"Arbeitslager Oud Leusden” was a labor camp near Camp Amersfoort. The official name of Camp Amersfoort was” Polizeiliches Durchgangslager Amersfoort”, abbreviated PDA.
From 18 August 1941, the PDA was in use until the spring of 1943, when it was closed for a short time to be renovated and expanded and more and more prisoners were sent to Amersfoort. They all had to be put to work. Companies in the area were approached to take in forced laborers. The camp “Oud Leusden” then functioned as shelter and sleeping place.
From Camp Vught, approximately 70 men were sent there from May 1943, who had to dig a shooting range for tanks in Amersfoort and returned to Camp Vught after a few months.
These were Jewish prisoners who remained under the authority of Camp Vught, but were “guests” at the PDA. The foreman was an SS guard of Camp Amersfoort. The work they had to do was digging a shooting range at the Infantry Barracks on the corner of Van Campenstraat. They did this from mid-May to July 1943. The prisoners wore "zebra suits" from Camp Vught. In Camp Amersfoort they were called "Zebrajuden" because of the striped prison clothing they wore.
From the estate of the Amersfoorter, Mr. Blijdenstijn, who reported daily what was happening in Amersfoort during the war and also interviewed people about it, comes the following report from a certain Mr. De Jongh, recorded by Mr. Blijdenstijn and which read:
De Jongh said that 50 Jews were shoveling sand on the grounds of the barracks at Leusderweg 50. His neighbor Mooy, a retired teacher, had stood and watched from Van Campenstraat. That was not allowed. One of the soldiers, who was standing guard with a rifle on his shoulder while wheeling sand, forced him to join in the wheeling. This lasted for an hour. Then he was released with a sharp reprimand. A girl, who also stood there watching out of curiosity, was put to peeling potatoes. I (De Jongh) also walked past it once. There was a huge mass of sand piled on a mountain. It was just a rest break and the forced laborers in striped prison clothing were sitting or lying next to their wheelbarrows.
Sources: information Kamp Amersfoort, photo provided by Kamp Amersfoort, the website Canon van Nederland/Kamp Amersfoort and the website Oorlogsbronnen.
