The Camp de concentration d'Argelès-sur-Mer was an internment camp established in early February 1939 on the territory of the French commune of Argelès-sur-Mer for

Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of King Alfonso XIII, and was dissolved on 1 A ...

an refugees. Some of the refugees were retreating members of the

Spanish Republican Army The Spanish Republican Army ( es, Ejército de la República Española) was the main branch of the Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic between 1931 and 1939. It became known as People's Army of the Republic (''Ejército Popular de la Repú ...

''(Ejército Popular Republicano)'' in the Northeast of Spain in the last months of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

Description

The camp was located near the Mediterranean coast at the foot of the northern side of the

Albera Massif The Albera Massif ( ca, Serra de l'Albera) (french: Massif des Albères) is a mountain range located in the south of Pyrénées-Orientales and the north of Catalonia, between France and Spain. It is the main easternmost prolongation of the Pyrenee ...

Roussillon Roussillon ( , , ; ca, Rosselló ; oc, Rosselhon ) is a historical province of France that largely corresponded to the County of Roussillon and part of the County of Cerdagne of the former Principality of Catalonia. It is part of the reg ...

, 8 km north of the French-Spanish border. The camp at Argelès received more than 100,000 Spanish men and women, of both civilian and military backgrounds. The latter were the remainder of the

Eastern Region Army Group The Eastern Region Army Group, es, Grupo de Ejércitos de la Región Oriental (GERO), was a military formation of the Spanish Republican Army during the last phase of the Spanish Civil War. It was established in June 1938 as a response to the sp ...

''(GERO)'' that crossed the border following the

Fall of Barcelona The Catalonia Offensive ( ca, Ofensiva de Catalunya, es, Ofensiva de Cataluña) was part of the Spanish Civil War. The Nationalist Army started the offensive on 23 December 1938 and rapidly conquered Republican-held Catalonia with Barcelona (t ...

and the ''Retirada'' – the desperate withdrawal of long civilian and military columns towards the French border at the end of the Francoist Catalonia Offensive. All refugees were disarmed and arrested upon entering France. Republican military leaders such as

Modesto Modesto () is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,464 at the 2020 census, it is the 19th largest city in the state of California and forms part of the Sacramento-Stockton- ...

, commander of the 4th Division and Líster, commander of the 11th Division of the elite V Army Corps, had first seen the retreat to France of the remainder of the Ebro Army as part of a tactical evacuation, with the aim of regrouping these units with the remaining units of the last area under Republican control in order to continue the resistance. The French government, however, would not allow the Republican units that crossed the border to be transferred to the remaining Spanish Republican territory. All the veteran survivors of the 11th Division, together with all Republican military, were disarmed and swiftly interned in

French concentration camps Numerous internment camps and concentration camps were located in France before, during and after World War II. Beside the camps created during World War I to intern German, Austrian and Ottoman civilian prisoners, the Third Republic (1871–1940 ...

immediately after crossing its border.Hugh Thomas (1976); p. 943 The conditions were very poor in this concentration camp, there were no latrines, running water, huts or any kind of shelter, apart from holes in the ground dug by inmates. Food was thrown over the wire into the compound by French officials and Republican doctors were not allowed supplies or equipment. Diseases were prevalent. The guards would bring around petroleum baths to combat the infestations of fleas and lice. Efforts to encourage the refugees to return to Spain were common. The concentration camps were very large and poorly run. People died of hypothermia, disease, or despair. It was common to see dead bodies piled up and left in the open in areas throughout the camp. The French government went on to found internment camps all along the northern foot of the Pyrenees to relieve the grim conditions at Argelès. Many refugees ended up confined in those camps, e.g.

Gurs internment camp Gurs internment camp was an internment camp and prisoner of war camp constructed in 1939 in Gurs, a site in southwestern France, not far from Pau. The camp was originally set up by the French government after the fall of Catalonia at the e ...

Notable prisoners

*Marcel Langer, member of the

international brigades The International Brigades ( es, Brigadas Internacionales) were military units set up by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The organization existed f ...

, later in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

a hero of the

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

, where he was guillotined on 23 July 1943 * Diego Camacho (pen name Abel Paz), Spanish writer and novelist *

Rubén Ruiz Ibárruri Rubén Ruiz Ibárruri ( rus, Рубе́н Руи́с Иба́ррури; January 9, 1920 – September 3, 1942) was a Spanish military officer and Soviet commander of the 100th Machine Gun Company of an independent training battalion of the 35th ...

, son of Spanish Communist leader

Dolores Ibárruri Isidora Dolores Ibárruri Gómez (; 9 December 189512 November 1989), also known as (English: "the Passionflower"), was a Spanish Republican politician of the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939 and a communist known for her slogan ''¡No Pasará ...

, ''La Pasionaria''. *

Vicente Ferrer Moncho Vicente is an Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese name. Like its French variant, Vincent, it is derived from the Latin name ''Vincentius'' meaning "conquering" (from Latin ''vincere'', "to conquer"). Vicente may refer to: Location *São Vicente, Ca ...

. * Joaquim Amat-Piniella, Catalan writer. * Peko Dapčević, Yugoslav partisan. *

Arthur Adamov Arthur Adamov (23 August 1908 – 15 March 1970) was a playwright, one of the foremost exponents of the Theatre of the Absurd. Early life Adamov (originally Adamian) was born in Kislovodsk in the Terek Oblast of the Russian Empire to a wealthy A ...

(23 August 1908 – 15 March 1970), playwright, one of the foremost exponents of the

Theatre of the Absurd The Theatre of the Absurd (french: théâtre de l'absurde ) is a post–World War II designation for particular plays of absurdist fiction written by a number of primarily European playwrights in the late 1950s. It is also a term for the style of ...

. * Andrés García La Calle, Commander of the fighter units of the

Spanish Republican Air Force The Spanish Republican Air Force was the air arm of the Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic, the legally established government of Spain between 1931 and 1939. Initially divided into two branches: Military Aeronautics ('' Aeronáutica M ...

Josep Bartolí Josep Bartolí i Guiu (1910-1995) was a Spanish painter, cartoonist and writer. He fought in the Spanish civil war, and published a collection of drawings (''Campos de Concentracion 1939-1943'') from his time as a refugee in a French internment ...

, Catalan artist

Commemoration

Inscription on the commemorative monument on the northern beach of Argelès-sur-Mer:

References

External links

Argelès-sur-Mer Internment Camp Photographs
Robert Capa, Capa, Robert (1939) International Center of Photography. Retrieved 2010-09-23. {{DEFAULTSORT:Camp De Concentration D'argeles-Sur-Mer Concentration camps in France Internment camps of the Spanish Civil War World War II sites in France

Description

Notable prisoners

Commemoration

References

Further reading

External links