- Camp Vernet
Le Vernet Internment Camp, or Camp Vernet, was a concentration camp [http://www.ariege.com/histoire/levernet/info.html en icon "Camp Vernet" Website] ] in Le Vernet,
Ariège , nearPamiers , in theFrench Pyrenees . It was originally built in June 1918 to house French colonial troops serving inWorld War I but when hostlities ceased it was used to hold German and Austrian prisoners of war. [http://cheminsdememoire.gouv.fr/page/afficheLieu.php?idLang=fr&idLieu=2311 fr icon "Camp Vernet" Website] ]Between the wars, it served as a military depot. Towards the end of the
Spanish Civil War , in February 1939, it was put to a new use. It became a reception camp for Republicans fleeing fromFrancisco Franco 's armies after the collapse of theSecond Spanish Republic . At this time, it held mainly former soldiers from the Republican "Durruti Division".With the outbreak of
World War II , the role of the camp was expanded. It was used to house "undesirable" foreigners, in particular, anti-fascist intellectuals and former members of theInternational Brigades . After the Fall of France on25 June 1940 , it was taken over by the pro-NaziVichy France authorities, to house "all foreigners considered suspect or dangerous to the public order".From 1942, Le Vernet became a transit camp for detained Jews.. In June 1944, the last internees were evacuated and deported to the
Dachau concentration camp in the "Ghost Train". In total, about 40,000 persons of 58 nationalities were interned in the camp; mainly men but also women and children.Notable prisoners
*
Heinrich Rau
*Kurt Julius Goldstein
*Arthur Koestler , who wrote about it in "The Invisible Writing " and "Scum of the Earth"
*Miguel García Vivancos
*Rudolf Leonhard , German playwright and communistources and footnotes
* [http://www.ariege.com/histoire/levernet/info.html en icon Ariège history website in English]
* [http://cheminsdememoire.gouv.fr/page/afficheLieu.php?idLang=fr&idLieu=2311 fr icon Ariège history website in French]ee also
*
List of Nazi-German concentration camps
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