Camp Amersfoort

Camp Amersfoort, located South of the homonymous community, opened in August 1941. Except for being closed for a few months in the spring of 1943, the camp remained in use until April 1945. Over 35,000 prisoners were registered there. Most people stayed at the camp only briefly. Transports regularly left for labour and concentration camps outside the Netherlands. The prisoners included members of the resistance, criminals, Jehovah‘s witnesses, youths who had tried to escape forced labour in Germany and Jews. Although the guards at Camp Amersfoort treated the prisoners very harshly in general, they were particularly cruel to Jews. In and around the camp several mock trials were conducted. A great many death sentences and reprisal executions were carried out in the camp near Leusden and especially on the Leusderheide. For additional information about Camp Amersfoort, see: www.kampamersfoort.nl