Le Camp des Familles : The Nomads de Rivesaltes

By Ellen Turner Hall

Who were the nomads of Rivesaltes? Nomads is used as a generic term to refer to such diverse groups as the French Manouches and Yenish of Alsace, the Sinti of Germany, Spanish and Catalan Gypsies, the Travellers of the central west and the Roma of central Europe.

Over 1300 individuals from these groups were confined at the Camp of Rivesaltes between January 1941 and November 1942.

Les Nomads de Rivesaltes 3

Why? The question was posed by Friedel Bohny-Reiter, who has left us a photographic record of the those imprisoned in the camp where she worked as a nurse.

The latest exhibition at the Resalts Memorial responds to that question in three ways.

Les Nomads de Rivesaltes
©David Maugendre EPCC Mémorial du Camp de Rivesaltes Visite des élèves du Collège Roger Contrepas de Marsillargues au mémorial du camps de Rivesaltes et de representants de l’association du “Souvenir Français”.

First, by gathering scientific information to document the who, the what, the where and the why. Dispossessed, marginalised and persecuted by the Nazi regime, the nomads were submitted to pseudo-scientific tests with the objective of proving their racial inferiority.

Secondly, by devoting a book to individual prisoners, each person’s story serves as an antidote to nameless, faceless statistics. You can read about Elise Weiss from Alsace who escaped from the camp with her children, or Jean Sargera born in the camp in 1942 and photographed in his mother’s arm in the poster for the exhibition.

The final response is the work of three artists, each interpreting their nomadic heritage in a different way. Marina Rosselle’s work is the most poetic, depicting a world of fragility and tenderness – innocent grasses grow from the suffering of the people buried under the earth.

Les Nomads de Rivesaltes

Because theirs is an oral culture, written records are sparse. Thanks to this exhibition, the nomads’ story is finally being told.

Millions of immigrants to Europe are living a similar fate today. We will be judged as a society on how well we treat them.

Les Nomads de Rivesaltes

Le Camp des Families runs from 15 March 2024 to 14 Feb 2025.

For details: www.memorialcamprivesaltes.eu

The Horrific History of Camp Joffre

Les Nomads de RivesaltesCamp Joffre in Rivesaltes opened in 1938 to house “undesirables”, refugees from the Spanish Civil War, Jews and Gipsies…. Its position was particularly handy for the railway. Destination: Auschwitz, via Drancy.

Outside the Memorial Museum, the desolate, abandoned barracks and ruins of the former camp emphasise the stark reality represented.

Inside, the long single-story sunken construction in concrete, monolith style, is broken up by narrow patios, the only view the sky, visible through a few roof windows and the patios.

You will not come away unmoved.

Leave a Comment