As a professional journalist and editor, here is how I would report on the commemoration of the evacuation of Camp Vught, 80 years after the fatal Mad Tuesday event:

Headline:
Commemorating Tragedy: 80 Years Since the Hasty Evacuation of Camp Vught on Mad Tuesday

Subheading:
National Monument Camp Vught honors the lives lost and the chaos of September 1944

Lead Paragraph:
On Sunday, September 8, 2024, the National Monument Camp Vught in Noord-Brabant, Netherlands, paid tribute to the harrowing events of 80 years ago, when the concentration camp was hastily evacuated amidst the fervor of liberation rumors. The so-called Dolle Dinsdag, or Mad Tuesday, triggered a rapid deportation of over 3,500 prisoners to camps in Germany under the orders of SS leader Himmler.

Body:
The evacuation of Camp Vught, known during World War II as Konzentrationslager Herzogenbusch, was a response to unfounded reports suggesting the Allies were on the brink of liberating the Netherlands. The country erupted into a premature celebration of freedom, forcing the Nazis to act swiftly to relocate inmates.

The commemoration at the camp began with a silent march to the site where 329 resistance fighters were executed between June and September 1944. In a new historical account, Wraak op het verzet (Revenge on the Resistance), historian Ad van Liempt reveals that the number of executions at the camp during those final months was higher than previously believed, with around 400 individuals losing their lives.

Jeroen van den Eijnde, the director of the National Memorial Camp Vught, delivered a welcoming speech, followed by remarks from Ina Adema, the Commissioner of the Queen of Brabant, and Jetske van den Burger. Burger’s mother was imprisoned in the camp from July 1943 to September 1944 for refusing to betray those in hiding. After the evacuation, she was sent to Ravensbrück, a concentration camp for women in Germany, where she survived the war before passing away in 2014.

The program included musical performances and poetry recitals to honor the memory of the victims. A solemn wreath-laying ceremony concluded the event.

Camp Vught, the only SS concentration camp outside Nazi Germany, operated from January 13, 1943, to September 16, 1944. During this period, more than 32,000 individuals were interned there, with over 12,000 Jews being transported to extermination camps in Poland via Camp Westerbork.

Omroep Brabant reports that when Allied liberators arrived in the region at the end of October 1944, they discovered an empty camp, a testament to the hastiness of the evacuation.

As we reflect on the 80th anniversary of this tragic event, the National Monument Camp Vught stands as a reminder of the darkness of the past and a call to remember and educate future generations about the atrocities committed during World War II.

Byline:
By [Your Name], Journalist

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