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112-674: In the spring of 1941, the SS established a small adjacent camp for male inmates, who built and managed the camp's gas chambers in January 1945. Of the female prisoners who passed through the Ravensbrück camp, about 50,000 perished; some 2,200 were killed in the gas chambers. Construction of the camp began in November 1938 by the order of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler and was unusual in that it

224-499: A Ravensbrück survivor from France who published her own eyewitness account of the camp in 1975. After liberation, Anna Garcin-Mayade , French painter and member of the French Resistance, painted works illustrating prisoners and the terrible conditions of the camps; these were recreations of works she had created while in the camps. In 2005, Ravensbrück survivor Judith Sherman published a book of prose and poetry titled Say

336-554: A bedroom community as the increasingly dense population of Amsterdam caused the canals to smell in the summer. Many well-to-do gentlemen moved their families to summer homes in the Spring and commuted between addresses. Popular places for summer homes were along the Spaarne in southern Haarlem. Pieter Teyler van der Hulst and Henry Hope built summer homes there, as well as many Amsterdam merchants and councilmen. Today, boat travel along

448-519: A central role in the GDR's remembrance policy under Erich Honecker . They were controlled by the Ministry of Culture and served as places of identification and legitimisation of the GDR. According to historian Anne-Kathleen Tillack-Graf the political instrumentalisation of these memorials, especially for the current needs of the GDR, became particularly clear during the major celebrations of the liberation of

560-493: A former Ravensbrück guard (1944-1945), who had lived in San Francisco , CA since 1959. When a new prisoner arrived at Ravensbrück she was required to wear a colour-coded triangle (a winkel ) that identified her by category, with a letter sewn within the triangle indicating the prisoner's nationality. For example, Polish women wore red triangles, denoting a political prisoner, with a letter "P" (by 1942, Polish women became

672-465: A generous portion of bread, margarine, and sausage. Conditions quickly deteriorated. Elsie Maréchal , a young Belgian who worked with the Comet Line , was a prisoner at Ravensbrück from 1943 to 1945. She described the conditions: They didn't shoot the women. We were to die of misery, hunger and exhaustion...when we arrived at Ravensbrück, it was the worst. The first thing I saw was a cart with all

784-401: A large cage, the size of a birdhouse the like you see at a zoo. Within it paraded peacocks ( stolzierten ) and on a climbing tree dangled monkeys and a parrot which always screamed the same word, "Mama". I wondered, "this is a concentration camp"? Buber-Nuemann wrote how her first meal in Ravensbrück exceeded her expectations, when she was served sweet porridge with dried fruit ( backobst ), plus

896-491: A major trading centre for tulips, and it was at the epicentre during tulip mania , when outrageous prices were paid for tulip bulbs. From the opening of the Leiden-Haarlem canal Leidsevaart in 1656, it became popular to travel from Rotterdam to Amsterdam by passenger boat rather than by coach. The canals were dug for passenger service only, and were comfortable though slow. The towpath led these passengers through

1008-401: A mass grave was found by the cemetery accidentally. In more recent excavations, archaeologists have found human body parts that were never fully burned in cremation. Ravensbrück archaeology is hard to come by from the actual site itself, as most of its artifacts escaped with its survivors. Many of these artifacts were lost once some of the survivors reached Sweden. Survivors kept them hidden in

1120-436: A new government, the economy would improve and that export-oriented economic activities, such as the textile industry, would recover. In the beginning of the 19th century, the defense walls had lost their function, and architect Zocher Jr. planned a park on the location of the former defense line. The city walls and gates were demolished, and the bricks were reused for construction of factories and workers' homes . Haarlem became

1232-462: A sand dune: 'elevated place'. The name Haarlem or Haarloheim would therefore mean 'home on a forested dune'. There was a stream called "De Beek", dug from the peat grounds west of the river Spaarne as a drainage canal. Over the centuries the Beek was turned into an underground canal, as the city grew larger and the space was needed for construction. Over time it began to silt up and in the 19th century it

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1344-525: A second triangle for the other categories. For example, quite often it was for rassenschande ("racial pollution"). Some detainees had their hair shaved, such as those from Czechoslovakia and Poland, but other transports did not. In 1943, for instance, a group of Norwegian women came to the camp (Norwegians/Scandinavians were ranked by the Nazis as the purest of all Aryans). None of them had their hair shaved. Between 1942 and 1943, almost all Jewish women from

1456-631: A thin strip of land above sea level known as the strandwal ( beach ridge ), which connects Leiden to Alkmaar . The people on this narrow strip of land struggled against the waters of the North Sea from the west, and the waters of the IJ and the Haarlem Lake from the east. Haarlem became wealthy with toll revenues that it collected from ships and travellers moving on this busy north–south route. As shipping became increasingly important economically,

1568-623: Is a city and municipality in the Netherlands . It is the capital of the province of North Holland . Haarlem is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad , one of the more populated metropolitan areas in Europe; it is also part of the Amsterdam metropolitan area . Haarlem had a population of 162,543 in 2021. Haarlem was granted city status or stadsrechten in 1245, although

1680-420: Is located on the river Spaarne , giving it its nickname Spaarnestad (Spaarne city). It is situated about 20 km (12 mi) west of Amsterdam and near the coastal dunes . Haarlem has been the historical centre of the tulip bulb-growing district for centuries and bears its other nickname Bloemenstad (flower city) for this reason. Haarlem has a rich history dating back to pre-medieval times, as it lies on

1792-576: Is probably for that reason the most notable Dutch history books from the Dutch Golden Age period were published in Haarlem; by Hadrianus Junius (Batavia), Dirck Volkertszoon Coornhert (Works), Karel van Mander (Schilderboeck), Samuel Ampzing (Description and Ode to Haarlem), Petrus Scriverius (Batavia Illustrata), and Pieter Christiaenszoon Bor (Origin of the Dutch wars). Beer brewing

1904-755: The Baltic Sea to Bavaria . Among the thousands executed at Ravensbrück were four members of the British World War II organization Special Operations Executive (SOE): Denise Bloch , Cecily Lefort , Lilian Rolfe and Violette Szabo . Other victims included the Roman Catholic nun Élise Rivet , Élisabeth de Rothschild (the only member of the Rothschild family to die in the Holocaust ), Russian Orthodox nun St. Maria Skobtsova ,

2016-523: The Book of Trades document created by Jan Luyken and his son. In 1632 a tow canal between Haarlem and Amsterdam, the Haarlemmertrekvaart was opened, the first tow canal in the country. The empty areas in the city that were a result of the fire of 1576 were filled with new houses and buildings. Even outside the city wall buildings were constructed—in 1643 about 400 houses were counted outside

2128-614: The Doctors' Trial in 1946. Between 120 and 140 Romani women were sterilized in the camp in January 1945. All had been deceived into signing the consent form, having been told by the camp overseers that the German authorities would release them if they complied. All inmates were required to do heavy labor ranging from strenuous outdoor jobs to building the V-2 rocket parts for Siemens . The SS also built several factories near Ravensbrück for

2240-639: The Sint-Bavo Church . However, the terms of the treaty were not kept, with the Spanish soldiery plundering the townspeople's property. Despite Haarlem's ultimate fall, the fact that the Haarlemers had been able to stand for seven months against the whole Spanish array inspired the rest of Holland to resist the invaders, and their prolonged resistance allowed the Prince of Orange to prepare and arm

2352-545: The Uckermark death complex of Ravensbrück was Ruth Neudeck (January 1945 – March 1945). Regular Aufseherinnen were not usually granted access to the internees' compound unless they supervised inside work details. Most of the SS women met their prisoner work gangs at the gate each morning and returned them later in the day. The treatment by the female guards in Ravensbrück was normally brutal. Elfriede Muller, an Aufseherin in

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2464-614: The ringvaart or the North Sea Canal . Pleasure boating in the summer has become an important Haarlem tourist attraction, though it is not possible to travel all of the original canals as in Amsterdam. The creation of new land in the Haarlemmermeer polder from 1852 onwards meant that the city could no longer refresh the water in its canals from the Spaarne river. The increase in industry worsened water quality. In 1859,

2576-539: The 25-year-old French Princess Anne de Bauffremont-Courtenay , Milena Jesenská , lover of Franz Kafka , and Olga Benário , wife of the Brazilian Communist leader Luís Carlos Prestes . The largest single group of women executed at the camp were 200 young Polish members of the Home Army . A number of lesbians were imprisoned and murdered at the camp, including Henny Schermann and Mary Pünjer . Among

2688-407: The 74 Polish victims, called Kaninchen , Króliki , Lapins , or "Rabbits" by the experimenters, five died as a result of the experiments, six with unhealed wounds were executed, and (with assistance from other inmates) the rest survived with permanent physical damage. Four such survivors— Jadwiga Dzido , Maria Broel-Plater, Władysława Karolewska, and Maria Kuśmierczuk—testified against Nazi doctors at

2800-524: The Communist survivors of the camp was French Resistance member Louise Magadur . Maisie Renault, sister of Gilbert Renault, wrote about her captivity in Ravensbrück in La Grande Misère which won France's Prix Verité in 1948. Other survivors who wrote memoirs about their experiences include Gemma La Guardia Gluck , sister of New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia , as well as Germaine Tillion ,

2912-727: The Dutch government levied heavy taxes on foreign cotton producers this was a profitable business for the NHM-factories, especially for export to the Dutch East Indies . The programme started in the 1830s, and was initially successful. However, after 1839 when Belgium split away from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, the protectionist measures for the Dutch East Indian market were removed, and

3024-643: The Jewish victims of fascism. Since 1984, the former SS headquarters have housed the Museum des antifaschistischen Widerstandskampfes (Museum of Anti-fascist Resistance). After the withdrawal from Germany of the Soviet Army , which up to 1993 had been using parts of the former camp for military purposes, it became possible to incorporate more areas of the camp into the memorial site. The three National Memorials Buchenwald , Sachsenhausen , and Ravensbrück played

3136-539: The Manpad where they were decisively defeated. On 13 July 1573, after seven months of siege, the city surrendered. Many defenders were slaughtered; some were drowned in the Spaarne river. Governor Ripperda and his lieutenant were beheaded. The citizens were allowed to buy freedom for themselves and the city for 240,000 guilders and the city was required to host a Spanish garrison. Don Fadrique thanked God for his victory in

3248-652: The Name . Sherman writes of her childhood home in Kurima , Czechoslovakia , and of several deportations, hiding in homes and in the forest, undergoing torture, and witnessing murder in Ravensbrück before her final liberation. Approximately 500 women from Ravensbrück were transferred to Dachau , where they were assigned as labourers to the Agfa-Commando ; the women assembled ignition timing devices for bombs, artillery ammunition, and V-1 and V-2 rockets. Gustav Noske ,

3360-609: The Oude Gracht canal stank so badly in the summer that it not only forced visitors away, but posed a public health threat due to cholera outbreaks. It was filled in to create a new street called the Gedempte Oude Gracht. The periodic cholera outbreaks had not been new, but they had been increasing. In 1591, the city fathers had ordered excavation to build the Verwulft, a wide bridge over the Oude Gracht connecting

3472-490: The Ravensbrück camp were sent to Auschwitz in several transports, following Nazi policy to make Germany Judenrein (cleansed of Jews). Based on the Nazis' incomplete transport list ( Zugangsliste ), documenting 25,028 names of women sent by Nazis to the camp, it is estimated that the Ravensbrück prisoner population's ethnic structure comprised: Poles 24.9%, Germans 19.9%, Jews 15.1%, Soviets 15.0%, French 7.3%, Romani 5.4%, other 12.4%. The Gestapo further categorised

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3584-628: The Schwedtsee Lake. Rosa Thälmann, a former concentration camp inmate and widow of the politician Ernst Thälmann , held the opening speech. Compared to Buchenwald and Sachsenhausen , it was the smallest of the three National Memorials of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) . For the inaugural opening of the National Memorial site, a scaled-up version of Tragende ( Woman with Burden ) was created (under

3696-515: The Spaarne is still possible and has become a popular form of tourism in the summer. In the 18th century, Haarlem became the seat of a suffragan diocese of the Old Catholic Church of Utrecht . At the end of the 18th century, a number of anti-Orange commissions were founded. On 18 January 1795 the "Staatse" army was defeated near Woerden . During the night preceding 19 January, the same night that stadtholder William V of Orange fled

3808-421: The Spanish army, and on 1 December the city of Naarden suffered the same fate. On 11 December 1572 the Spanish army besieged Haarlem; the city's defenses were commanded by city-governor Wigbolt Ripperda . Kenau Simonsdochter Hasselaer , a powerful widow, helped defend the city together with some three hundred other women. During the first two months of the siege, the situation was in balance. The Spanish army

3920-525: The Swedish and Danish Red Cross shortly after the evacuation. On 30 April 1945, fewer than 3,500 malnourished and sickly prisoners were discovered alive at the camp when it was liberated by the Red Army. The survivors of the death march were liberated in the following hours by a Soviet scout unit. The SS guards, female Aufseherinnen guards, and former prisoner-functionaries with administrative positions at

4032-581: The Women's Concentration Camp", which provides information about the origins of the camp, describes daily life in the camp, and explains the principle of Vernichtung durch Arbeit (extermination through work). Since 2004 there has also been an exhibition about the female guards at the Ravensbrück Women's Concentration Camp, housed in another of their former accommodation blocks. Additionally, temporary exhibitions of special interest are held regularly at

4144-465: The architect Lieven de Key and Jan Steen who made many paintings in Haarlem. The Haarlem councilmen became quite creative in their propaganda promoting their city. On the Grote Markt, the central market square, there's a statue of Laurens Janszoon Coster who is allegedly the inventor of the printing press . This is the second and larger statue to him on the square. The original stands behind

4256-584: The beer it produced was consumed in North Holland . During the Spanish siege, there were about 50 breweries in the city. In 1620, the city had about one hundred breweries. There was another epidemic of the Black Death in 1657, which took a heavy toll in the six months it ravaged the city. From the end of the 17th century, the economy in the city worsened for a long time. In 1752, only seven breweries remained, and by 1820 no breweries were registered in

4368-479: The bodies were kept nearby at the site of their cremation. In 2019, the archaeological remains of Polish women were found in the Fürstenberg cemetery. Nine urns and two plaques were discovered. Their ashes were found buried with metal plaques that had once been part of their urns. The urns had since broken down in the soil but the plaques still have the identities of those who were buried there. Previously in 1989,

4480-409: The bulb fields south of Haarlem. Haarlem was an important stopover for passengers from the last half of the 17th century and through the 18th century until the building of the first rail tracks along the routes of former passenger canal systems. As Haarlem slowly expanded southwards, so did the bulb fields. Today, rail passengers between Rotterdam and Amsterdam in spring can see blooming bulb fields on

4592-726: The business began to flounder. When the American Civil War reduced the import of raw cotton significantly after 1863, the business went sour. Only Prévinaire was able to survive through specialisation with his "Turkish Red" dye. The Prévinaire "toile Adrinople" was popular. Prévinaire's son went on to create the Haarlemsche Katoenmaatschappij, which made a kind of imitation batik cloth called "La Javanaise" that became popular in Belgian Congo . In England in 1804, Richard Trevithick designed

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4704-484: The camp as well. At first, they arrived with mothers who were Romani or Jews incarcerated in the camp or were born to imprisoned women. There were few children early on, including a few Czech children from Lidice in July 1942. Later the children in the camp represented almost all nations of Europe occupied by Germany. Between April and October 1944, their number increased considerably, consisting of two groups. One group

4816-612: The camp was so harsh that the prisoners nicknamed her "The Beast of Ravensbrück". Other guards in the camp included Hermine Boettcher-Brueckner , Luise Danz , Irma Grese , Herta Oberheuser , and Margarethe de Hueber. The female chief overseers ( Lagerfuehrerinnen and Oberaufseherinnen ) in Ravensbrück were: In 1973, the U.S. government extradited Hermine Braunsteiner , living in Maspeth, Queens , NY, for trial in Germany for war crimes , and in 2006, extradited Elfriede Rinkel , 84,

4928-484: The camp was strictly prohibited. Despite this, there are still artifacts found today that display resistance. A sprig of the lily of the valley is a prime example. While only a piece of plastic, if caught could be considered an act of "sabotage" and largely punishable. In an interview done just after liberation in Sweden, Interview 420 describes: "The smallest infractions were elevated to the level of 'sabotage', which brought

5040-702: The camp were arrested at the end of the war by the Allies and tried at the Hamburg Ravensbrück trials from 1946 to 1948. Sixteen of the accused were found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity and sentenced to death. Having fled to Bavaria, Fritz Suhren and Hans Pflaum  [ fr ] were caught by the American troops in 1949 and were sent to the French occupation zone . The trial and appeal took place from February to May 1950. The jury

5152-502: The camp were cremated in the nearby Fürstenberg crematorium until 1943 when SS authorities constructed a crematorium at a site near the camp prison. In January 1945, the SS also transformed a hut near the crematorium into a gas chamber , where they murdered several thousand prisoners before the camp's liberation in April 1945; in particular, they executed some 3,600 prisoners from the Uckermark police camp for "deviant" girls and women, which

5264-438: The camp's operational period. The technical term for a female guard in a Nazi camp was an Aufseherin , 'overseer'. Ravensbrück also served as a training camp for over 4,000 female overseers. The women either stayed in the camp or eventually served in other camps. Some of these women went on to serve as chief wardresses in other camps. Several dozen block overseers (Blockführerinnen), accompanied by dogs, SS men and whips oversaw

5376-552: The camp. Prisoners could be punished if caught but many disregarded camp rules and continued to make art in secret, such as dolls for orphaned or lost children. Chances were not good for children at Ravensbrück. Many lost their mothers, and as a result lost what little protection they did have. Many were medically experimented on or killed. Children on their own would not survive in the camp but women would step forward and behave as surrogate/adoptive mothers, making dolls and taking care of them. The creation of art or personal belongings in

5488-608: The city gained the right to collect tolls, including ships passing the city on the Spaarne river. At the end of the Middle Ages , Haarlem was a flourishing city with a large textile industry, shipyards and beer breweries. Around 1428, the city was put under siege by the army of Jacqueline, Countess of Hainaut . Haarlem had taken side with the Cods in the Hook and Cod wars and thus against Jacoba of Bavaria. The entire Haarlemmerhout wood

5600-522: The city grew, and the situation became so tense that on 27 May many (Spanish-loyal) prisoners were taken from the prison and murdered; the Spaniards had previously gibbeted their own prisoners of war. In the beginning of July the Prince of Orange assembled an army of 5,000 soldiers near Leiden to free Haarlem. However, he was prevented from accompanying them in person and the Spanish forces trapped them at

5712-530: The city hall in the little garden known as the Hortus (where today the Stedelijk Gymnasium school is located). Most scholars agree that the scarce evidence seems to point to Johann Gutenberg as the first European inventor of the printing press, but Haarlem children were taught about "Lau", as he is known, well into the 20th century. This legend served the printers of Haarlem well, however, and it

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5824-572: The city of Amsterdam became the main Dutch city of North Holland during the Dutch Golden Age . The town of Halfweg became a suburb, and Haarlem became a quiet bedroom community , and for this reason Haarlem still has many of its central medieval buildings intact. Many of them are now on the Dutch Heritage register known as Rijksmonuments . The list of Rijksmonuments in Haarlem gives an overview of these per neighbourhood, with

5936-445: The city was rebuilt quickly, an indication of the wealth of the city in those years. The Black Death came to the city in 1381. According to an estimate by a priest from Leiden the disease killed 5,000 people, about half the population at that time. In the 14th century, Haarlem was a major city. It was the second largest city in historical Holland after Dordrecht and before Delft , Leiden, Amsterdam, Gouda and Rotterdam . In 1429

6048-661: The city. In the 1990s, the Stichting Haarlems Biergenootschap revived some old recipes under the Jopen beer brand that is marketed as a "Haarlem bier." In 2010, Jopen opened a brewery in a former church in central Haarlem called the Jopenkerk. In 2012, Haarlem gained another local brewery with Uiltje Brewing in the Zijlstraat , which specializes in craft beer. Since the 1630s, Haarlem has been

6160-431: The concentration camps. Today, the former accommodation blocks for the female guards are a youth hostel and youth meeting center. In the course of the reorganization, which took place in the early 1990s, the Museum des antifaschistischen Widerstandskampfes was replaced by two new permanent exhibitions: "Women of Ravensbrück", which displays the biographies of 27 former prisoners, and "Ravensbrück. Topography and History of

6272-458: The country, the various commissions gathered and implemented a revolution. The commissions changed the city's administrators in a bloodless revolution, and the next morning the city was "liberated" of the tyranny of the House of Orange. The revolution was peaceful, and the Orange-loyal people were not harmed. The Batavian Republic was then proclaimed. The French army entered the liberated city two days later, on 20 January. An army of 1,500 soldiers

6384-406: The crematorium. One form of resistance was the secret education programmes organised by prisoners for their fellow inmates. All national groups had some sort of programme. The most extensive were among Polish women, wherein various high school-level classes were taught by experienced teachers. In 1939 and 1940, camp living conditions were acceptable: laundry and bed linen were changed regularly and

6496-419: The dead piled on it. Their arms and legs hanging out, and mouths and eyes wide open. They reduced us to nothing. We didn't even feel like we had the value of cattle. You worked and you died. Starting in the summer of 1942, medical experiments were conducted without consent on 86 women; 74 of them were Polish inmates. Two types of experiments were conducted on the Polish political prisoners. The first type tested

6608-482: The destroyed city walls. Just like the rest of the country, the Golden Age in the United Provinces had started. The new citizens had a lot of expertise in linen and silk manufacture and trading, and the city's population grew from 18,000 in 1573 to around 40,000 in 1622. At one point, in 1621, over 50% of the population was Flemish-born. Haarlem's linen became notable and the city flourished. Today an impression of some of those original textile tradesmen can be had from

6720-487: The economy and attract workers for the brewing and bleaching businesses (Haarlem was known for these, thanks to the clean water from the dunes), the Haarlem council decided to promote the pursuit of arts and history, showing tolerance for diversity among religious beliefs. This attracted a large influx of Flemish and French immigrants (Catholics and Huguenots alike) who were fleeing the Spanish occupation of their own cities. Expansion plans soon replaced plans of rebuilding

6832-406: The effects of this can be seen in the Haarlem railway station , now a rijksmonument. Instead of more than two hours, Amsterdam was now only 30 minutes away. The old passenger service by trekschuit along the Haarlemmertrekvaart was quickly taken out of service in favour of the train service, which was quicker and more reliable. In 1878, a Beijnes-made horse tram started servicing passengers from

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6944-410: The efficacy of sulfonamide drugs. These experiments involved deliberate cutting into and infecting of leg bones and muscles with virulent bacteria, cutting nerves, introducing substances like pieces of wood or glass into tissues, and fracturing bones. The second set of experiments studied bone, muscle, and nerve regeneration, and the possibility of transplanting bones from one person to another. Out of

7056-425: The end of 1942, the inmate population of Ravensbrück had grown to about 10,000. The greatest number of prisoners at one time in Ravensbrück was probably about 45,000. Between 1939 and 1945, some 130,000 to 132,000 female prisoners passed through the Ravensbrück camp system. According to Encyclopædia Britannica , about 50,000 of them perished from disease, starvation, overwork and despair; some 2,200 were murdered in

7168-480: The expanded city, and at the end of the 14th century a 16½-metre high wall was built, complete with a 15-metre wide canal circling the city. In 1304 the Flemish threatened the city, but they were defeated by Witte van Haemstede at Manpad . All the city's buildings were made of wood, and fire was a great risk. In 1328 nearly the whole city burnt down. The Sint-Bavokerk was severely damaged, and rebuilding it would take more than 150 years. Again on 12 June 1347 there

7280-459: The fire: a wide strip through the city was destroyed. The combined result of the siege and the fire was that about a third of the city was destroyed. The fire and the long siege had taken their toll on the city. The Spanish left in 1577 and under the Agreement of Veere , Protestants and Catholics were given equal rights, though in government the Protestants clearly had the upper hand and Catholic possessions once seized were never returned. To restore

7392-399: The first city walls were not built until 1270. The modern city encompasses the former municipality of Schoten as well as parts that previously belonged to Bloemendaal and Heemstede . Apart from the city, the municipality of Haarlem also includes the western part of the village of Spaarndam . Newer sections of Spaarndam lie within the neighbouring municipality of Haarlemmermeer . Haarlem

7504-430: The first locomotive. The government of the Netherlands was relatively slow to catch up, even though the king feared competition from newly established Belgium if it would construct a railway between Antwerp and other cities. The Dutch parliament balked at the high level of investment needed, but a group of private investors started the Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij on 1 June 1836. It took three years to build

7616-399: The first track on the railway, between Haarlem and Amsterdam along the old tow canal called the Haarlemmertrekvaart . The ground there was wet and muddy. On 20 September 1839, the first train service in the Netherlands started. The train had a speed of about 40 km/h (25 mph). The train service gave the Beijnes company, and indirectly the whole economy of Haarlem, a strong boost, and

7728-399: The food was adequate, although in the first winter of 1939/40, limitations began to be noticeable. The German Communist, Margarete Buber-Neumann, came to Ravensbrück as an inmate after nearly two years in a Russian Soviet Gulag . She described her first impressions of Ravensbrück in comparison to the Soviet camp in Karaganda: I looked across the great square, and could not believe my eyes. It

7840-430: The former German Minister of Defense (1919–1920), stayed in Ravensbrück concentration camp after his arrest by the Gestapo in 1944. Later Noske was freed by advancing Allied troops from a Gestapo prison in Berlin. Camp commandants included : The other male officers were : Besides the male Nazi administrators, the camp staff included over 150 female guards assigned to oversee the prisoners at some point during

7952-427: The gas chambers. On 29–30 April 1945, some 3,500 prisoners were still alive in the main camp. Although the inmates came from every country in German-occupied Europe, the largest single national group in the camp were Polish. In the spring of 1941, the SS authorities established a small men's camp adjacent to the main camp. The male inmates built and managed the gas chambers for the camp in 1944. There were children in

8064-632: The highest possible sentences: whipping, the bunker, and even execution by shooting. For making toe-warmers with camp wool for her stockings in the winter, a prisoner would get 25 blows and two weeks in the bunker". Many of the items were made of spare bits of plastic, wood, or cloth. SS">SS The requested page title contains unsupported characters : ">". Return to Main Page . Haarlem Haarlem ( Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɦaːrlɛm] ; predecessor of Harlem in English )

8176-467: The inmates as: political 83.54%, anti-social 12.35%, criminal 2.02%, Jehovah's Witnesses 1.11%, rassenschande (racial defilement) 0.78%, other 0.20%. The list is one of the most important documents, preserved in the last moments of the camp operation by members of the Polish underground girl guides unit " Mury " (The Walls). The rest of the camp documents were burned by escaping SS overseers in pits or in

8288-426: The largest national component at the camp). Soviet prisoners of war, and German and Austrian Communists, wore red triangles; common criminals wore green triangles; and Jehovah's Witnesses were labelled with lavender triangles. Prostitutes, Romani, homosexuals, and women who refused to marry were lumped together, with black triangles. Jewish women wore yellow triangles but sometimes, unlike the other prisoners, they wore

8400-415: The majority in the old city centre. The oldest mention of Haarlem dates from the 10th century. The name probably comes from "Haarlo-heim". This name is composed of three elements: haar , lo and heim . In Old Dutch toponyms lo always refers to 'forest' and heim ( heem , em or um ) to 'home' or 'house'. Haar , however, has several meanings, one of them corresponding with the location of Haarlem on

8512-436: The memorial. On 16 and 17 April 2005, a ceremony was held to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the camp's liberation. Among those invited were approximately 600 survivors from all over the world, mostly eastern Europe. At the same time a new, permanent outdoor exhibition was opened, on the theme of the train transports to Ravensbrück. Its central exhibit is a refurbished goods wagon. The exhibition's information boards describe

8624-542: The north and south portions of the Grote Houtstraat . Such "overclosures" can still be seen in other Dutch cities, such as the Nieuwmarkt in Amsterdam. From 1879, the population of the city almost doubled in thirty years, from 36,976 to 69,410 in 1909. Not only did the population grow, but the city was expanding rapidly, too. The Leidsebuurt district was incorporated into Haarlem in the 1880s. A small part of

8736-686: The origins of the transports and how they developed over time and explain the different types of trains, where they arrived, and the part played by the local residents. It is probably the only exhibition so far at a German memorial which is dedicated solely to the subject of the transports to the camp. A monument to the French victims of Ravensbruck is one of the memorials to several concentration camps in Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris . Ravensbrück did not have its own burial site, so most of

8848-535: The prisoners in their living quarters in Ravensbrück, at roll call and during food distribution. At any single time, a report overseer (Rapportführerin) handled the roll calls and general discipline of the internees. Rosel Laurenzen originally served as head of the labour pool at the camp (Arbeitdienstführerin) along with her assistant Gertrud Schoeber. In 1944 Greta Bösel took over this command. Other high ranking female guards included Christel Jankowsky, Ilse Göritz, Margot Dreschel , and Elisabeth Kammer. Head wardress at

8960-423: The production of textiles and electrical components. Ravensbrück was the main supplier of women for the brothels set up at many major Nazi camps toward the end of the war. Although women often volunteered for these positions, hoping they would be spared the most difficult physical labour and perhaps receive better rations, most in fact died quickly due to sexual abuse and the rampant spread of venereal disease. For

9072-455: The provincial capital of North Holland province in the early 19th century. In the mid-19th century, the city's economy slowly started to improve. New factories opened, and a number of large industrial companies were founded in Haarlem by Thomas Wilson, Guillaume Jean Poelman, J.B.T. Prévinaire , J.J. Beijnes , Hendrik Figee , Gerardus Johannes Droste , and G.P.J. Beccari. The Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij (NHM or Dutch Trade Company)

9184-550: The quality of that water was not good enough either. From the 17th century, a canal (Santvaert) was used to transport water from the dunes to the city. The water was transported in barrels on ships. The location where the water was taken is called the Brouwerskolkje, and the canal to there still exists, and is now called the Brewers' Canal (Brouwersvaart). Haarlem was a major beer producer in the Netherlands. The majority of

9296-582: The railway station to the Haarlemmerhout woodland park, and in 1894, the Eerste Nederlandsche Electrische Tram Maatschappij (ENET) was founded with cars built by Beijnes and became the first Dutch electric tram, which ran in Haarlem from 1899 onwards. Though the old trekvaart was closed for water traffic after railway development, it is still possible to travel by boat from Amsterdam to Haarlem, via

9408-422: The rest of the country for war. Some 12,000 of the Spanish army had fallen during the siege. The city suffered a large fire in the night from 22 to 23 October 1576. The fire started in brewery het Ankertje, near the weighhouse at the Spaarne, which was used by mercenaries as a guarding place. When they were warming themselves at a fire it got out of control. The fire was spotted by farmers, who sailed their ships on

9520-457: The right to bear the Count's sword and cross in its coat of arms . On 23 November 1245 Count Willem II granted Haarlem city rights . This implied a number of privileges, among which the right for the sheriff and magistrates to administer justice, instead of the Count. This allowed for a quicker and more efficient judiciary system, more suited to the needs of the growing city. After a siege from

9632-401: The river. However, the soldiers turned down all help, saying that they would put out the fire themselves. This failed, and the fire destroyed almost 500 buildings, among them St-Gangolf's church and St-Elisabeth's hospital . Most of the mercenaries were later arrested, and one of them was hanged on the Grote Markt in front of a large audience. Maps from that era clearly show the damage done by

9744-454: The route between Leiden and Haarlem. As the centre of trade gravitated towards Amsterdam, Haarlem declined in the 18th century. The Golden Age had created a large upper middle class of merchants and well-to-do small business owners. Taking advantage of the reliability of the trekschuit connection between Amsterdam and Haarlem, many people had a business address in Amsterdam and a weekend or summer home in Haarlem. Haarlem became more and more

9856-486: The sculptor Will Lammert was commissioned to design the memorial site between the crematorium , the camp wall, and Schwedtsee Lake . Up to his death in 1957, the artist created a large number of sculpted models of women. On 12 September 1959, the Ravensbrück National Memorial was inaugurated outside the former concentration camp on an area of 3.5 ha between the former camp wall and the shore of

9968-490: The spring of 1945, the SS leadership decided to remove as many prisoners as they could, in order to avoid leaving live witnesses behind who could testify as to what had occurred in the camp. At the end of March, the SS ordered all physically capable women to form a column and exit the camp in the direction of northern Mecklenburg, forcing over 24,500 prisoners on a death march . Some 2,500 ethnic German prisoners remaining were released, and 500 women were handed over to officials of

10080-691: The supervision of Fritz Cremer ) and exhibited. This central symbolic figure, also known as the " Pietà of Ravensbrück", stands atop a stele on the peninsula in Lake Schwedtsee. The Zwei Stehende ( Two Women Standing ) monument also has its origins in Lammert's models. Other statues, which were also originally created for Ravensbrück, have been on display at the Old Jewish Cemetery in Berlin Mitte since 1985, in commemoration of

10192-563: The surrounding area of Kennemerland in 1270 a defensive wall was built around the city. Most likely this was an earthen wall with wooden gates. Originally the city started out between Spaarne, Oudegracht, Ridderstraat, Bakenessergracht and Nassaustraat. In the 14th century the city expanded, and the Burgwalbuurt, Bakenes and the area around the Oudegracht became part of the city. The old defenses proved not to be sufficiently strong for

10304-457: The survivors of Ravensbrück was author Corrie ten Boom , arrested with her family for harbouring Jews in their home in Haarlem , the Netherlands. She documented her ordeal alongside her sister Betsie ten Boom in her book The Hiding Place , which was eventually produced as a motion picture. Polish Countess Karolina Lanckoronska , an art historian and author of Michelangelo in Ravensbrück ,

10416-609: The waistbands and hems of their clothes. As the women were being cleaned, their clothes were burned. While the women showed hesitation in getting rid of their clothes, no one voiced why they were upset about it. They didn't yet trust the people taking care of them after all they had endured. Karin Landgren Blomqvist helped the survivors but regrets this detail: The clothes one was to take care of proved to be dirty rags, infested with lice, which were according to Swedish standards too worn down to be worth cleaning. The consequence

10528-414: The wall. Having buildings outside the city walls was not a desirable situation to the city administration. Not only because these buildings would be vulnerable in case of an attack on the city, but there was also less control over taxes and city regulations outside the walls. Therefore, a major project was initiated in 1671: expanding the city northwards. Two new canals were dug, and a new defensive wall

10640-505: The women in the camp, it was important to retain some of their dignity and sense of humanity. Therefore, they made necklaces, bracelets, and other personal items, like small dolls and books, as keepsakes. These personal effects were of great importance to the women and many of them risked their lives to keep these possessions. Some of these types of effects can be seen at the exhibition "Voices from Ravensbrück" (hosted by Lund University Library, Sweden). The bodies of those perished or killed in

10752-497: Was a fire in the city. A third large fire, in 1351, destroyed many buildings including the Count's castle and the city hall. The Count did not need a castle in Haarlem because his castle in The Hague (Den Haag) had taken over all functions. The count donated the ground to the city and later a new city hall was built there. The shape of the old city was square—this was inspired by the shape of ancient Jerusalem. After every fire

10864-447: Was a very important industry in Haarlem. Until the 16th century, the water for the beer was taken from the canals in the city. These canals were connected to seawater, via the Spaarne and the IJ. However, the canal water was getting more and more polluted and less suitable for brewing beer. A place 1.5 km (0.9 mi) south-west of the city was then used to take fresh water in. However,

10976-579: Was burnt down by the enemy. When the city of Brielle was conquered by the Geuzen revolutionary army, the municipality of Haarlem started supporting the Geuzen. King Philip II of Spain was not pleased, and sent an army north under the command of Don Fadrique (Don Frederick in Dutch), son of Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba . On 17 November 1572 all citizens of the city of Zutphen were killed by

11088-612: Was composed of Romani children brought into the camp with their mothers or sisters after the Romani camp in Auschwitz-Birkenau was closed. The other group included mostly children who were brought with Polish mothers sent to Ravensbrück after the collapse of the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. Most of these children died of starvation. Ravensbrück had 70 sub-camps used for slave labour that were spread across an area from

11200-405: Was composed of representatives from the French, Dutch and Luxembourg governments, presided by the chief justice officer of the French zone . Several dozens of former prisoners were subpoenaed. Suhren and Pflaum were accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity. They were sentenced to death and executed on 12 June 1950. On the site of the former concentration camp, there is a memorial. In 1954,

11312-598: Was constructed (the current Staten en Prinsenbolwerk). Two old city gates, the Janspoort and Kruispoort, were demolished. The idea that a city had to be square-shaped was abandoned. After the fall of Antwerp, many artists and craftsmen migrated to Haarlem and received commissions from the Haarlem council to decorate the city hall. The paintings commissioned were meant to show Haarlem's glorious history as well as Haarlem's glorious products. Haarlem's cultural life prospered, with painters like Frans Hals and Jacob van Ruisdael ,

11424-477: Was digging tunnels to reach the city walls and blow them up; the defenders dug in turn and undermined the Spaniards' tunnels. The situation worsened on 29 March 1573: the Amsterdam army, faithful to the Spanish king, controlled Haarlemmermeer lake, effectively blocking Haarlem from the outside world. An attempt by the Prince of Orange to destroy the Spanish navy on the Haarlemmermeer had failed. Hunger in

11536-539: Was filled in. The village had a good location: by the river Spaarne, and by a major road going south to north. By the 12th century it was a fortified town, and Haarlem became the residence of the Counts of Holland . In 1219 the knights of Haarlem were laurelled by Count Willem I , because they had conquered the Egyptian port of Damietta (or Damiate in Dutch, present-day Dimyat ) in the fifth crusade . Haarlem received

11648-638: Was founded by King Willem I to create employment opportunities. As one of the cities in the western part of the Netherlands with the worst economic situation, three cotton mills were created in Haarlem under the NHM-program in the 1830s. These were run by experts from the Southern Netherlands, whom the NHM considered better at mechanical weaving through the local expertise of Lieven Bauwens . The contract winners were Thomas Wilson, whose factory

11760-503: Was imprisoned there from 1943 until 1945. SOE agents who survived were Yvonne Baseden and Eileen Nearne , who was a prisoner in 1944 before being transferred to another work camp and escaping. Englishwoman Mary Lindell and American Virginia d'Albert-Lake , both leaders of escape and evasion lines in France, survived. Another SOE agent, Odette Sansom , also survived and is the subject of several biographies documenting her ordeals. Among

11872-668: Was intended exclusively to hold female inmates. Ravensbrück first housed prisoners in May 1939, when the SS moved 900 women from the Lichtenburg concentration camp in Saxony . Eight months after the start of World War II the camp's maximum capacity was already exceeded. It underwent major expansion following the invasion of Poland . By the summer of 1941 with the launch of Operation Barbarossa , an estimated total of 5,000 women were imprisoned, who were fed gradually decreasing hunger rations. By

11984-478: Was provided with food and clothing by the citizens. The new national government was strongly centralised, and the role and influence of the cities was reduced. The Batavian Republic signed a mutual defense pact with France and was thus automatically at war with England. The strong English presence at sea severely reduced trading opportunities, and the Dutch economy suffered accordingly. The textile industry, which had always been an important pillar of Haarlem's economy,

12096-631: Was situated north of what is today the Wilsonplein, Guillaume Jean Poelman, who was in business with his nephew Charles Vervaecke from Ghent and had a factory on what today is the Phoenixstraat, and Jean Baptiste Theodore Prévinaire , who had a factory on the Garenkokerskade and whose son Marie Prosper Theodore Prévinaire created the Haarlemsche Katoenmaatschappij in 1875. These cotton factories produced goods for export, and because

12208-532: Was suffering at the beginning of the 19th century. Strong international competition and revolutionary new production methods based on steam engines already in use in England dealt a striking blow to Haarlem's industry. In 1815, the city's population was about 17,000 people, many of whom were poor. The foundation of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands in that year gave hope to many who believed that under

12320-430: Was surrounded by manicured lawns, covered by flower beds on which bloomed bright red flowers. A wide street, which led to a large open area, was flanked by two rows of wooden barracks, on both sides stood rows of young trees and along the roadside ran straight flower beds as far as the eye could see. The square and the streets seemed freshly raked. To the left towards the watchtower, I saw a white wooden barrack and beside it

12432-557: Was taken under the control of the Ravensbrück SS at the start of 1945. In January 1945, prior to the liberation of the remaining camp survivors, an estimated 45,000 female prisoners and over 5,000 male prisoners remained at Ravensbrück, including children and those transported from satellite camps only to be murdered in the gas chamber , which was being performed in haste. With the Soviet Red Army 's rapid approach in

12544-467: Was that it was all burned. Many survivors protested, but few dared to say why. They dared not believe we were fully without German influence. We had been too naïve and unsuspecting. Inseams, hems, and waistbands, many had with great effort and danger for life during internment in camp managed to save personal souvenirs and treasures. Now, when liberation was a fact, they lost these very last objects from their original lives. These were things secretly made in

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