During World War II, Nazi Germany occupied Netherlands (1940–1945). In 1942 the Nazis transported Jewish and other prisoners from the Netherlands via the transit camps Amersfoort and Westerbork to the Auschwitz concentration camp, except for 850 prisoners sent to Mauthausen concentration camp.[2] When Amersfoort and Westerbork appeared to be too small to handle the large number of prisoners, the Schutzstaffel (SS) decided to build a concentration camp in Vught near the town of 's-Hertogenbosch.[3]