Camp Westerbork: The Dutch Concentration Camp from WWII

What you are about to see and read here came out of the blue on our Zuidlaren trip 3 weeks ago, which is why I have saved it to the last.  It was something about which I knew nothing!

The route we took to Zuidlaren happened to take us by Westerbork, which is when Astrid remembered there was a concentration camp for the Jews during WWII.  It was built by the Dutch government in 1939 in nearby Hooghalen as a refuge for the Jews fleeing from Germany.

But, sadly, in 1942 it was taken over by the Nazis and became a transit camp for over 107,000 Dutch, Romani and German Jews, deporting them by train to the concentration camps of Auschwitz, Sobibor, Bergen-Belsen, Thereisienstadt and Mauthausen.

Even though visiting this camp was not in our plan for the already full day, we both instantly made the decision to change plans and visit it.

As you enter the camp, you first see the museum...for which we paid  

but didn't have the time to see, not knowing the actual camp, 3 km away, was free.

"Camp Westerbork is the story of the murder of one person 102,000 times."

It's also the story of 93 transports leaving the camp, with only 5,000 deportees returning alive,
one of whom was Anne Frank's father.

Our museum ticket actually did give us a free bus ride to the actual camp, 3 km away.
15 July 1942--the first train to Auschwitz
12 April 1945--Camp Westerbork liberated
107,000 deported; 102,000 victims; 5,000 survivors

20,706 children

239 children born in the camp
120 barracks

The camp existed from 1939-1945, first as a refugee camp and then as a transit camp.

It was demolished in 1970.

But remnants, like these boxcars, now tell the story, leaving much to the imagination.

For instance, on 8 June 1943, 3,019 persons were transported to Sobibor in 46 wagons/boxcars.

A Ghost of the 120 barracks sits eerily in the field...

while one across the road puts flesh on its bones.

The array of telescopes nearby makes you wonder...did the Universe see????

In the heart of the camp is the Jerusalem Stone, unveiled by Israel's President in 1993.

"My sorrow is continually before me." --Psalm 38:18

At the edges of the camp are the barbed-wire fences and watch tower.

Near the watch tower, at the former roll-call site, is the National Monument Westerbork, 

designed by a former prisoner, Ralph Prins.

It symbolizes the extermination of thousands of Jews, represented by the stones,

each memorializing a murdered man, woman or child.

Further out towards the perimeter, where the trees are still silent witnesses,

are the punishment barracks where Anne Frank and her family were detained.

The Nazis used the blocks for those Jews captured in hiding,

as well as for prisoners who disobeyed the camp rules.

Anne Frank's family was arrested while hiding in Amsterdam.

They were deported on one of the last trains that left the camp, 3 September 1944.

Anne was transferred to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where she died of typhus

in Feb/Mar 1945, just weeks before the camp was liberated in April.

The commandant's house, with its glass dome, stands at the bus drop-off point

as another silent witness to the unimaginable forces of evil.

There were duplicates of notes written and B&W photos throughout the camp.

A potato cellar.  A model of the camp.  Cloves. 

Too many impressions without knowing the significance.

But the fields of lupines everywhere were not lost on us, a salve on our wounded souls.

Astrid read that the prisoners, too, were witness to them, midst their misery.

And the trees.  They were everywhere, whispering their secrets,

even when we walked the 3 km back to the museum.

In fact, near the beginning of the trail stands the JB stone and tree planted in 1937.

The then Dutch Princess, Juliana, and her husband Bernard were big on planting trees

to help reclaim land after floods.  

Little did they know for what they had prepared this land. 

Markers along the way shared dates and the number of persons transferred to concentration camps.

I picked 24 August because that's Astrid's birthday...and because Auschwitz is so well-known.

How do you find hope or solace midst such an unexpected diversion on our weekend trip?

I didn't cry then because I was numb.

But today...I cry.

England 2015: Day 6--Salisbury and Its Cathedral

This was our day to see churches much grander than the parish churches we had seen up to this point, specifically...the Salisbury Cathedral.  Sometimes you have to see both in order to appreciate either!

So, we headed out to Bradford on Avon to catch the train to Salisbury, not quite an hour's ride away.

Chris joined us for the ride and once we arrived in Salisbury...ALAN joined us (bottom right).

What a great surprise.  Another Shutterchancer to make our day!

And as we walked through the city to the cathedral, we started spotting the Barons,

celebrating 800 years of the Magna Carta (more on that later).

 Since our goal for the day was the Salisbury Cathedral, we wasted no time getting there.

Its main body was completed in only 38 years, from 1220 to 1258.

 It's spire is the UK's tallest at 123m/404 ft.

You could spend an entire day studying the outside only.  Seriously.

How can you resist these fellas?  But who are they trying to scare?

 True to English form, we first went to the cathedral's café for coffee break.

It's so Dutch, too.  So European, I guess?

Then Astrid and I were off to the Cloisters, 

following the signs to the Magna Carta in the Chapter House.

What is it about cloisters?

And there it was: The original copy of the Magna Carta from 1215, 800 years ago.

If you don't know the history, this is where the Barons come in!

You betcha that we both signed the book saying we saw it.

But even apart from the main attraction, the Chapter House is its own delight.
Notice how the NICHOLAS cushion grabbed my attention.

 Now we were ready to enter the cathedral proper, at the west front.

Those first moments always take my breath away.

Almost immediately you see all the fuss at the new baptismal font from 2008,

celebrating the cathedral's 750th anniversary.

Talk about a work of art!

Along the long nave towards the altar, it was easy to get distracted

by transepts, vestries and chapels...

 ...and statues and tombs,

and more tombs.

But by the time we reached the quire/choir, we knew we were close.

Actually, for me the quire is often the most soulful place in a grand cathedral of this size.

Was that because I sang in church choirs all those years ago?

Here you see the long stretch from the entrance to the altar,

through the quire (top and middle left).

All the way back to the entrance we found the world's oldest working clock, from 1386.

It has no face and no hands but strikes a bell at precise times.

And guess who made it?  3 clock makers from Delft, NL!

You know I found cushions, of course.

And plenty else...

...as well as people watching.

How's that for an overview!

 ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

 Then it was time for lunch near the Poultry Cross (market cross).

"Open your mouth wide and I will fill it!"

And we did.

How fun, then, to see another church but on a much smaller scale.

This is the St. Thomas Becket church from the mid-15th century,

most known for its Last Judgment or "Doom" mural filling the chancel arch.

And of course, the old wood.  The chairs.  The hymnals.  The cushions.

  ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

 Walking through town was a smattering of impressions, as always.

You know me and architecture, especially the half-timbered/Tudor buildings.

And the weathervanes, of course.

Eyes wide open.  Short of eyes.

 It was a day from beginning to end, shared with fellow friends who are important to us.

Who knew this would happen when I first joined Shutterchance in 2006!

It's become quite a community of friends, sharing our love of photography.

THANKS TO FRIENDSHIP:  Lisl, Chris, Alan...and Astrid, who became my wife because of SC!

 ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

I put this up on Facebook yesterday:

"15 years ago today he came into my life and world and changed me forever. 

And on Friday he comes from Atlanta to visit us here in the Netherlands. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Nicholas J. Grannan. You're the man!"

There's only Day 7 left to get done before he comes.

I'm off-n-running.....

England 2015: Day 2--Pencarrow House & Gardens in Cornwall

Day 1 of my week's birthday trip to England was a breeze because, well...it was a short day.  I told you each consecutive day would be longer.  But at this pace, I may just finish the trip before g'son Nicholas arrives on July 17th!

So, moving right along....

Lisl and I got up bright and early on Tuesday, 16 June, to take the train from Westbury Station, Wiltshire, to Cornwall, where we would spend two nights with Pauline, a long-time friend of Lisl's and another Shutterchancer.

How many times have I told you I love the trains of Europe!

And the longer the ride the better.  This one was 3.5 hours,

with enough time to have a bacon-buttie elevenses.

See how close we came to the coast?

There were spots when we were right at the water.

In fact, last year the heavy rains actually covered the tracks!

I especially felt lucky to get the Pegasus vane in focus passing by!

By the time we got to St. Austell, we both had taken photos and enjoyed the sun.

Pauline met us in St. Austell and drove us to her home nearby where we got settled for our stay.

Back at the end of her yard near the shed are her gorgeous chickens.

You'd swear they were her children by how much she loves them.  Seriously.

And guess what!  I never once heard them crowing the two nights/mornings I was there.

 Here's a sampling of the scads of flowers all over Pauline's yard,

preparing me for what was yet to come.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

We spent the afternoon at the Pencarrow House and Gardens in Bodmin, 30 minutes away.

 We weren't there to visit the house but to walk the land and see the gardens.

From the house there's a one-mile walk down the carriage drive to the iron age hillfort.

The closer we got, the trees whispered to us and drew us in.

By the time we got to the hillfort, we luxuriated in the strong energy of the area.

The banks and ditches aren't archeologically excavated but go back to the 3rd-1st centuries BC.

The ladies knew I wanted "old" and old I got!

And while walking along, I also got flowers!

These weren't in gardens, mind you.  They mostly just lined the road,

both coming and going back to the house and the Peacock Café.

It was time for an English afternoon tea when we got back to the house,

but what I didn't know was that the ladies had planned a proper Cornish CREAM  tea for me,

with candles, no less, for my 70th birthday.  I'm actually welled up with tears in that above photo.

A cream tea, in case you're clueless (as I was), is tea with scones smothered in clotted cream and jam!

And that's where we saw the peacock and hen, strutting their stuff.

After tea, we headed off to the small lake on the other side of the house, 

passing the largest Cornish cross of its type, found in a hedge at Trescowe ca. 1870.

Cows were off in the fields along the way, caught by my 1200mm lens, thankfully.

 But it was the wee lake, covered with lily pads, that became a long resting place for us.

All 3 of us walked around, sat, and absorbed Mother Nature.

Even the flowers there seemed different.

We didn't see any foxes but the weathervane of the Pencarrow house was a treat,

in shadow and in sun.

What a way to start a 3-day stay in Cornwall!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

I can't leave this post without a shout-out to the SCOTUS decision yesterday,

ruling that Marriage Equality is now the rule of the land nationwide in the USA.

I'll never forget the date:  26 June 2015.

My mom would have turned 99 were she still alive.

And it's still my birth month, celebrating my 70th birthday.

It happened in my lifetime, Folks!