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- capital of the province. From the Mechelen museum of deportation and the Resistance
The Jewish Camps in Northern France (1942-1944) Danielle Delmaire Memor n.8, oct.1989. Maps of Dannes-Camiers Memor n.8, oct.1989. Pictures of the camp Memor n.8, oct.1989. |
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Liege - capital of the province. (Flemish Luik, Ger. Lüttich), capital of Liège province, E. Belgium. There is no evidence that a Jewish community existed in Liège in the Middle Ages. During the 11th century Bishop Wazon, the overlord of the city, had a religious disputation with a Jewish physician at the court of Emperor Conrad II. In 1138 a Jewish physician, Moses, cured a cleric Rodolphe de Saint Trond in Liège, but there is nothing to attest to his residence there. In 1573 a Jew in Liège became converted to Christianity, and in 1722 a German rabbi and his family were baptized. The first real evidence of the existence of a Jewish community in Liège postdates the French occupation at the end of the 18th century. There were 24 Jews living in the city in 1811, and 20-30 Jewish families in the second half of the 19th century. The oldest tombstone in the Jewish cemetery, with a Hebrew inscription, dates from 1842. The community in Liège had a synagogue and established communal institutions. On May 11, 1940, during the Nazi occupation, the Jewish population numbered 2.000 (according to the Gestapo report, it numbered 3.000 in 1939). An order issued by the Germans on Oct. 29, 1941, designated Liège as one of the four cities from which Jewish residence in Belgium was not excluded, along with Brussels, Antwerp, and Charleroi. On the liberation of Liège by the United States army on Sept. 8, 1944, there were 1.200 Jews in the city. In 1959 the population numbered 594. There was then a hazzan-minister in Liège, but no rabbi, and no local source of kasher meat. The synagogue was reform in tendency. About 25 % had intermarried : Jewish religious observance was weak and tendencies to assimilate strong. However, Israël and Zionism, as a means of expressing Jewish identity, played a large role in community life. Liège had four Zionist societies and other fund-raising organizations on behalf of Israël. In 1968 its Jewish population was 1.500.
Jewish presence in the region as evidenced since the 13th century. Anti-Jewish persecutions in Brabant and the matter of the false accusation of having refused communion wafers, after which Jews were burnt alive in Brussels in the 14th century. 16th century: Christianized Jews in Antwerp and their contribution to the city's port growth. Emancipation: The entry of Jews into the city. The Jews in Europe and Belgium in the 19th century - The Jewish Central Consistory of Belgium. The birth of modern anti-Semitism. Immigration. Jewish life before the Second World War. The Jews in Europe and Belgium in the 20th century.
Transformation of the Breedonck fort into a concentration camp for "Jews and certain dangerous internees" (September 20, 1940). First ordinances on the status of Jews (October 28, 1940). Through a series of successive orders, set forth by the Nazi occupier, Jews were progressively transformed into social pariahs: Jews had to be specifically registered, were barred from certain socioeconomic and professional sectors and had to have their identity cards stamped "Juif-Jood" (Jew). Jews could no longer attend certain public places, places of entertainment and social establishments. They had to set up a so-called "Association of Jews of Belgium" or A.J.B. (which, under the continual threat of the occupying forces, was operated for the cynical purpose of creating a body of Jewish spokespeople to serve as forced intermediaries in efficiently enforcing the application of anti-Jewish measures). Jews were regrouped in certain major cities and had to observe a curfew created especially for them. Their assets were blocked and their businesses confiscated. May 27, 1942, was the date upon which the Jews were required to wear a distinctive sign: the yellow star. Their isolation was now complete. The Antwerp Pogrom: The Anti-Jewish League and its acolytes in the Flemish SS and other nationalist movements destroyed 200 windows of Jewish-owned shops and burned two synagogues (April 14, 1941). Meanwhile, the fate of European Jews was sealed by the Nazis' decision to implement the "final solution," that is, extermination. September 29-30 1941: 33,771 Ukrainian Jews are executed by firearms in the Babi Yar ravine-turned-mass grave, Kiev. December 7, 1941: Chelmno, first extermination center. June 11, 1942: Berlin. The SS officer in charge of Jewish Affairs in Brussels receives the order to deport 10,000 Jews from Belgium to Auschwitz.
On July 25, 1942, the A.J.B. delegate received from the SS officer responsible for Jewish affairs the summons to be distributed to 10,000 Jews required for "labor mobilization." Two days later (July 27, 1942) the Dossin barracks in Mechelen were opened by the Nazis for use as an assembly camp and the first Jews summoned for "work mobilization" arrived. The deportation of the Jews living in Belgium could now begin... This deportation was already meticulously programmed: the first convoy of deportees would leave Dossin for Auschwitz on August 4, 1942. However, from the very first days, it appeared that those summoned did not obey en masse. The SS police then ordered the A.J.B. to call for Jewish compliance. The resulting appeal invited the parties concerned, to obey the "work mobilization" order and to present themselves at the Dossin barracks and included threats intended to discourage any recalcitrants: "the non observance of the work order may entail unpleasant consequences, for both members of (their) family and the entire Jewish population.." Henceforth attached to the summons, the appeal did not stop the insubordination movement. As of September 3, 1942 only 3,900 of the 10,000 Jews summoned, actually presented themselves at the barracks. The SS police therefore changed their tactics. Thereafter, the Jews would be sent by force. The final solution's first big night raid in Belgium occurred during the night of the 15th and 16th of August 1942, during which the Antwerp police arrested over 1000 Jews. One thousand of them, of whom 28% were children, were deported two days later. Two more night raids, also in Antwerp on August 28-29 and in Brussels on September 3-4, together with two days of raids on September 11 and 12 in Brussels, would complete this first phase. Almost each time, the Nazis managed to collect enough people for a convoy of at least 1000 persons. 61.8% of the Jews living in Belgium would be murdered upon their arrival at Auschwitz-Birkenau. |
| The
Concentration camps in Northern France (1942-1944)
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Article
by Danielle Delmaire in the journal MEMOR no. 8, December 1987.
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1. Setting Up of the Camps
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In May
of 1942, Hitler decided to protect the western region of his New Europe
by constructing the "Atlantic Wall". This project was entrusted to the
Todt Organization. Not only did this project require vast amount of finances
but also a high volume of manpower since it entailed construction of numerous
bunkers and ammunition depots. In 1941, the Nazi's issued various decrees to Belgium's Jews, one of these decrees stripped them from the right to be gainfully employed and to pursue their profession. As a result of this decree, the majority of the Belgian Jews were without employment by the Spring 1942. Moreover, a few months beforehand in January of 1942, the Wannsee Conference was held where Hitler and his top advisors made the decision to annihilate the entire Jewish population as part of their "Final Solution". Before this became into effect, however; it was decided to use the Jews as laborers for these gigantic construction sites before they were sent to their death in Auschwitz. The Jews were not the only group who were providing labor, there were volunteers from the local population who signed up. Unlike the Jews, the volunteers were paid fair wages for their labor. They worked on the construction sites of the Atlantic Wall, but they were treated far better than the Jews. In fact, the conditions in these work camps located throughout the coastal line of northern France, was a sinister foreboding of the fate that was to await the Jews in the Eastern concentration camps. Starting on June 13, 1942, Jews were assigned to the camps run by the Todt Organization. Approximately 2,252 forced laborers were deported until the 12th of September. As stated by one of the occupants of these camps, they were selected from the so-called "anti-social" elements. Legally, the Jews were not defined as such, however starting mid May more and more Jews were falling into this category. In the city of Brussels alone, the Chief Commander estimated that there were 5,000 unemployed Jews. In order to carry out a census, the Germans in conjunction with the Belgian Department of Labor, started to prepare lists and declarations, forcing decrees upon Jews to register and as stated by them "to finish their own affairs". This was done very discretely with the utmost of caution while the Jews were stripped from their civil rights. Initially, the Belgian administration was involved while the German occupying forces were looking on. However, that changed in May when the Germans started to get involved by rounding up Jews at random to check their papers and to verify employment. The unemployed, so-called "anti-socials" were to undergo medical exams, and after passing they were summoned to go the departure areas. The majority of forced labor came from Antwerp and the Belgian police was responsible to round them up as dictated by the Belgian Bureau of Employment. The Germans, Todt Organization, and their guards became involved only after the Jews' arrival. This operation lasted three months whereby four trains were leaving Antwerp on July 13, 14, August 4, and the last one on September 12 of 1942. Three other trains left Brussels on June 26, Charleroi on July 31 and Liege on August 3rd of 1942. The beginning of the Summer in 1942, Jewish labor camps were set up throughout the French coastal line. There was one additional camp called Mazures, which was located in the Ardennes close to Charleville. The first train arrived on June 13, 1942 at camp Condette located south of Boulogne. This train contained 250 Jews of different nationalities. One month later, July 14, 1942, another train arrived in Calais and Port-Lahon; on July 18 approx. 200 Jews from Antwerp arrive via Revin at the Mazures camp. Trains continued to arrive, 250 men in Calais, on August 14, 300 persons in Boulogne and on August 5, 1942, another train at Dannes-Camiers via Boulogne. At first, the Germans assembled and registered the new arrivals at Dannes and thereafter the prisoners were distributed throughout the other camps. More than one hundred prisoners were sent to Ferques during June-July of 1942. On August 14, 1942, a train headed for Boulogne, passed through Dannes by the end of September of 1942. 250 of the toughest prisoners were sent to the Etaples camp. The Todt Organization which managed the entire region from Calais to LeHavre was founded at Audinghen, located close to Cap Gris Nez. This location was considered to be the most strategic in the Strait of Calais. The local population was forced to leave this area, only Germans and volunteer workers were to be found who were occupying the homes abandoned by the local population. Starting August of 1942, the Hermann Dohrmann Company of Mulheim on the Ruhr, specializing in road construction and heavy industries, started to create five lists with names of Jewish laborers from Brussels and Antwerp for accounting and salary purposes. These five lists covered the period from August 9 till October 17, 1942, and except for the fifth list which contained 118 names, each list had 120 names and two weeks of salary. In September of 1942, 250 Belgian Jews were put to work at Etaples and were registered in the Dannes-Camiers camps. During this period, starting August/September of 1942, round ups were initiated for the entire Jewish population throughout Belgium and the northern regions of France. This was the beginning of the process to be known as the "final solution". The first train destined for Auschwitz left Malines on August 4, 1942. The Germans anticipated deportation of approx. 20,000 persons and despite this prediction, the authorities responsible for deportation did not succeed to match this amount. To be able to match this amount, workers were taken out the camps throughout the coastal region. Every measure was taken to ensure that the mandated amount of 20,000 was met even if this meant a delay to defend the Reich and to protect Hitler's Europe. This decision defies any logic whatsoever and perpetuates the Nazi doctrine and insanity to annihilate the Jews. The Final Solution had priority over any other military objective. Four trains containing a high number of workers from the camps of Northern France left, two on October 24, 1942, and two on October 31, 1942. Within this time period, the camps were almost completely emptied and this measure satisfied the objective of the Nazis to meet their quota. Because of this measure, however; construction work on the Atlantic Wall was delayed. However, the camps did not remain completely deserted. Jews of Belgian nationality and husbands married to Aryan (non-Jewish) women were allowed to remain while other prisoners replaced those who were deported. However, the camp would never have a Jewish population of 2,000 again as was the case in the Summer of 1942. Prisoners from the Merxplas jail started to occupy the camps of Calais and Fort-Mahon, starting October of 1942. The Peuplingues camp operated from October 5 till December 10, 1942 while the Condette camp which opened in June, 1942, remained in operation until the beginning of 1944. The Mazures camp lasted from July, 1942 and was liquidated on January 5, 1944. The population was transferred to Drancy on January 4, 1944. Part of the population at Drancy was liberated by the allied forces on August 19, 1944, however another part of the prisoners from this camp was deported to Auschwitz. Jews were imprisoned in the Fort-Mahon camp until February of 1944; on December 15 of 1943 there were about 200 - 250 men still living there. They were replaced by Russians from February till April of 1944. The main camp of Dannes was never vacant, despite the fact that the work force was reduced to approx. 60 men by the end of 1942. However, in 1943, this was increased by other arrivals. In November of 1943, the Germans transferred prisoners from Auigny or Guernesy to Dannes. These prisoners were separated from the Belgians. Thus, after the first period when the camps were opened in June/July of 1942, these camps were densely populated due to the roundups of the entire Jewish population which lasted until the last week of October 1942. This was followed by a second period after October of 1942, showing a decrease in population, however arrivals came in regular increments causing a steady increase. By the end of the second period, there was a transfer phase during January/February of 1944. The Mazures camp shut down and in the Fort-Mahon camp the Jews were replaced by Russians. This was followed by a third period during the Spring of 1944 with the arrival of a train from the isle of Aurigny. On May 7, 1944, 650 Jewish prisoners evacuated Aurigny by boat to Cherbourg. They continued by train where they endured a ten day and nine night lasting journey from Cherbourg to Hazebrouck. Fifty persons were crammed in a rail car. Once, after arrival at Hazebrouck they were put into a storage shed from where some prisoners took the change to escape. A selection was held: 150 were sent to the college of Mariette in Boulogne where the prisoners occupied the fourth floor and 500 others are directed to Dannes and Camiers. For 1.5 months, the constructed fortifications sustained continued bombing by the Allies. On June 30, 1944 the Camiers camp takes in prisoners from Dannes and finally in August of 1944, the Germans started to evacuate and took all prisoners with them. At the beginning of September, while everything was collapsing around them the Germans still succeeded in organizing a train to deport the prisoners. However, this train did not go far, it was stopped by the Belgian resistance at Dexmude and the occupants were liberated. | |||||||||||||
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2. Time Period of the Camps
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A dozen
camps were opened during a 26 months time span, the Mazures camp remained
in operation for 18 - 20 months. Not all of these camps were continuously
occupied, some of the larger, permanent camps provided labor for the smaller,
more insignificant ones. Certain camps provided lodging for prisoners
who were completing a worksite. Dannes and Camiers were the permanent,
main centers and from there the Germans sent prisoners to Etaples, Hardelot,
Merlimont, Calais, Ferques and Sangarre to the north and Fort-Mahon in
the southern region. Therefore, it was not unusual that one of the inmates,
H. Zuckerman deported to Dannes, was working during the first period at
Etaples and Merlimont and the second and third period was transferred
to work in other camps. The same applied to other prisoners who came from
Aurigny, were housed in Dannes, after that transferred to Camiers while
working at Etaples. All these camps were managed and supervised by the Todt Organization, the only exception was the Mazures camp which operated independently, however belonged to the same organization. German, Belgian and Dutch S.S. members assisted to maintain discipline. A "Wachtmeister" (guard?) and "Oberwachtmeister" (guard supervisor) members of the NSDAP (National Socialistic Democratic Labor Party) were stationed in Dannes. Sometimes, soldiers from the German army were guarding the camps, there were testimonies of their presence in the Fort-Mahon camp. At Peuplingues, in addition to Belgian and Dutch T.O. (???) and members of the Dutch SS, supervision and management of the camp was also carried out by the Hitler youth. The only camp where the Germans used Kapo's was at Boulogne. After Jews arrived at Aurigny, German Jewish prisoners who were housed at Mariette college became guards and were equipped with sticks, and later on even with rifles as ordered by the Germans. The imprisoned population in the camps consisted mainly of Jews who were living in Belgium before the war broke out. Most of them were living in Brussels or Antwerp, and to a lesser extent in the eastern part, e.g. Charleroi, Liege and Seraing. There were a lot of foreigners amongst them and they were the first ones to be put to work and to be deported afterwards during the last week of October, 1942. These foreigners came as refugees from Central Europe (Poland, Czechoslovakia, Germany) and settled in Belgium between the two World Wars. During the first two periods, Jews of Belgian nationality remained in the camps on the coast and Mazures. During the third period, the French Jews formed the majority among the workers. At Aurigny, Germans imprisoned French Jews who were mainly married to non-jewish women. Construction firms who were working for the Todt organization obtained a cheap labor force at almost no cost to them. After the war, an investigation revealed the following company names: Companies from the Ruhr Region: Julius Berger from Essen at Dannes, The Dohrmann company from Mulheim at Audingen, The Helfaut and Stutzenberger Company from Gelsenkirchen at Calais. Companies from the Saar Region: Wolff at Calais, Micka from Saarbrucken at Camiers Joh. Schneider from Saarbrucken at Hardelot. Nick Garcon and Son from Bitburg at Fort-Mahon and Durr & Rosetzky from Stuttgart at Sangatte. At Mazures, a forester from Revin by the name of Vaiset and the Vior company from Revin used prisoners both. The Sobeco Company from Brussels was stationed at Etaples. | |||||||||||||
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3. The labor in the camps
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Throughout
the coastal region, labor consisted mainly of three major tasks:
Throughout these camps (including Mazures), a regular working day lasted for more than ten hours, most of the time 13 to 14 hours. However, depending on type of work demanded, at times there was no limit and this was controlled by the head of the worksite. Sometimes, the inmates of Boulogne left their camp for seven or eight days, the prisoners at Camiers worked sometimes 36 to 40 hours non-stop without resting. When a barrack was constructed, they would not allow any rest. First the cement had to be poured for the base, and metal framing was set up. Then cement had to be poured into the framework to erect it, and this had to be done once during 36 or even 48 hours. The guards were battling their fatigue while getting drunk which made them even more malicious and ferocious. Trucks were not used to transport the prisoners to worksites, they were forced to walk which lasted between one and two hours, making their workday even longer. Prisoners from Dannes and Camiers walked to Condette which took two hours. The Neufchatel station was at 5 to 6 km distance and the station of Etaples was 8 to 10 km from the camp. The laborers from Rue, Fort-Mahon or Peuplingues walked to the worksite at 5 to 10 km distance from the camp. Sundays the prisoners were off twice every three weeks or three times every four weeks. Supervision was very strict. An escape from the worksite or during the walk towards the worksite meant a major risk since the guards were armed. On certain worksites, the Germans did not allow talking. Very rarely did the prisoners receive any pay, although an order dated May 8, 1942 related to Jewish labor stated that salary would be provided. Jews hired by the Dohrmann Company received FF802,74 for two weeks of work. At the Boulogne camp, part of the salary was supposed to be sent to the family, about FF500 for two weeks, paid by the Banque de Paris and Pays Bas. The other part would be paid to the worker and a third part to be kept for his support. However, the prisoners rarely ever received any monies and families who were in hiding or feared to be caught never made any claims for payment. At Mazures, the Germans did pay salaries divided between the prisoners and their families but this would only last for the first eight months. | |||||||||||||
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4. Life In The Camp.
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Life In
The Camp At Dannes, the Tibor camp was located at the exit of the village
in the direction of Boulogne. Not far from there, there was a second camp
which consisted of non-Jewish prisoners. These two groups hardly ever
met at the worksites. The non-Jewish prisoners were allowed to move freely
outside the camp. In Camiers, the Gneisenau camp was located close to
the station on private property and volunteers were living in a different
camp but the Jews of the Gneisenau camp had very little contact with them
and the rest of the village population, who mostly evacuated. The camps where Jews were held were confinement camps and they were forced to work. They were not allowed to take advantage of moving freely outside the camp or the privilege to have a pass (ausweiss). Neither did any of the other camps located throughout the coastal region. After July of 1943, prisoners of the Mazures camp had permission to take off on Sunday afternoon. Parcels and letters hardly ever reached the camps, especially during the last months of the war, since a prisoner might have moved from one camp to another one and some of these families disappeared or were in hiding. Daily prisoners were tormented humiliated. Witnesses condemn the brutality of blows that were inflicted upon prisoners with iron sticks. This happened in the camps as well as worksites. A native witness described the frequency of having observed injured prisoners who were unable to walk and were supported by their fellow prisoners while returning to camp. At Dannes, men had their limbs broken and their teeth crushed. People died from ill treatment, insufficient food and malnutrition. In the cemetery of Dannes, six graves of Jews who died in July and December of 1942 are still to be found. People also died on the worksite and during the bombings. At Etaples, people cleared and repaired the town's bridge while allied bombers released their cargo. During a particularly severe attack, nine prisoners died, Gordon in a sand slide and Grinvogel who was crushed by an overturned wagon. An identical incident happened at Dannes in 1942. Frequent beatings with sticks and shovels was not enough for the SS and other guards. At the Mariette college, one guard Thiele and his assistant Kling were notorious for their inhumanity and cruelty. They forced the exhausted and also sick Jews to crawl into thorny bushes. If prisoners returned late from work, they were ordered to weed the court yard by hand and then put these weeds a couple of yards further down. Throughout the camps, supervisors imposed physical exercise on the prisoners which gave them the excuse to beat the prisoners severely if it was not done fast enough. At Dannes, prisoners were forced to crawl in a straight aligned position, if it was not straight enough according to the guards then severe blows would rain upon them. The prisoners were also forced to run no matter if they were rested or merely exhausted with the excuse "to loosen them up". Some guards were extremely cruel. On Sundays, they promised the prisoners a show at the cinema, instead they were forced to perform additional jobs in the stone quarry or in nearby forests. In Dannes, a guard ordered a Jew to slap a fellow prisoner and he refused to do so. In turn, he was slapped violently by the German guard. Unbearable punishments were inflicted upon the Jews while they were praying during Yom Kippur in 1942. | |||||||||||||
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5. Help From The Local Population And Escapes.
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Help From
The Local Population And Escapes Out of the 2,252 Belgian Jews imprisoned
in the coastal region, there were about 196 escapes, which represents
8.7%. Unfortunately, there are no recorded dates of these escapes. It
is suspected that most of the escapes occurred during transfers and by
the end of the summer of 1944 when the Germans were losing control of
their situation. Help of the local population was not limited to escapes but also by trying to make the prisoners' life less severe. In order to do so, the rules imposed by the Germans to isolate the population from the Jews were broken. Therefore, it was extremely risky to give prisoners food or to even try to communicate with them. A gardener who was offering prisoners some carrots had a gun pointed at him. Despite the food scarcity, villagers were throwing food to the prisoners who were passing their houses in close range. Sometimes, the children of Camiers threw bread over the barbed wire of the camp. Some villagers wanted to get paid for this. | |||||||||||||
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6. Conclusions
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In all
of the camps throughout the region, it is estimated that approx. 3,000
Jews worked themselves to death by constructing and maintaining the Atlantic
Wall. 2,252 Belgian Jews stayed in these camps with the addition of 650
French Jews from Aurigny and some other Jews from somewhere else. For
that reason, the number 3,000 should be considered a minimum. The busiest period was the entire summer of 1942, and the Belgian Jews were the first ones to endure the Nazi atrocities before they were deported to the East. Between the period of October 1942, and Spring of 1944, the were still 700 Belgian Jews left in the camps - this is the 2nd period. Very few were left when the train left Aurigny and brought in French deportees in May of 1944. This is the third period and the most dangerous one. The worksites were bombed by the Allies and the Germans were being defeated. The brief history of the Jewish labor camps throughout the coastal region is intended to fill the gap of local history during the German occupation and the ethnic persecution by the Nazi's in France. This report should be regarded as an initial depiction, additional studies and eye witness accounts with survivors and people from Boulogne are still outstanding to obtain an accurate outlook. Therefore, the preceding should be looked upon as an initial, temporary depiction. | |||||||||||||
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