Camp Westerbork (officially: Polizeiliches Durgangslager Westerbork) was situated on the heath of Drenthe near Hooghalen and named after the then village of Westerbork. The camp has become known as the gate to the extermination camps. From camp Westerbork 107,000 Jews living in the Netherlands, 245 Sinti and Roma, and dozens of resistance fighters were deported to camps in Germany, Poland and Czechoslovakia. The camp was built in 1939 to house Jewish refugees , who were fleeing the increasing reign of terror in Germany and Austria. In 1942 the occupying power took over the camp, and after this Westerbork functioned as a transit camp.