During the Second World War, the Netherlands had approximately 6,500 doctors, of whom 534 were Jewish. As early as 1940, it quickly became clear that work was being made impossible for Jewish colleagues. This caused a lot of anger among the other doctors. A year later, the Nazis founded the Doctors’ Chamber, a kind of National Socialist trade union. In this way the Germans tried to get a grip on the medical profession. Doctors were obliged to become members, but this was refused en masse, because they felt that the national socialist ideology was contrary to medical ethics and medical independence.
This is how hundreds of doctors ended up in Camp Amersfoort during the Second World War
