Transport from Vught, Camp, The Netherlands to Auschwitz Birkenau, Extermination Camp, Poland on 03/06/1944

Anticipating an allied invasion in western Europe, German authorities in the Netherlands decided to evacuate the Vught (Herzogenbusch) transit camp. All Jews were scheduled to leave on June 3, 1944. This transport was also called the Philips transport. Philips Electronic Corporation produced light bulbs and other electrical appliances and had its headquarters in Eindhoven near Vught. During the war Philips operated a large workshop in the camp. At its peak, the unit numbered some 1,200 men and women, about half of whom were Jewish. The history of the “Philips-Kommando” began in February 1943 when Philips director Frits Philips agreed to provide employment to prisoners from the Vught camp following an urgent request from the Germans. Philips, however, set a few conditions concerning authority over the workers and the conditions of their employment. With the appointment of SS-Sturmbannführer Hans Hüttig as camp commander at the beginning of 1944, Philips steadily lost ground in the wrangling over the autonomy of the factory’s workshop in the camp. Hüttig was a staunch anti-Semite and determined to make the camp “Judenrein” (Jew-free). On March 20 he sent the remaining 285 Jewish men in Vught to Westerbork. However Philips executive Rutger E. Laman Trip, driven by both economic and humanitarian motives, worked hard to have the men return to Vught. 90 of the men were allowed to return to the camp factory. On May 3 Hüttig made a second attempt to transfer the Jews to Westerbork, but Philips managed to prevent this also....