The Montreuil–Bellay Camp: Remembering and Preserving the Legacy of France’s Largest Internment Camp for Nomads During World War II
Lecture by Virginie Daudin – Director of the “Résistance et Liberté” regional center and project manager for the preservation and promotion of the site of the former Montreuil-Bellay internment camp.
In Maine-et-Loire, twenty kilometers from Saumur, the Montreuil-Bellay camp was one of the main internment camps for Roma in France following the issuance of the German order to intern theZigeunerin the occupied zone (October 4, 1940).
From November 1941 to January 1945, nearly 2,000 men, women, and children were interned there.
Over the past forty years, thanks to individual and then municipal initiatives, this significant site has been rescued from obscurity.
It was designated a historic monument in 2012. In 2016, in Montreuil-Bellay, 70 years after the liberation of the last Roma, President François Hollande acknowledged France’s responsibility for this internment.
This marks the beginning of a process of cultural preservation that will culminate in the fall of 2027 with the creation of the first memorial dedicated to the history of the internment of nomads in France.
David Hall, entrance at 11 Rue Battant, Besançon
Reservations required
As part of its annual lecture series, the Museum of the Resistance and Deportation invites you to join us oneThursday a monthfor a new lecture and a new guest speaker.