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The concentration camp of Amersfoort was with Vught and Westerbork one of the three concentration camps operated by the Nazis in Holland. For the German administration, Amersfoort was a Police Camp. Not much information is recorded concerning living conditions in this camp. What is known is that thousands of Dutch and Belgian civilians received harsh and cruel treatment at the hands of the Nazis and hundreds were executed at this camp.
In the early stages of Nazi measures against the Jewish people camp Amersfoort also was used to confine and then deport the Jews of Amersfoort. In 1941, 820 Jews lived in the city of Amersfoort. The municipality at first resisted anti-Jewish measures, but could not prevent the removal of Jews from Amersfoort's economic and cultural life. By 22 April 1943 most of the Jewish population in camp Amersfoort was transferred to concentration camp Vught, another of the Nazi camps in the Netherlands. From there they were deported to Poland for extermination. After that date the camp took on the identity of a notorious concentration camp. Life was extremely harsh and torturous for the inmates. Many escapees were shot by the SS. Many Dutch Jews joined others in escape attempts. Most were shot by the SS, however some made good their escape and joined Resistance Fighters which were active in every Nazi occupied country. Capture by the SS meant torture and certain death.
At the time of liberation only 415 survivors were counted. Hardly any of the survivors were Jews.
References:The Church of St Donatus name refers to Donatus of Zadar, who began construction on this church in the 9th century and ended it on the northeastern part of the Roman forum. It is the largest Pre-Romanesque building in Croatia.
The beginning of the building of the church was placed to the second half of the 8th century, and it is supposed to have been completed in the 9th century. The Zadar bishop and diplomat Donat (8th and 9th centuries) is credited with the building of the church. He led the representations of the Dalmatian cities to Constantinople and Charles the Great, which is why this church bears slight resemblance to Charlemagne's court chapels, especially the one in Aachen, and also to the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna. It belongs to the Pre-Romanesque architectural period.
The circular church, formerly domed, is 27 m high and is characterised by simplicity and technical primitivism.