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Drenthe
Introduction
Shortly before the outbreak of WWII, the Dutch government built a camp near the town of Hooghalen to accommodate German (Jewish) refugees: Camp KZ Westerbork was used by the German occupiers as a transit camp. Many Dutch Jews, Sinti, Roma, resistance combatants and political adversaries were imprisoned before being transferred to extermination camps in Germany and occupied Poland. Anne Frank was deported on the last train leaving Camp Westerbork on September 3, 1944. Today you can visit the National Memorial Centre Westerbork to learn about the history of the former camp. In Assen you will find a monument memorial commemorating the seven hundred French paratroopers who were dropped over the province of Drenthe during the last airborne operation of WWII. Although most of the Netherlands had been liberated, Polish, Belgian and Canadian soldiers were still fighting in Drenthe in April 1945. It took another week for Drenthe to be completely liberated.