At the end of 1942, Jewish Gelderlanders are arrested and transported by train to Westerbork. Many of them end up at Auschwitz where they are gassed. Jewish patients from Het Apeldoornsche Bosch psychiatric facility undergo the same gruesome fate.
The systematic persecution and extermination of Jewish fellow-citizens and other minorities is the darkest page in the history of the Second World War. We will take the time to specifically commemorate these events.
Threat, terror, exclusion, persecution and deportation
In the night of 17 to 18 November 1942, the German occupier targets Jewish Gelderlanders in various towns and villages. Hundreds of people are arrested and taken to camp Westerbork by train. This roundup is not a lone event, but part of the occupier’s great plan to exterminate all Jews in the Netherlands.
Immediately after the roundup, the Jewish population of the Netherland is confronted with anti-Semitic measures. A period of threat, terror, exclusion, persecutions and deportation starts. Nevertheless, the 1,200 patients at the Apeldoornsche Bosch Jewish psychiatric institution are still living in relative peace at the beginning of 1943. Then, in the night of 21 to 22 January 1943, the psychiatric facility is evacuated. According to witnesses, more than 1,200 patients and 50 nurses are dragged from their beds and, partially dressed in nightwear and straitjackets, loaded onto a train and transported directly to Auschwitz, where they are killed immediately upon arrival (source: Omroep Gelderland, www.75jaarvrijheid.nl).
Read more about the persecution of Jews in Gelderland on www.75jaarvrijheid.nl.
View the story about the persecution of the Jews
Westerborkpad on the Veluwe
The Westerbork path is a marked walking route between Amsterdam and Camp Westerbork in Drenthe. The path tells the history of the persecution of the Jews and connects Jewish cemeteries, synagogues and other impressive places. On the Veluwe, the walking route crosses Nijkerk, Elburg, Ermelo, Harderwijk, Nunspeet, Oldebroek, Putten and Hattem.
A Gelderland Remembers pocket guide for on the go
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- Multiple experiences routes with stories along impressive historical locations
- An overview of restaurants, hotels and campsites in your area
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