Bant (plaats)

Geschiedenis

Bant is one of the so-called green villages in the Dutch province of Flevoland. It is a part of the municipality of Noordoostpolder, and lies about 7 km north of Emmeloord.NameThe name Bant is derived from the estates of Bant or Bantega, which at one point existed in what is now the municipality of Lemsterland, and extended into the area that is now the Noordoostpolder.HistoryPrison campAfter World War II, before the founding of Bant, the site was used as a prisoner camp for Nazi-collaborators under the name Kamp Westvaart. The camp was accommodated with watchtowers and armed guards. Several prominent collaborators served sentences in the camp. Jan Gunnink, former head of the KP-Meppel, a prominent resistance movement during the war, served as camp commander.The camp was subject of a social experiment, in which prisoners were offered a contract in which they declared they would not resist and fight in exchange for free movement within the camp. Every prisoner signed the contract. The experiment was later cancelled, but because every prisoner kept to their promises, they were set free. Remaining sentences were instead served out as regular labourer.FoundingModern Bant was designed by the board of the Wieringermmer, one of whom's jobs was to design and oversee the construction of ten settlements in the Noordoostpolder around the town of Emmeloord. Bant was thus founded in 1951 to the north of Emmeloord, which was founded in 1943, in land reclaimed from the IJsselmeer.