National Monument Camp Vught - Vught

When in 1942 during World War II it became apparent that the existing transit camps in Amersfoort and Westerbork could no longer handle the increasing flow of prisoners, the SS needed more space. That was the reason to set up the concentration camp 'Kamp Vught'. The official name was 'Konzentrationslager Herzogenbusch'. Unlike other concentration camps set up outside Nazi Germany, Camp Vught was built on the model of the camps in Nazi Germany. Thus, Camp Vught became the only SS concentration camp outside Nazi Germany and fell directly under the command of SS headquarters in Berlin.

The construction of Camp Vught was not at all finished when the first prisoners arrived in January 1943. The prisoners finished it themselves. Until the liberation in September 1944, a total of about 32,000 people were locked up in the camp. Besides Jews, the camp held political prisoners, resistance fighters, Sinti, and Roma ("gypsies"), Jehovah's Witnesses, vagrants, and criminals. Each prisoner received a colored triangle on their prisoner suit. There was a different color for each "type" of prisoner, so one could see exactly why they had been imprisoned.

Many atrocities also happened in this concentration camp. The most infamous are the 'Bunker drama' and the two children's transports, in which only the children were put on transport to the Sobibor extermination camp in Poland. In memory of these transports, the children's memorial "Monument to the Lost Children" is located on the grounds of Camp Vught.

National Monument Camp Vught keeps alive the memory of this war history, but it also shows in words and images the current forms of prejudice, discrimination, and racism. A visit to the museum leaves a deep impression and gives food for thought.