At that time there was a lot of unrest in the camp. Camp Westerbork no longer belonged to anyone, belonged to nothing and was waiting for liberation. Prisoners began looting the camp the next morning, trying to see something of the outside world from the roofs of the barracks. “One heard the cannon roar in the distance and wondered: when will the liberation come?”
That finally took place in the afternoon of April 12, 1945, when the Canadians reached the camp. “A big party broke out,” says Abuys. “There was relief, joy. The prisoners ate chocolate, smoked cigarettes. But because they were not used to it, some of them gave up.”
Because the war was not over yet, Canadians wanted the prisoners to remain in the camp. “Later, in May, you were allowed to leave the camp if you could consult an official address. Only in July did the last groups leave the camp.”
Despite the fact that the liberation is not officially commemorated today, there are still two other moments this year when the war is commemorated. And after two years, visitors are welcome again. The first moment is on May 4. Then the Remembrance Day at the Westerbork National Monument can continue in its traditional form.
In addition, the Memorial Center commemorates the first transport to the Auschwitz extermination camp on 15 July. It will then be exactly 80 years ago that the first freight train with 1,132 Jews left Westerbork for Auschwitz.