Gurs was an internment camp established by the French government in April 1939. After the armistice, the new collaborationist Vichy government detained predominantly German Jews in the camp. On 22 October 1940, the German authorities deported around 6,500 Jews from the Baden and Saar Palatinate region in South-West Germany to Occupied France. The Vichy authorities then imprisoned this group in the camp of Gurs.   

Living conditions were poor, and over 1,100 internees died in Gurs between 1940 and 1943. Around 2,600 from this group from Baden were deported to Auschwitz after July 1942. Between 1940 and 1943, nearly 22,000 people passed through the camp, 18,000 of which were Jewish.   

This exhibition looks at daily life in Gurs, through letters sent by the Baden Jews to friends and family on the outside, as well as testimonies and reports on living conditions in the camp.  

All items are from The Wiener Holocaust Library’s collections. 

Some featured items 

Letter from Willy Cohn to his Wife Trudy, 25th March 1941 

Internees in Gurs were allowed to send letters to the outside world. Letters from German Jews in the camp were filled with questions regarding the wellbeing and whereabouts of family and friends. This letter was written by Willy Cohn from Gurs to his wife Trudy. He writes that he has not received news from his family for many months, saying: ‘Please write to me as soon as possible, it is my only joy!’ Willy was deported to Auschwitz on 4 September 1942, where he was murdered.    
 

Haggadah produced in Gurs, Spring 1941 

Some Jews in Gurs sought to maintain a sense of religious life. A small group that called itself the ‘Comité Central d’Assistance’ wrote a Haggadah to distribute to other camp inmates in the spring of 1941. The Haggadah is the story of the Jewish exodus from Egypt, recited at a Seder dinner during Passover.  

Letter from Karl Nassau to his brother Herbert, 9th March 1941  

Some Jews in Gurs tried to obtain visas to emigrate overseas, usually to the USA via Portugal. This letter written by German Jew Karl Nassau to his brother Hubert Nassau in the UK shows how Karl tried to apply for a visa to the USA, with help of the HICEM, an association working to help European Jews emigrate to the US. This attempt was ultimately unsuccessful, and Karl was deported to Auschwitz on 17 August 1942, where he was murdered.