Camp Westerbork was build in Hooghalen in 1939 to give shelter to Jewish refugees from Germany.

In 1942, two years after the beginning of the German occupation the camp, led by Nazis, started to function as a transit camp. Over 100,000 people were transported to concentration and extermination camps in Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic.

After the liberation at the end of the Second World Ward, the complex was used as an internment camp for people of the NSB (the Dutch National Socialist Movement) and other collaborators. After this it was used as a repatriation camp for 'Dutch Indies' (Dutch-Indonesians) from 1950 to 1971.

During the 1970s, work was done to make this historical place more visible, and in 1983 Queen Beatrix officially opened the Memorial Centre Camp Westerbork. Since then parts of the terrain have been redesigned to give a better view of the formal camp. There is also a permanent exhibition which depicts Dutch wartime under occupation, with a focus on the persecution of Jews. The history of the camp is presented through photographs, documents, drawings, maps and objects.