Kamp Amersfoort

Official Name
The official name for Kamp Amersfoort was "Polizeiliches Durchgangslager Amersfoort", P.D.A. or Police Transitcamp Amersfoort.

During the years of 1941 to 1945, over 35,000 prisoners were kept here. The camp was situated in the southern part of Amersfoort, on the city limit between Amersfoort and Leusden.

Early History
Kamp Amersfoort in 1939 still was a complex of barracks that supported army artillery exercises on the nearby Leusderheide. From 1941 onwards, it didn't merely function as a transit camp, as the name suggests. The terms "penal camp" or "work camp" would also be fitting. During the existence of the camp many prisoners were put to work, usually in Germany. Around 5,000 prisoners were sent to other camps. Another 15,000 were either released, escaped, were executed or died from deprivation.

Prisoners were transported from the camp to the train station by members of the Grune Polizei.

Two Periods: 1941-1943 and 1943-1945
The history of the camp can be separated into two periods. The first period started on August 18, 1941 and ended in March 1943. In March 1943 the all but eight of the first prisoners in Amersfoort were transferred to Kamp Vught. The purpose of the clearing was the completion the expansion of Kamp Amersfoort. Maintaining the camp, despite Kamp Vught coming 'online' in January 1943, still appeared necessary to the Nazis.

1943 to 1945
The remaining watchtower, as can be seen on the commemorative place, was built around April/May 1943, when the expansion of Kamp Amersfoort was completed and prisoners could be placed there again. In a lot of ways Kamp Amersfoort had changed relative to the first period. The most important changes were the much larger 'housing capacity', and the faster 'turnover'. What stayed the same, were the anarchy, the lack of hygiene, the lack of food, lack of medical attention and the cruelty of the guards. A point of light for the prisoners was the presence of the Dutch Red Cross. The second period ended on April 19, 1945, with the transfer of control of the camp to the Red Cross.

Prisoner Population
The strongly fluctuating and prisoner population (at first, prisoners rarely stayed more than six weeks) is not the only feature that determined the character of Kamp Amersfoort. Highly influential was the great diversity of prisoners and the extreme cruelty of the camp command. Despite their relatively short stay, many prisoners died from the deprivations and cruelty they suffered in Kamp Amersfoort. During the first period, 8,800 people were imprisoned in the camp, of which 2,200 were deported to Germany. During the period '43-'45, 26,500 people were imprisoned, of which 18,000 were sent east. After the re-opening in 1943, 70 Jews from Kamp Vught, and 600 Jews from camp Westerbork of British, American and Hungarian nationality were briefly sent there. They were joined by contract breakers of the German Arbeitseinsatz (forced labour program), AWOL Waffen SS soldiers, deserted German truck drivers of the Nationalsozialistische Kraftfahr-Korps, and lawbreaking members of the NSB (the Dutch National Socialist Movement). Reference

Camp Organizational Structure
Highest responsible authority went to the Lagerkommandant (camp commander). Below him was the Lagerführer (camp leader), who actually ran the camp. His assistants were the Blockführer (barrack leaders). Virtually all prisoners were divided into workgroups or Kommandos. These kommandos were led by an Arbeitsführer. The lowest leadership level were the Altesten (Elders), also called "prominents" or "foremen". These were prisoners, who in exchange for taking care of minor issues, usually theft among prisoners, received special privileges.

Camp Leadership
Wachbataillon Nord-West (6 companies, around 1200 men total) was commanded by SS-Hauptsturmführer Paul Anton Helle.

The first of these six companies was in charge of Kamp Amersfoort, under the command of SS-Obersturmführer Walter Heinrich. This company was split into Kamp-SS (20 men selected by Heinrich) and Guard-SS (100 men).

The first camp leader was SS-Schutzhaftlagerführer I Hans Cornelis Stöver. From January 1, 1943, the camp leader was SS-Schutzhaftlagerführer II Karl Peter Berg.

Another camp leader was SS-UnterSchutzhaftlagerführer Josef Johann Kotälla, who often replaced Stöver during his absence. This former sales representative and repeat psychiatric patient was one of the most notorious SS guards in Amersfoort.

Also notorious were Blockführer Franzka, SS-Arbeitsdienstführer Max Ritter, SS-er Hugo Hermann Wolf, among many others.