Before it became a concentration camp for Jews from the free zone between September and November 1942, Rivesaltes housed foreign nationals and gypsies. From the opening of the camp in January 1941, there was always a significant presence of Jews. In less than two years, some 7,000 Jews passed through the camp.

This figure was not known until recently and is the result of years of research into archives, with the aim of drawing up a complete list of the names of the Jews who were interned there.

The study also sheds light on several other question, such as where the interned foreigners— often entire families—came from; why they were really “concentrated” in this camp in the Pyrénées-Orientales region; how some interns were able to leave the camp; how 2,289 individuals were transferred to Drancy and then deported to Auschwitz; and how many returned from Auschwitz in 1945.

This historical study is a Memorial in itself: it ends with an exhaustive list of the Jews who were deported from the camp and another list of the Jewish internees who died at the camp.