View from Hoge Nol
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View from Hoge Nol. Photo: Roel Wijnants

Dreams of returning

It is worth climbing this dune.

De Hoge Nol, the highest dune in the area, is partly artificial: in the 1930’s, the unemployed were put to work to elevate the dunes, including De Hoge Nol.

The dune formed part of the Atlantic Wall during the occupation. On the orders of the invaders, contractors built a bunker on top with views of the port, which could be defended effectively from there. That bunker is still there.

Barbed wire around Duindorp

After liberation, the bunker on De Hoge Nol offered good views of Kamp Duindorp, where members of the National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands and alleged traitors were held captive behind rows of barbed wire. Duindorp residents, who had to vacate their homes between 1943 and 1944, were therefore still unable to return. They could see their old neighbourhood from De Hoge Nol and perhaps even see and dream of returning to their own homes. Kamp Duindorp reduced as more court cases against the detainees were processed and an increasing number of residents were able to return to their homes. The camp was shut down in 1951.

Duindorp Internment Camp

Duindorp ingericht als interneringskamp voor NSB'ers. C

Duindorp as an after-war internmentcamp

| Collection NIOD
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