In the fall of 1939 the Dutch government set up a refugee camp near the town of Westerbork in Northeastern Holland in order to house the growing number of refugees fleeing Nazi Germany. Germany invaded the Netherlands in May of 1940. Like everywhere they controlled, the Nazis systimaticly began anti Jewish measures. In July of 1942, the Nazis took over Lager Westerbork and converted it to a transit camp to hold Jews until they could be deported to death and slave labor camps in Germany and Poland. Though unpleasant, Westerbork was not a death camp. It was crowded and food was meager, but the camp was survivable. However for most it was only a temporary stopover. Almost every Tuesday for two years a transport train would deport one to three thousand Jews to their fate (Usually in Auschwitz). Westerbork’s third commandant, Albert Konrad Gemmeker, allowed a degree of leniency to his inmates. Arts groups and orchestras were formed. There were schools for children, and even barber shops and a camp “store” where people could acquire goods previously looted from Jewish homes. Gemmeker’s pet project was a weekly cabaret revue. Before the war many famous stars of German cabaret and cinema fled to Holland where they could still perform. The unlucky ones eventually found themselves in Westerbork. A great fan of pop music and culture, Gemmeker, allowed them to put on shows in the camp and even allocated camp funds and requisitioned the required materials. To be in the show kept one off transport. No one knew the extent of the horror that awaited them at Auschwitz. It was assumed that in the east were the harshest labor camps to be avoided at all costs. All of one’s creative energy and ingenuity was focused on staying off the train. But it was inconceivably insane to think that everyone deported was going to almost certain death. It was inconceivable, insane and true. When the Canadians liberated Westerbork in May of 1945, there were only 900 Jews remaining in Westerbork. Of more than 107,000 Jews living in Holland before the war only 5,000 survived.