![Hand-drawn plan of Westerbork transit camp [LCID: 1998m9u3]](https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/images/large/65cc589f-7bde-4b86-95d9-c8ae7f23be4e.jpg)
The Dutch government established a camp at Westerbork to intern Jewish refugees who had entered the Netherlands illegally. This sketch of the Westerbork transit camp was made by a Jewish inmate who was able to emigrate to the United States. In early 1942, the German occupation authorities decided to enlarge Westerbork and convert it into a transit camp for Jews. The systematic concentration of Jews from the Netherlands in Westerbork began in July 1942. From Westerbork, Jews were deported to the killing centers in German-occupied Poland.
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