After the occupation of Austria in March 1938, about 500 Austrians affected by the Nuremberg laws fled to the Netherlands. In accordance with the Dutch government, the »Comité voor Bijzondere Joodse Belangen« tried to facilitate the emigration of the refugees to other countries. After the German invasion of the Netherlands in May 1940, a German civil administration was installed on Hitler's personal order, which was led by a series of Austrians: Reichskommissar Arthur Seyß-Inquart, his economic commissioner Hans Fischböck, and his security commissioner, the Höhere SS- and Polizeiführer Brigadeführer Hanns Rauter. First measures of the Reichskommissar with the aim of economic annihilation of the Jews included: lay-offs in the civil service and in businesses, restrictions in work and employment, liquidation and »Aryanization« of Jewish enterprises. By 1942, this process was completed. In the meantime the German SS- and police apparatus had prepared the complete deportation of the Dutch Jewish population: Hanns Rauter was commissioned with installing two big transit camps for Jews, Vught and Westerbork.

The camp Vught near 's Hertogenbosch in the south of the Netherlands served from January 1943 to September 1944 as transit camp for Jews that were »to be resettled«, later also for preventive detainees. In various outposts the prisoners worked for Philips and for Continental, among other companies. On their way to the east the inmates of Vught were passed through Westerbork, with the exception of two transports which went directly to Auschwitz.

During the 18 months of its existence, roughly 30,000 men, women and children were deported from the camp of Vught, among them an estimated 12,000 Jewish prisoners. The majority of theme, about 10,500 people, were passed through Westerbork and without long delays were deported to Sobibor and Auschwitz.

Between 1942 and 1944 Westerbork, situated in the northern province of Drenthe, served as assembly camp for Jews who were deported from the Netherlands to Eastern Europe. The first transports to Auschwitz took place in the summer of 1942. Altogether 100 trains left the camp towards the east until its closure in September 1944: 66 trains with approximately 58,000 people went to Auschwitz, 19 with approximately 34,000 people to Sobibor. About 8000 men, women and children were deported to Terezìn/Theresienstadt and Bergen-Belsen.

Altogether about 105,000 Jews were deported from the Netherlands, of whom about 5000 survived. Around 870 of the deported Jews came from Austria. Of these about 100 are known to have survived.