Collection of Westerbork camp, 1940-1945

Collection of Westerbork camp, 1940-1945
 
 Westerbork camp was established by the Dutch authorities as a refugee camp, following the influx of Jewish refugees who arrived from Germany in 1933; the refugees were permitted to leave the camp until 1940, when the Germans surrounded Westerbork camp with a fence and established that the camp would be transferred to the auspices of the Ministry of Justice; the Germans changed the designation of the camp to a transit camp for deported Jews, under the supervision of the Befehlshaber der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD in 1941; 101,525 persons were registered in Westerbork camp from 1942 and until the liberation, most of them Jews who were deported to Auschwitz camp; the inmates stayed in Westerbork camp for varying periods of time, from several hours and until several weeks, and the inmates were forced to do labor; Westerbork camp commander Schol conducted organizational changes in Westerbork camp in 1942, including the administration of the labor system, carried out in teams called Dienstzweige; the teams were based on a system of twelve, the Dienstbereiche, in various fields; at the head of the Dienstbereiche stood Jews who were originally from Germany; the Dienstbereiche position was a desired position, whose significance meant the postponement of deportation from the Netherlands; the commander Gemmeker decreased the number of the Dienstbereiche to only six in summer 1944; at Dolle Dinsdag, when in the Netherlands it was thought that the Germans had been defeated, the NSB men fled to Westerbork camp and stayed there for three weeks; the NSB men were separated from the Jewish inmates by means of a fence; Westerbork camp was liberated by Canadian Army soldiers on 12/04/1945;
 
 Included in the collection:
 
 Documents regarding the administration of Westerbork camp during 1940-1942;
 
 Documents and reports regarding daily life in Westerbork camp during 1942-1943;
 
 Various statistical reports from Westerbork camp, 1942-1945;
 
 Testimonies of survivors who were deported from Westerbork camp on transports in 1942;
 
 Lists of deportees from Westerbork camp to Auschwitz camp in 1943;
 
 Reports prepared by the Dutch Red Cross, regarding deportation from Westerbork camp in 1944;
 
 Appeals by inmates in Westerbork camp to receive exemptions from deportation, 1942-1943;
 
 Correspondence between the Westerbork camp administration and the Ministry of Justice in The Hague, 1941-1944;
 
 Documents sent by the administration of Westerbork transit camp to the Joodse Raad in Amsterdam in 1944;
 
 Documentation from Westerbork camp, regarding Austauschjuden (Exchange of Jews for Germans), 1944-1945;
 
 Accounts including the details of monetary expenses for equipment and food supplied to Westerbork camp by various companies in 1943.