Camp of Septfonds

After the fall of Barcelona to the Nationalist forces on January 26, 1939, at the end of the Spanish Civil War, a large number of Spanish Republicans, persecuted for political reasons, left Catalonia, crossed the Pyrenees and sought shelter in France. The refugees were treated with hostility by the French government due to their socialist and anarchist political leanings. The decision to open the Septfonds camp was taken by General Ménard on February 26, 1939 and on March 5, the first prisoners of the labor camp arrived.[1]

The living conditions were very harsh due to shortage of food supplies and lack of sanitation, hygiene, running water, heating and electricity, resulting in several deaths. However, the interns of the camp organized social, cultural and political activities.[1]

On 1 March 1940, the camp started being used for defense purposes, specifically for the training of foreigners who joined the French army.[1]

From autumn of 1940, the Vichy government started using the camp as a prison for undesirables including republican Spaniards, Jews, communists, officers of the Allied army, Poles and people lacking official documentation. The living conditions remained harsh and many people were deported to Auschwitz. The camp's prisoners were liberated in August 1944 by the French Resistance. Until May 1945 the camp was used as a detention center for suspected Nazi collaborators.[1]