With my friend who was visiting this week, we decided to check out the relatively new (opened in 2008) Internment and Deportation Museum in Compiegne. The Royallieu camp was an internment camp for political prisoners and Jews during World War II. It was a relatively open camp where the prisoners went to work in town every day. The Red Cross was also permitted to visit the prisoners. But some were shot, and eventually 50,000 were deported to concentration camps in Germany.
This is what the camp looked like at the time. There are three barracks left today, two of which are currently open to be visited. The rest of the land has been used for residential housing and a private hospital.
This is what the camp looked like at the time. There are three barracks left today, two of which are currently open to be visited. The rest of the land has been used for residential housing and a private hospital.
Internees organized schooling inside the camp. Some of their notes were on display. We also saw the tunnel via which several internees managed to escape.
One of the internees, an artist, left behind some images of life in the camps.
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