ABSTRACT
Westerbork was a village nobody had heard of, in the northern province of Drenthe. At an isolated spot, far from any built‐up area, a Central Refugee Camp was built for the many German Jews who were fleeing to the Netherlands. A government minister had decided that in this reception camp, refugees could receive help in their search for a place to live permanently elsewhere in the world. The isolated location would prevent the refugees from integrating into Dutch society because if they did, it would only make their departure more difficult. An earlier plan to build the camp on the Veluwe had been rejected by Queen Wilhelmina, who felt it would be too close to her crown estate of Het Loo.
