Memorial Haaren 1940-1945 - Haaren

In Haaren, the Second World War is commemorated on this memorial site. Before the building got a function in the Second World War, this was the building of the former "Groot Seminarie 's Hertogenbosch", the term for a Catholic priest school.

The isolated existence of the priests' students was rudely disrupted when on September 8, 1941, the German occupying forces requisitioned the seminary. From that moment on, the 'Polizei- und Untersuchungsgefängnis Lager Haaren' was established here. The priest students moved to the Mariaoord in Vught, but that convent too was requisitioned by the German occupation in 1942. Meanwhile, the building in Haaren served as a hostage and prison camp.

About 4000 people were imprisoned there. The last prisoners left in 1944, when Haaren was liberated.

At the initiative of two former prisoners, a memorial and museum were realized in this former prison, so that this dark period is not forgotten. The entrance consists of a monumental gate "The Gate of Sighs".
In 2019 a major fire raged here, turning the building into a ruin.