Amersfoort concentration camp Amersfoort concentration camp ( , ) was a Nazi concentration camp in Amersfoort in the Netherlands . The official name was " Polizeiliches Durchgangslager Amersfoort " , P . D . A . or Police Transitcamp Amersfoort . During the years of 1941 to 1945 , over 35 , 000 prisoners were kept here . The camp was situated in the southern part of Amersfoort , on the city limit between Amersfoort and Leusden in central Netherlands . Early history . Kamp Amersfoort in 1939 still was a complex of barracks that supported army artillery exercises on the nearby Leusderheide . From 1941 onwards , it didn ' t merely function as a transit camp , as the name suggests . The terms " penal camp " or " work camp " would also be fitting . During the existence of the camp many prisoners were put to work in kommandos . In total around 37 , 000 prisoners were registered at Amersfoort . To get to the camp , prisoners had to walk from the railyard through the city and through residential neighborhoods : Visible in the windows , above and below , of most residences and behind closed lace curtains , were numerous silhouettes , especially those of children . Usually the silhouettes did not move . Sometimes , feebly and furtively , they waved . Children who waved were very quickly pulled back . It was a farewell from the inhabited world - - now a realm of shades . Two periods : 1941 - 1943 and 1943 - 1945 . The history of the camp can be separated into two periods . The first period started on August 18 , 1941 and ended in March 1943 . In March 1943 all but eight of the first prisoners in Amersfoort were transferred to Kamp Vught . The prisoner transfer to Vught allowed for the completion of an expansion of Kamp Amersfoort . Maintaining the camp , despite Kamp Vught coming ' online ' in January 1943 , still appeared necessary to the Nazis . Amersfoort was a transit camp , where prisoners were sent to places like Buchenwald , Mauthausen and Neuengamme . It was on July 15 , 1942 that the Germans began deporting Dutch Jews from Amersfoort , Vught and Westerbork to concentration camps and death camps such as Auschwitz , Sobibor and Theresienstadt . 1943 to 1945 . The remaining watchtower , as can be seen on the commemorative place , was built around April / May 1943 , when the expansion of Kamp Amersfoort was completed and prisoners could be placed there again . In a lot of ways Kamp Amersfoort had changed relative to the first period . The most important changes were the much larger ' housing capacity ' , and the faster ' turnover ' . What stayed the same , were the anarchy , the lack of hygiene , the lack of food , lack of medical attention and the cruelty of the guards . A point of light for the prisoners was the presence of the Dutch Red Cross . The second period ended on April 19 , 1945 , when control of the camp was transferred to Loes van Overeem of the Red Cross following the sudden flight of the German camp staff . The facility remained in operation under the auspices of the Red Cross until May 7 , when Canadian soldiers of the First Canadian Army arrived to officially liberate the camp . Soldiers of I Canadian Corps fighting north from Arnhem were halted about a mile from Amersfoort before the end of the war , and liberation came on the day the German forces laid down their arms in the Netherlands . The camp and surrounding area was administered by the 1st Canadian Division and later transferred to the 3rd Canadian Division , Canadian Army Occupation Force in June 1945 . Prisoner population and life in Amersfoort . The fluctuating prisoner population showed an eclectic group of people from all over Holland : Jews , Jehovah ' s Witnesses , POW ' s from the Soviet Union , members of the resistance , clergy , black marketeers , clandestine butchers and smugglers . From 1941 - 1943 , 8 , 800 people were imprisoned in the camp , of which 2 , 200 were deported to Germany . During the period 1943 - 1945 , 26 , 500 people were imprisoned , of which 18 , 000 were sent east to places like Buchenwald and Natzweiler concentration camps . After the re - opening in 1943 , 70 Jews from Kamp Vught and 600 Jews from camp Westerbork of British , American and Hungarian nationality were briefly sent to Kamp Amersfoort . They were joined by contract breakers of the German Arbeitseinsatz ( forced labour program ) , AWOL Waffen SS soldiers , deserted German truck drivers of the Nationalsozialistische Kraftfahr - Korps , and lawbreaking members of the NSB ( the Dutch National Socialist Movement ) . This medley of prisoners was not the only feature that determined the character of Kamp Amersfoort . The extreme cruelty of the camp command made life miserable for thousands of prisoners . Despite their relatively short stay , many prisoners died from deprivations and violence at a camp where " rumour has it that one can hear the screams of people being beaten up there for miles over the heath . It is more than a rumour . " Jewish prisoners in particular were treated horribly , not only from guards , but fellow prisoners . Edith and Rosa Stein , two Hebrew Catholics arrested by the SS , described what it was like arriving at Amersfoort at 3 : 00 in the morning on August 3 , 1942 : Violence from the guards was not the only thing that prisoners had to worry about . Weakened physical conditions from overwork , very little food and poor hygiene in camp made illness and disease another frightening and lonely way to die . Yehudit Harris , a young boy in Amersfoort remembers screaming from the pain as his mother washed him with snow in the winter to rid them of lice and to protect against illness . Even the mattresses that prisoners slept on were often infested with lice , diphtheria , dysentery or T . B . Amersfoort was a brutal place to be a prisoner and is summed up by Elie Cohen , was said that " transfer from Amersfoort to Westerbork was like going from hell to heaven . Camp organizational structure . Highest responsible authority went to the Lagerkommandant ( camp commander ) . Below him was the Lagerführer ( camp leader ) , who actually ran the camp . His assistants were the Blockführer ( barrack leaders ) . Virtually all prisoners were divided into workgroups or Kommandos . These kommandos were led by an Arbeitsführer . The lowest leadership level were the Altesten ( Elders ) , also called " prominents " or " foremen " . These were prisoners , who in exchange for taking care of minor issues , usually theft among prisoners , received special privileges . Camp leadership . Wachbataillon Nord - West ( 6 companies , around 1200 men total ) was commanded by SS - Hauptsturmführer Paul Anton Helle . The first of these six companies was in charge of Kamp Amersfoort , under the command of SS - Obersturmführer Walter Heinrich . This company was split into Kamp - SS ( 20 men selected by Heinrich ) and Guard - SS ( 100 men ) . The first camp leader was SS - Schutzhaftlagerführer I Hans Cornelis Stöver . From January 1 , 1943 , the camp leader was SS - Schutzhaftlagerführer II Karl Peter Berg . Berg was a very cruel man , who was described as a " predator who derived great pleasure from the agony of others " . During roll call he loved to sneak about unnoticed behind the rows of men and catch someone in some violation , such as talking or not following orders properly . With a big grin , he would torment his victim . " Another camp leader was SS - UnterSchutzhaftlagerführer Josef Johann Kotälla , a notorious sadist who often replaced Stöver during his absence . This former sales representative and repeat psychiatric patient was one of the most infamous SS guards in Amersfoort . B . W . Stomps , a Resistance fighter sent to Amersfoort recalled Kotälla ' s actions in the Christmas season of 1944 : On 23 December , Kotälla announced a ban on parcels for three weeks , which meant no Red Cross presents for Christmas or New Year . He further cancelled breakfast , lunch and dinner on Christmas Day itself , using the discovery of a smuggled letter as a pretext . And as an extra punishment on Christmas morning he kept the men standing on the parade ground , which was covered with thick snow , from their roll - call at seven till half past midday . A few days before , the geese for the guards ' Christmas dinner had been on show , hanging on the barbed wire . Also notorious were Blockführer Franzka , SS - Arbeitsdienstführer Max Ritter , SS - er Hugo Hermann Wolf , among many others . In 1948 the camp commandant and guards of Amersfoort were tried and convicted for their crimes . Karl Peter Berg was sentenced to death and was executed in 1949 . Josef Johann Kotälla was also sentenced to death but it was later commuted to life in prison . Along with three other prisoners he become involved in what was known as the " Breda Four , " a group of prisoners whose possible release stirred up very strong feelings amongst Dutchmen . Kotalla was never released and died in prison . The Netherlands Institute for War Documentation ( NIOD ) , has many resources to the guards of Amersfoort and their trials . The NIOD has dossiers on the following Amersfoort guards and personnel : Berg , Brahm , Dohmen , Fernau , Helle , Kotalla , May , van der Neut , Oberle , Stover , Voight , Westerveld and Wolf . Newspaper clippings are available for Berg , Fernau , Stover and Helle . Court records for the trial of these guards are also available , the following being a sampling of what is available : 1 . ) Indictment and verbal reports made by the period of the trial against EE Alscher , K . P . Berg , E . Brahm , J . J . Kotälla , e . g . May , J . Oberle and H . H . Wolf , November 16 – 14 December 1948 . 2 . ) Graphic shorthand reports made by the period of the trial against EE Alscher , K . P . Berg , E . Brahm , J . J . Kotälla , e . g . May , J . Oberle and H . H . Wolf , 16 – 23 November 1948 .