Liberation route | Remembrance of Camp Vught
Vught, Sint-Michielsgestel, Den Dungen
The Liberation Routes Brabant are eight cycle routes, spread throughout the province, that take you along the stories of World War II and liberation. One of North Brabant's most tangible and poignant reminders is National Monument Camp Vught. Get on your bike for this route past the concentration camp and more places where civilians were held captive. In the summer of 1942, the construction of... A military base? An airfield? Although dozens of construction workers from Vught and other parts of the Netherlands had been summoned to Vught to build, for a long time people did not know what was actually being built. But with unemployment and the threat of forced labour in Germany, the job was welcome. Trucks drove back and forth with 6,000 cubic metres of wood, 9,000 tonnes of cement and 30 million bricks in the end. The 15 million guilders of construction costs were financed by the German looting bank Liro, which housed looted Jewish property and assets of deported Jews. Only after months did it become clear what was being built next to the village: a concentration camp. When the first prisoners arrived, the construction was not yet finished. The prisoners had to finish it themselves under miserable conditions. In total, some 31,000 people were detained in Camp Vught, including 12,000 Jews who were mainly transported to extermination camps in Poland. Charlotte van Beuningen, a wealthy woman who lived in nearby Huize Bergen, extended a helping hand to the prisoners and arranged for food parcels to enter the camp. In the months before liberation, the atmosphere hardened and over 300 men were shot, thousands of prisoners were still being transported to Germany and the guards fled. The hostages left behind were released. When the Allies reached the camp in October 1944, it was quiet and empty. Camp Vught is not the only place in this region where people were held captive. Hundreds of Dutch men were also held hostage at the former Roman Catholic Seminary Beekvliet in an attempt to contain resistance to the German occupation. Whether they succeeded, read the story of the seminary. Photo: ©NIOD, via VisitBrabant Routebureau
| Directions | Distance | Total distance | |
|
Start: Kampdijklaan , 5263 CW Vught | 31.2 KM | |
|
From
23
to
14
|
1050 M | 1.1 KM | |
| Head southeast on Kampdijklaan | 489 M | ||
| Turn left | 149 M | ||
| Make a slight right onto Loonsebaan | 81 M | ||
| Turn right onto Victorialaan | 187 M | ||
| Turn left onto Mariaplein | 55 M | ||
| Turn left onto Deken van Oss-straat | 89 M | ||
| You are now at section 14 | 0 M | ||
|
From
14
to
63
|
774 M | 0.8 KM | |
| Head northeast on Deken van Oss-straat | 6 M | ||
| Continue straight | 4 M | ||
| Continue onto Paardensteeg | 264 M | ||
| Continue straight | 76 M | ||
| Continue onto Paardensteeg | 424 M | ||
| You are now at section 63 | 0 M | ||
|
From
63
to
64
|
2448 M | 2.4 KM | |
| Head south on Sterrebosweg | 2 KM | ||
| Turn right onto Haanwijk | 438 M | ||
| You are now at section 64 | 0 M | ||
|
From
64
to
21
|
805 M | 0.8 KM | |
| Head east on Haanwijk | 805 M | ||
| You are now at section 21 | 0 M | ||
|
From
21
to
20
|
2419 M | 2.4 KM | |
| Head northeast on Venstraat | 809 M | ||
| Make a slight left onto Pettelaarseweg | 243 M | ||
| Turn right onto Keerdijk | 1.4 KM | ||
| Turn right onto Donksestraat | 10 M | ||
| You are now at section 20 | 0 M | ||
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From
20
to
79
|
513 M | 0.5 KM | |
| Head northeast | 513 M | ||
| You are now at section 79 | 0 M | ||
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From
79
to
82
|
1292 M | 1.3 KM | |
| Head northwest on Bosscheweg | 120 M | ||
| Turn right onto Poeldonksedijk | 1.2 KM | ||
| You are now at section 82 | 0 M | ||
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From
82
to
72
|
2357 M | 2.4 KM | |
| Head southeast on Poeldonk | 794 M | ||
| Turn left onto Hooidonksestraat | 39 M | ||
| Turn right onto Tennispad | 514 M | ||
| Turn right onto Jacobskamp | 50 M | ||
| Turn left onto Pilotenstraat | 448 M | ||
| Continue right onto Groot Grinsel | 186 M | ||
| Turn left onto Litserstraat | 266 M | ||
| Make a slight left onto Bosscheweg | 25 M | ||
| Make a slight left onto H.Hartplein | 35 M | ||
| You are now at section 72 | 0 M | ||
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From
72
to
78
|
1012 M | 1 KM | |
| Head east on Grinsel | 1 KM | ||
| You are now at section 78 | 0 M | ||
|
From
78
to
74
|
4024 M | 4 KM | |
| Head southeast on Woudseweg | 777 M | ||
| Turn left onto Woudseweg | 1.6 KM | ||
| Turn right onto De Bus | 6 M | ||
| Turn left onto Zijweg Dungen | 1.6 KM | ||
| You are now at section 74 | 0 M | ||
|
From
74
to
73
|
511 M | 0.5 KM | |
| Head west on Schijndelseweg | 511 M | ||
| You are now at section 73 | 0 M | ||
|
From
73
to
75
|
1194 M | 1.2 KM | |
| Head west on Schijndelseweg | 213 M | ||
| Turn left onto Torenstraat | 130 M | ||
| Turn right onto Esscheweg | 851 M | ||
| You are now at section 75 | 0 M | ||
|
From
75
to
65
|
1059 M | 1.1 KM | |
| Head northwest on Eikenlaan | 1.1 KM | ||
| You are now at section 65 | 0 M | ||
|
From
65
to
36
|
1530 M | 1.5 KM | |
| Head northwest on Halderse Akkers | 807 M | ||
| Turn left onto Halderse Akkers | 201 M | ||
| Continue straight | 522 M | ||
| You are now at section 36 | 0 M | ||
|
From
36
to
35
|
1225 M | 1.2 KM | |
| Head northwest | 143 M | ||
| Continue onto Haldersebaan | 767 M | ||
| Turn left onto Reigerbosweg | 138 M | ||
| Turn left to stay on Reigerbosweg | 13 M | ||
| Turn right onto Haldersebaan | 12 M | ||
| Turn left to stay on Haldersebaan | 152 M | ||
| You are now at section 35 | 0 M | ||
|
From
35
to
68
|
1129 M | 1.1 KM | |
| Head west | 205 M | ||
| Turn right | 681 M | ||
| Turn left onto Leeuwensteinlaan | 169 M | ||
| Turn right onto Raadhuisstraat | 74 M | ||
| You are now at section 68 | 0 M | ||
|
From
68
to
13
|
1682 M | 1.7 KM | |
| Head southwest on Secretaris van Rooijstraat; Secr. van Rooijstraat | 274 M | ||
| Turn left onto Prins Bernhardlaan | 248 M | ||
| Turn left onto Stationsstraat | 336 M | ||
| Turn right onto St.-Elisabethstraat | 772 M | ||
| Make a slight right | 52 M | ||
| You are now at section 13 | 0 M | ||
|
From
13
to
34
|
186 M | 0.2 KM | |
| Head west on Martinilaan | 186 M | ||
| You are now at section 34 | 0 M | ||
|
From
34
to
62
|
1009 M | 1 KM | |
| Head northeast | 7 M | ||
| Turn left | 380 M | ||
| Make a slight left | 20 M | ||
| Turn right onto De Bréautélaan | 593 M | ||
| Turn right | 9 M | ||
| You are now at section 62 | 0 M | ||
|
From
62
to
61
|
686 M | 0.7 KM | |
| Head northwest | 17 M | ||
| Make a slight left | 34 M | ||
| Turn right onto Loonsebaan | 46 M | ||
| Make a slight right | 589 M | ||
| You are now at section 61 | 0 M | ||
|
From
61
to
60
|
539 M | 0.5 KM | |
| Head west | 475 M | ||
| Turn right | 64 M | ||
| You are now at section 60 | 0 M | ||
|
From
60
to
63
|
824 M | 0.8 KM | |
| Head northeast on Lunettenlaan | 824 M | ||
| You are now at section 63 | 0 M | ||
|
From
63
to
24
|
725 M | 0.7 KM | |
| Head north on Lunettenlaan | 330 M | ||
| Make a slight right onto Lunettenpad | 183 M | ||
| Keep left onto Lunettenpad | 207 M | ||
| Continue straight | 5 M | ||
| You are now at section 24 | 0 M | ||
|
From
24
to
22
|
1924 M | 1.9 KM | |
| Head east | 1.9 KM | ||
| Make a slight right onto Kanaalweg | 15 M | ||
| You are now at section 22 | 0 M | ||
|
From
22
to
23
|
189 M | 0.2 KM | |
| Head southeast on Kampdijkbrug | 189 M | ||
| You are now at section 23 | 0 M | ||
|
From
23
to
23
|
52 M | 0.1 KM | |
| Head southwest | 14 M | ||
| Turn left | 18 M | ||
| Turn left onto Juliana van Stolberglaan | 15 M | ||
| Turn left onto Kampdijklaan | 5 M | ||
| You are now at section 23 | 0 M |