Dutch gov't invests €2 million in WWII camps

The Dutch government is giving the former WWII concentration camps in Amersfoort and Vught each a once-off amount of 1 million euros for expansion and education, State Secretary Paul Blokhuis of Public Health, Welfare and Sports announced, NOS reports.

According to Blokhuis, this money is very much needed because more and more people visit these centers. "Fewer and fewer people can tell stories from their own experiences about the horrors of the war and about loved ones they lost", Blokhuis said. "How good it is then that there are places where memories remain alive and stories are not forgotten."

He also pointed out that discussions about the impact of the war on today's society and our ideas about freedom and democracy take place in memorial centers like in Amersfoort and Vught - something the government finds important.

The 75th anniversary of the Netherlands' liberation is in 2020. In view of that, the government considers it extra important that both memorial centers can receive large groups of people.