Liberation route Vught

The route in and around Vught serves to remind us of many life-changing events during the Second World War. One of the blackest pages in local history was the construction of Camp Vught, an SS concentration camp.

( 2 hour 30 minutes ) 30 km

Starting point: from your location


Remembering Camp Vught

The route in and around Vught serves to remind us of many life-changing events during the Second World War. One of the blackest pages in local history was the construction of Camp Vught, an SS concentration camp. Many tens of thousands of Dutch people have been detained here. More than 12,000 Jews were taken from Camp Vught to the extermination camps in the east. The stories, monuments and museums on this route serve to remind us of the darkness of war and the importance of peace and freedom. 

  • Signage Liberation Route Brabant

    Follow the signs with 'Liberation Route'. These are hung below the regular junction signs.

    Follow the signs with 'Liberation Route'. These are hung below the regular junction signs.

Sights on this route

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On 12 May 1940, the hamlet of Poeldonk was on fire. Several farms burned down. Dutch soldiers fiercely fought against the advancing Germans at Dungen bridge. An unequal battle with five casualties on the German side and at least three on the Dutch side. A

Starting point:

Poeldonk 2
5275 HP Den Dungen
Poeldonk monument

This monument reminds the residents of Den Dungen of the more than two thousand gliders that landed in occupied territory during Operation Market Garden in September 1944.

Starting point:

den dungen
Monument Silent Wings
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On May 4, 1942, 460 prominent Dutch people are arrested. Politicians, professors, clergy, musicians, lawyers, and writers are taken hostage in an attempt by the German occupiers to get a hold on the Dutch resistance.

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sint-michielsgestel
I opened the door myself

During the Second World War, seminary Beekvliet housed one of the hostage camps where the story 'I opened the door myself' (point 4 on the map) takes place. Of the hostages who were imprisoned here for a short or long time, entrepreneur Frits Philips, com

Starting point:

Seminarielaan 3
5271 SG Sint-Michielsgestel
Seminary Beekvliet
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The Halderse Brug (Halder bridge) was on the old road to Sint-Michielsgestel. This is now a dead end, because the post-war bridge has been demolished. To slow down the Allied advance, the Germans blew up the Halder Bridge in 1944. However, the British inf

Starting point:

Halderse Akkers
Sint-Michielsgestel
Halder Bridge

The Estate Villa Elsa is one of the youngest estates in Vught.

Starting point:

vught
Villa Elsa
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From the balcony of Huize Bergen, the Vught villa where he has set up his headquarters, German Generaloberst Kurt Student looks in astonishment at the sky on Sunday, September 17, 1944.

Starting point:

Haldersebaan
Vught
Listening Column - Air Armada Above Vught

In November 1941, the Germans requisitioned Villa Roucouleur. They established an office for the Beauftragte of Brabant, the highest German civilian administrator. Just before the liberation of Vught, General Kurt Student had his headquarters here. After

Starting point:

Glorieuxlaan 2
5261 SJ Vught
Villa Roucouleur
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The Vught Museum is located in the former Saint Peter's Church. Here, you can learn all about the history of Vught, including the hardships during World War II.

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vught
Vught Museum
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Suze Aarts spends her childhood years in boarding schools both in the Netherlands and abroad. After a failed affair, she ends up as an unmarried mother in Amsterdam. In the summer of 1943, she accepts the offer to become an Aufseherin (female camp guard) in Vught.

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vught
Nine Square Meters of Revenge

As the war progresses, the persecution of Jews in Europe takes increasingly severe forms. Concentration camps are built in various places across Europe, including in North Brabant.

Starting point:

vught
George and Ursula
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