Barracks Camp Baarschot
In the 1930s, barracks were built on the site of what is now EIGENTIJDSERF as part of the Work Provision Program. People were employed on land reclamation and land consolidation projects in the area. Each residential barrack housed 48 people, and there was a barrack for the caretaker, complete with a kitchen and utility room. Only one barrack remains on the site as a reminder of the many people who stayed there from the 1930s until the end of the 20th century.
The camp served a variety of purposes over the years. During …
In the 1930s, barracks were built on the site of what is now EIGENTIJDSERF as part of the Work Provision Program. People were employed on land reclamation and land consolidation projects in the area. Each residential barrack housed 48 people, and there was a barrack for the caretaker, complete with a kitchen and utility room. Only one barrack remains on the site as a reminder of the many people who stayed there from the 1930s until the end of the 20th century.
The camp served a variety of purposes over the years. During World War II, it housed unemployed men who were forced to perform heavy physical labor due to the Work Expansion Act. itt also served as a testing camp for a time. Jewish and non-Jewish men were forcibly detained there. In October 1942, the group of Jewish men was transferred to Westerbork and later deported. In 1943, the Dutch Labor Service took over the camp, forcing young men between the ages of 18 and 25 to be interned there.
After its liberation, the camp initially served as a shelter for people from unsafe areas and for refugees who could not yet return home. The largest barracks was converted into a space where people could gather and hold church services.
In 1948, the Stichting Het Vierde Prinsenkind (Foundation for the Fourth Prince's Child) used the camp as a holiday resort for Catholic children. That summer, 150 children from West Brabant stayed there.
In the 1950s, unemployment in the Netherlands was still high. The Public Works Department (D.U.W.) continued the compulsory labor for unemployed workers, for whom Heidemij and Grontmij provided projects. However, in 1953, space was again made available to accommodate victims of the flood disaster in Zeeland and West Brabant, who were staying there while awaiting the reconstruction of their homes.
After the declaration of independence by the Republic of Indonesia, a group of Indonesians was forced to come to the Netherlands. From October 1955 until the summer of 1959, families from the Kei Islands of South Moluccas were also housed in Baarschot. In 1958, 166 people were housed in the camp. The children attended school in the camp, participated in scouting in Middelbeers, and played soccer against the youth teams of RKDSV in Diessen.
In 1959, the municipality of Oost-, West- en Middelbeers purchased the site and leased it to the Joannes Bosco Foundation. It became a holiday resort for children aged 7 to 17. In 1971, the foundation became the owner of the site. The accommodation was rented out to (youth) groups, with the proceeds going to charities focused on youth development.
Until 2002, one of the old barracks remained in use as the caretaker's quarters. The inventory of the demolished caretaker's barracks was eventually moved to the Open Air Museum in Arnhem, where it can still be seen.
Proceeds from the current EIGENTIJDSERF still go to the Joannes Bosco Foundation, which supports charitable causes focused on the development of young people in Brabant who need support. One barrack has been preserved: the former canteen, church, and banquet hall. The board of the Joannes Bosco Foundation plans to preserve this barrack and restore it as much as possible to its original state.
