Westerbork Camp Commander Gemmeker in the Netherlands

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Camp Westerbork, located in Drenthe, Netherlands, has a complex and tragic history. It was originally built in 1939 as a refugee camp for Jewish refugees from Germany. After the German invasion of the Netherlands in 1940, the occupying forces took over the camp and it became a transit camp for Jews, Roma and Sinti who were deported to concentration and extermination camps elsewhere in Europe during World War II. Under the leadership of the German occupiers, Camp Westerbork became a central hub in the deportation of Jews from the Netherlands. Beginning in July 1942, transports to Auschwitz, Sobibor, Theresienstadt and other death camps were organized from Westerbork. These transports were notorious for their horror and the ruthlessness with which families were separated and sent to their deaths. The management of the camp was commanded by the SS, but was partially staffed by Jewish prisoners known as the Order Service. These prisoners were forced to organize the deportations and often faced heartbreaking choices. After the war, Westerbork was used as an internment camp for collaborators and NSB members before closing in 1949. Today, the site houses a memorial center that tells the story of the horrors that took place there and serves as a reminder of the victims of the Shoa. Camp Westerbork symbolizes the dark period of the Shoa in the Netherlands and the need to continue to remember and commemorate.