camp Amersfoort also was used to
confine and then deport the Jews of Amersfoort. In 1941, eight
hundred and twenty Jews lived in the city of Amersfoort. The
municipality at first resisted anti-Jewish measures, but could not
prevent the removal of Jews from Amersfoort's economic and cultural
life. By 22 April 1943 most of the Jewish population in camp
Amersfoort was transferred to concentration camp Vught, another of
the Nazi camps in the Netherlands. From there they were deported to
Poland for extermination. After that date the camp took on the
identity of a notorious concentration camp. Life was extremely harsh
and torturous for the inmates. Many escapees were shot by the SS.
Many Dutch Jews joined others in escape attempts. Most were shot by
the SS, however some made good their escape and joined Resistance
Fighters which were active in every Nazi occupied country. Capture
by the SS meant torture and certain death.
We don't have any document
concerning the conditions of life in this camp. What is known is
that thousands of Dutch and Belgian civilians received harsh and
cruel treatment at the hands of the Nazis and hundreds were executed
at this camp.
As a Polizeiliches Durchgangslager,
concentration camp Amersfoort became an establishment to imprison
and torture prominent Dutch and Belgian citizens. At the time of
liberation only four hundred and fifteen survivors were counted.
Hardly any of the survivors were Jews.
Related Links:
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Publication of 1942 diary marks liberation anniversary Camp
Amersfoort taken over by Red Cross
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Kamp Amersfoort, YouTube
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Kamp
Amersfoort, Satellite Map, Google
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Concentration Camps in Holland
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Decades of
Dutch Debate on Releasing World War II Criminals
-
The Holocaust - Lest We Forget
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Sources:
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KOSHER DELIGHT MAGAZINE
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