Overview

Westerbork, the Nazi transit camp in the north of occupied the Netherlands, is unlike any other camp in WWII. This is a unique story of the lives and fates of over 105,000 Jews who went through Westerbork, on their way to concentration camps in eastern Europe during the Holocaust. The camp was overseen by Albert Gemmeker, a commander who duped thousands into boarding the trains to take them to their deaths. He was so impressed with his own work that he had it filmed. Westerbork had one of the largest hospitals in Europe, a dental practice, numerous workshops producing furniture and even toy elephants. It had its own narrow-gauge railway and farm, a theatre, a church and even the “Best Cabaret in Europe”, to entertain Adolf Eichmann. One-Way Ticket from Westerbork relates the human stories held within those trains, presented for the reader to reflect upon. This is not an historical tome but the author's reflection on what happened to people who had just became numbers, and an attempt to restore their identity.

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9789493056756

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Reviews

"Zuinigheid met vlijt (Thrift and diligence) and Haastige spoed is zelden goed (Haste makes waste). These two quotes describing the Dutch as a people, prove to have many sides, particularly during the Second World War. Jonathan Gardiner's first book is a definitive account of life at one of the lesser known ""Transit Camps"" within the Nazi death machine. Westerbork, situated in the remote Drenthe region of Northeast Netherlands, became one of the many physical purgatories utilized by the National Socialists to hold Jews, Socialists, and ""Political Prisoners"" of the Reich prior to their relocation to one of many ""Final Destinations"" throughout occupied Europe. Aside from being the brief home of Anne Frank and her family, Westerbork is largely remembered for its vibrant and renowned cabaret, consisting of many of the continent's greatest names: Camilla Spira, Willy Rosen, Otto Wallburg, Leo Kok, and Max Ehrlich, most of whom were sent to their death in places such as Theresienstadt, Mauthausen and Auschwitz. However, this book rips off the proverbial bandage of an important yet often overlooked aspect of the Dutch transit/work camp system. With incredible accuracy and uncompromised detail, Gardiner exposes the degree of cooperation by the Dutch rail system and the Dutch SS which assured the Nazi's methodical elimination of Westerbork's inhabitants took place like clockwork. Gardiner's exhaustive research examines ever train that enters and leaves the compound, revealing the lives of those not only charged with the daily operation of the camp, but those who fell victim to its processes. Oftentimes, WWII retrospectives focus solely upon the victims of persecution. One-Way Ticket from Westerbork certainly accomplishes that task yet brings to the forefront aspects of the war one rarely sees...the cooperation by parties within the occupied country. The Dutch were certainly forced to cooperate, as were all countries swallowed up by the Reich and most found sizeable numbers of businesses and citizens willing to aid their occupiers. Yet, for every instance of traitorous assistance, thousands of ordinary Dutch citizens would defy their oppressors and rise to unprecedented heights of heroism. It is with this backdrop that Mr. Gardiner's book places Westerbork under extreme scrutiny in order to dissect the day-to-day events of heroism, tragedy and complacency. Rarely does a book come along that details such cooperation and the lives involved with a clarity and definition previously afforded to only the more infamous German Lager. A must-read for anyone interested in the Holocaust as well as the role of the Dutch in their own occupation. One-Way Ticket from Westerbork gives the reader an insight into the nearly one hundred thousand souls which left this swampy outpost in the Drenthe for regions unknown as well as those responsible fort heir demise. - Dr Casey Hayes, Franklin College, Indiana"

Zuinigheid met vlijt (Thrift and diligence) and Haastige spoed is zelden goed (Haste makes waste). These two quotes describing the Dutch as a people, prove to have many sides, particularly during the Second World War. Jonathan Gardiner's first book is a definitive account of life at one of the lesser known Transit Camps within the Nazi death machine. Westerbork, situated in the remote Drenthe region of Northeast Netherlands, became one of the many physical purgatories utilized by the National Socialists to hold Jews, Socialists, and Political Prisoners of the Reich prior to their relocation to one of many Final Destinations throughout occupied Europe. Aside from being the brief home of Anne Frank and her family, Westerbork is largely remembered for its vibrant and renowned cabaret, consisting of many of the continent's greatest names: Camilla Spira, Willy Rosen, Otto Wallburg, Leo Kok, and Max Ehrlich, most of whom were sent to their death in places such as Theresienstadt, Mauthausen and Auschwitz. However, this book rips off the proverbial bandage of an important yet often overlooked aspect of the Dutch transit/work camp system. With incredible accuracy and uncompromised detail, Gardiner exposes the degree of cooperation by the Dutch rail system and the Dutch SS which assured the Nazi's methodical elimination of Westerbork's inhabitants took place like clockwork. Gardiner's exhaustive research examines ever train that enters and leaves the compound, revealing the lives of those not only charged with the daily operation of the camp, but those who fell victim to its processes. Oftentimes, WWII retrospectives focus solely upon the victims of persecution. One-Way Ticket from Westerbork certainly accomplishes that task yet brings to the forefront aspects of the war one rarely sees...the cooperation by parties within the occupied country. The Dutch were certainly forced to cooperate, as were all countries swallowed up by the Reich and most found sizeable numbers of businesses and citizens willing to aid their occupiers. Yet, for every instance of traitorous assistance, thousands of ordinary Dutch citizens would defy their oppressors and rise to unprecedented heights of heroism. It is with this backdrop that Mr. Gardiner's book places Westerbork under extreme scrutiny in order to dissect the day-to-day events of heroism, tragedy and complacency. Rarely does a book come along that details such cooperation and the lives involved with a clarity and definition previously afforded to only the more infamous German Lager. A must-read for anyone interested in the Holocaust as well as the role of the Dutch in their own occupation. One-Way Ticket from Westerbork gives the reader an insight into the nearly one hundred thousand souls which left this swampy outpost in the Drenthe for regions unknown as well as those responsible fort heir demise. - Dr Casey Hayes, Franklin College, Indiana

Author Information

"Jonathan Gardiner was born in England in 1953, to parents who had both taken part in World War II but had not witnessed the full horrors. He was educated at his local Grammar School in ""middle England"" and then went to College in London to train as a teacher. He taught in primary schools for nearly 40 years and ended his career as a well-known headteacher. He is married with two children. In the past 10 years Jonathan has become interested in Jewish Performers in Weimar Germany. He has helped to research the life of Willy Rosen, a famous Jewish composer and song lyricist, imprisoned at Westerbork. One-way Ticket from Westerbork is a culmination of a life-time's reading and interest in the Holocaust. A story that he felt needed to be told."

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