Jewish Labor Camp Arriën

At the site of the former Arriën labour camp, there are a number of information boards recalling its history. Before the war, plans existed from the Rijksdienst voor Werkverruiming to build a camp here where the unemployed would be put to work. The camp was commissioned for this purpose in November 1940 but this did not last long.

From January 1942 until the night of 2 to 3 October (Yom Kipur) of that year, the camp was used as a buffer for Camp Westerbork. Jewish men lived in the camp as labourers during that period and were employed in digging and road construction. On the said night, all Jewish men from the labour camps, including those from Camp Arriën, were deported to Camp Westerbork. They had been led to believe that family reunification would take place there. There was hardly any question of transport. The arduous journey had to be made on foot. The reasonable rations were considerably reduced after some time, because the occupying forces did not consider it necessary to provide sufficient food to Jewish people. Of the 96 men from this camp, only two survived the war.

The camp was a reception centre for evacuees from the "Randstad" after 1942. They had to make way for the activities around the Atlantic Wall. From 1946, as a result of the prevailing housing shortage, the barracks were occupied by families from the surrounding area. In 1969, the camp was closed and demolished.

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