Camp des Milles

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French internment camp during WWI

title: "Camp des Milles" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["aix-en-provence", "world-war-ii-internment-camps-in-france", "buildings-and-structures-in-aix-en-provence", "world-war-ii-memorials-in-france", "tourist-attractions-in-aix-en-provence", "nazi-concentration-camps-in-france"] description: "French internment camp during WWI" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_des_Milles" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary French internment camp during WWI ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox concentration camp"]

FieldValue
type
nameCamp des Milles
imageLes Milles, Gebäude des Lagers.JPG
captionBuilding which served as a concentration camp at Camp des Milles
location mapFrance
map reliefyes
locationNear Les Milles, Provence, France
coordinates
built byFrench Third Republic
operated byFrench Third Republic, Vichy France
original usetile factory, then internment of Germans and Austrians living in France
prisoner typeFrench Jews and Jewish refugees from Central Europe (mostly male)
inmatesthousands, of whom 2,000 Jews deported via Drancy, mostly to Auschwitz
::

| type = | name = Camp des Milles | image = Les Milles, Gebäude des Lagers.JPG | caption = Building which served as a concentration camp at Camp des Milles | alt = | location map = France | map alt = | map relief = yes | map label = | map label position = | map caption = | map size = | other names = | known for = | location =Near Les Milles, Provence, France | coordinates = | built by = French Third Republic | operated by = French Third Republic, Vichy France | commandant = | original use =tile factory, then internment of Germans and Austrians living in France | construction = | in operation = | gas chambers = | prisoner type = French Jews and Jewish refugees from Central Europe (mostly male) | inmates = thousands, of whom 2,000 Jews deported via Drancy, mostly to Auschwitz | killed = | liberated by = | notable inmates = | notable books = | website =

The Camp des Milles was a French internment camp, opened in September 1939, in a former tile factory near the village of Les Milles, part of the commune of Aix-en-Provence (Bouches-du-Rhône). In October 2015, the site was chosen by UNESCO as the headquarters for its new Chair of Education for Citizenship, Human Sciences and Shared Memories.

Overview

History

The camp was first used to intern Germans and ex-Austrians living in the Marseille area, and by June 1940, some 3,500 artists and intellectuals were detained there. Inmates included men of letters such as Fritz Brugel, Lion Feuchtwanger, William Herzog, Alfred Kantorowicz, Golo Mann, Walter Hasenclever, scientists such as Nobel Prize laureate Otto Fritz Meyerhof, as well as musicians and painters such as Erich Itor Kahn, Hans Bellmer, Max Ernst, Hermann Henry Gowa, Gustave Herlich, Max Lingner, Ferdinand Springer, Franz Meyer, Jan Meyerowitz, Peter Lipman-Wulf, François Willi Wendt and Robert Liebknecht. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Les_Milles,_Text_auf_dem_Gedenkstein.JPG" caption="Memorial stone marking the 1,928 Jews deported in August–September 1942"] ::

Between 1941 and 1942 Le Camp des Milles was used as a transit camp for Jews, mainly men. Women were held at the Centre Bompard in Marseille, while they waited for their visas and authorisations{{cite web |url=http://www.jewishtraces.org/search.php |title=Search... |website=www.jewishtraces.org |quote=Please select the database you want to use : ... Various lists about French internment camps... |access-date=2007-01-19 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070119063940/http://www.jewishtraces.org/search.php |archive-date=2007-01-19 }} to emigrate. As emigration became impossible, Les Milles became one of the centres de rassemblement before deportation. About 2,000 of the inmates were shipped off to the Drancy internment camp on the way to Auschwitz. After the war, the site was briefly re-opened in 1946 as a factory.

Memorial

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/In_memorian_au_camp_des_Milles.jpg" caption="In memoriam]] in Camp des Milles"] ::

Since 1993, the site has served as a World War II memorial. The "Fondation du camp des Milles: mémoire et éducation" (Foundation of the Camp des Milles: Memory and Education) is directed by Alain Chouraqui, a researcher at the French National Centre for Scientific Research.

On September 10, 2012, seventy years after the last train left from Les Milles to the Auschwitz concentration camp, the memorial was inaugurated by French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault. Elie Wiesel, Simone Veil and Serge Klarsfeld visited and praised the memorial.

The Memorial also includes the sculpture, "They will never be forgotten: Serge and Beate Klarsfeld, and Marceline Kogan" by Hal Goldberg.

Film

In 1995, a movie entitled Les Milles commemorating this camp and the events that took place in this camp at the time of the Armistice in June 1940 was made.

UNESCO Chair

On 8 October 2015, UNESCO launched its new Chair for Education for Citizenship, Human Sciences and Shared Memories at the Camp des Milles in the presence of French President François Hollande. The Chair will focus on research and activism centered on the history of the Holocaust, citizenship and the prevention of genocide. According to Hollande, the Chair will serve as "a national site for training and citizenship through memory."

References

References

  1. Guénaël Lemouee, [http://www.laprovence.com/article/a-la-une/camp-des-milles-la-memoire-de-la-deportation Camp des Milles : la mémoire de la déportation], ''[[La Provence]]'', 10 September 2012
  2. "UNESCO launches its new Chair "Education for Citizenship, Human Sciences and Shared Memories" at the Camp des Milles".
  3. Aliette de Broqua, [http://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-france/2012/09/09/01016-20120909ARTFIG00090-ayrault-au-memorial-du-camp-des-milles.php Ayrault au mémorial du camp des Milles], ''[[Le Figaro]]'', 10/09/2012
  4. Olivier Bertrand, [http://www.liberation.fr/societe/2012/07/10/camp-des-milles-parti-sans-laisser-d-adresse_832395 Camp des Milles : «Parti sans laisser d’adresse»], ''[[Libération]]'', 10 July 2012
  5. Fontaine, André. (1981). "Le camp des Milles (septembre 1939-mars 1943). Historique provisoire". Cahiers d'Études Germaniques.
  6. Chouraqui, Alain. (2007). "Le camp des Milles : une histoire plurielle, une mémoire pour demain". Cahiers d'Études Germaniques.
  7. (2006). "Enjeux d'Histoire, Jeux de Mémoire: les Usages du Passé Juif". [[Maisonneuve & Larose]].
  8. "Site-Mémorial du Camp des Milles - Aix-en-Provence : un mémorial pour l'avenir".
  9. [http://www.memoire-juive.org/artistes_milles.htm Memoire juive] {{webarchive. link. (2002-02-06)
  10. "Launch of the UNESCO Chair "Education for Citizenship, Human Sciences and Shared Memories" at the Camp des Milles (France)".

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aix-en-provenceworld-war-ii-internment-camps-in-francebuildings-and-structures-in-aix-en-provenceworld-war-ii-memorials-in-francetourist-attractions-in-aix-en-provencenazi-concentration-camps-in-france