Tens of thousands of Jews left Germany and Austria for the Netherlands in the hope of escaping the Nazis. Many of them travelled on to other countries, but they did not always succeed. There was a single centre for the Jews who stayed behind in the Netherlands: the Central Refugee Camp Westerbork in the province of Drenthe. The government made the Dutch Jews pay for its construction.
Construction of the camp started in the summer of 1939. Workers in a state employment scheme (a government policy to keep the unemployed busy) built the barracks. The first Jewish refugees were admitted to the camp in October. They were passengers of the St. Louis, a ship which had not been allowed to moor in Cuba and had been sent back to Europe. These refugees helped to finish construction of the camp.
