Herzogenbusch, located in The Netherlands, was the only official concentration camp in western Europe located outside of Germany. The common name for the camp was "Vught" after the district in which the camp was located. The camp functioned from January, 1943, to September, 1944. About 30,000 inmates passed through the camp of which about 12,000 were Jews.
Below are thumbnails of three covers. The first is a cover postmarked July 24, 1943, from the Waffen SS office at Herzogenbusch. The second is a cover from a Dr. N. Tinbergen, an inmate at the Herzogenbusch work command at St. Michielsgestel postmarked December 27, 1943. The cover bears a sticker indicating that the cover was sent through the security-police. The third is a cover from an inmate at the Herzogenbusch work command at St. Michielsgestel. The cover bears a St. Michielsgestel censor cachet. Please click on the thumbnail to see the full image, and then click your back key or "Covers" in the left frame to return.
Below are thumbnails of the front and back of a parcel receipt confirmation card for a package sent to a Jewish prisoner from the Judenrat in Amsterdam. This card is identified in Lordahl as Type I2a. Please click on the thumbnail to see the full image, and then click your back key or "Philatelic Materials" in the left frame to return.
Below are thumbnails of the front and back of a postcard to Germany from "Feldpost". The card bears a 1943 "Herzogenbusch Station" postmark. Probably censored at Herzogenbusch. Please click on the thumbnail to see the full image, and then click your back key or "Postcard" in the left frame to return.
Below are thumbnails of the front and back of a Red Cross letter dated November 14, 1941, from a Dutch Jew in Tel Aviv to an inmate, Emanuel Boers, at Herzogenbusch. According to The Central Database of Shoah Victims' Names, he was transferred ultimately to Auschwitz where he died on November 19, 1943, Please click on the thumbnail to see the full image, and then click your back key or "Red Cross Letter" in the left frame to return.
Erik Lordahl, German Concentration Camps 1933-1945, History and Inmate Mail (2000). Referred to as Lordahl.
Encyclopedia Judaica, CD-Rom Edition, Keter Publishing
Aerial View of Vught Transit Camp
Copyright © 2001 Edward Victor