Collection GB 1556 WL 1313 - Gurs concentration camp: Eyewitness report

Identity area

Reference code

GB 1556 WL 1313

Title

Gurs concentration camp: Eyewitness report

Date(s)

  • 20th century (Creation)

Level of description

Collection

Extent and medium

1 file

Context area

Name of creator

Biographical history

Gurs was a major internment camp in France, near Oloron-Sainte-Marie, 80 kilometers from the Spanish border. Established in 1939 to absorb Republican refugees from Spain, Gurs later served as a concentration camp for Jews from France and refugees from other countries. While under the administration of Vichy France (1940-1942) most non-Jewish prisoners were released and approximately 2000 Jews were permitted to emigrate. In 1941 Gurs held some 15,000 prisoners. The camp was controlled by the Germans from 1942 to 1944, during which time several thousand inmates were deported to extermination camps in Poland. An unknown number succeeded in escaping and reaching Spain or hiding in Southern France. Gurs was liberated in the summer of 1944.

Repository

Archival history

GB 1556 WL 1313 20th century collection 1 file Forester , Hedwig , fl 1940

Gurs was a major internment camp in France, near Oloron-Sainte-Marie, 80 kilometers from the Spanish border. Established in 1939 to absorb Republican refugees from Spain, Gurs later served as a concentration camp for Jews from France and refugees from other countries. While under the administration of Vichy France (1940-1942) most non-Jewish prisoners were released and approximately 2000 Jews were permitted to emigrate. In 1941 Gurs held some 15,000 prisoners. The camp was controlled by the Germans from 1942 to 1944, during which time several thousand inmates were deported to extermination camps in Poland. An unknown number succeeded in escaping and reaching Spain or hiding in Southern France. Gurs was liberated in the summer of 1944.

M. Schneider

Copy of an eyewitness report by Hedwig Forester of his arrest by the Nazis in Brussels, May 1940, transportation in cattle wagons, and arrival in Gurs concentration camp, France, 2 weeks later.

N/A

Open

Copies can be made for personal use. Permission must be sought for publication.

German

Pages missing

Description exists to this archive on the Wiener Library's online catalogue www.wienerlibrary.co.uk

Entry compiled by Howard Falksohn.

Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

February 2008 Belgium Brussels Concentration camps Europe France Gurs concentration camp Humanitarian law Jews Nazism Political doctrines Religious groups Third Reich Totalitarianism War crimes Western Europe

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

M. Schneider

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Copy of an eyewitness report by Hedwig Forester of his arrest by the Nazis in Brussels, May 1940, transportation in cattle wagons, and arrival in Gurs concentration camp, France, 2 weeks later.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

N/A

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Open

Conditions governing reproduction

Copies can be made for personal use. Permission must be sought for publication.

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

  • Latin

Language and script notes

German

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

Finding aids

Description exists to this archive on the Wiener Library's online catalogue www.wienerlibrary.co.uk

Allied materials area

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

Related units of description

Related descriptions

Notes area

Alternative identifier(s)

Access points

Place access points

Name access points

Genre access points

Description control area

Description identifier

Institution identifier

Wiener Library

Rules and/or conventions used

Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Status

Level of detail

Dates of creation revision deletion

Language(s)

  • English

Script(s)

    Sources

    Accession area