Conditions in Westerbork

Then I was too old for the orphanage and I had to move into a normal barracks. The barracks in which we slept were really terrible. I had to live with 349 other people in one barrack-block. The women and small children slept on the left and men and older children slept on the right. For 350 people we had ten water-faucets and we slept in bunk beds three high. Sometimes we had to share beds – we could not move. The condition was the same in every barrack, because of overcrowding. By summer 1943 there were approx. 15,000 people in Westerbork instead of 350– twice as many pro barrack-block. When food was issued we all stood in endless queues. There were always arguments when food was distributed. Sometimes there was fighting because one person got more than another. The mood in the barracks always varied, it could suddenly  swing & result in fighting or worse.