Information Panel Refuge Gouda

This site in Gouda was home to a refugee camp where Belgian refugees stayed until around 1900 between 1914 and 1919. This information board tells the largely forgotten story of Vluchtoord Gouda.

After the arrival of the first refugees in 1914, 5 horticultural greenhouses were set up as living quarters. In the following years, the camp was expanded with wooden buildings that were used as church, hospital and work areas, among others.

During World War I, around 1 million Belgians fled across the border to the Netherlands. About a hundred thousand of them stayed throughout the war and were mainly kept in large camps. These refugees were welcome but the conditions of reception were often austere and primitive.

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Source

• Text: TracesOfWar
• Photos: Eric Kooistra
• https://www.wereldoorlog1418.nl/vluchtelingen/kamp-gouda/