Het Apeldoornse Bosch

The mental health care residence ’s Heeren Loo/Groot Schuilenburg on Zutphensestraat once was the home of the Jewish psychiatric institution Het Apeldoornsche Bosch. In the night of 21 January 1943 a traumatic event occurred: the German occupiers brutally raided and evacuated the clinic, deporting more than 1100 people to Auschwitz, where they were murdered. The remaining residents of more than 250 healthcare staff were transported to Westerbork.

Het Apeldoornsche Bosch was founded in 1909 and up until the war it was the largest Jewish institution in the Netherlands. The staff and patients came from all over the country. The Jewish community was proud of this successful institution in Apeldoorn. Het Apeldoornsche Bosch was a remarkable, self-sufficient community where staff and patients lived together, worked together and thrived together.

The first German patients came to Het Apeldoornsche Bosch as refugees in the 1930s. In Germany the Nazis had been in power since 1933. When they invaded the Netherlands in May of 1940, a dark cloud descended upon the Dutch Jewish community. For a long time, Het Apeldoornsche Bosch seemed to be a safe haven. That is, until January 1943…

This audio tour takes you through the events leading up to the tragic end. On the walking tour you will see the remaining buildings of the institution and learn about the history of Het Apeldoornsche Bosch. The tour also gives an impression of what an extraordinary and
thriving place it was during the period from 1909 to the dramatic events of January 1943.