Aulus-les-Bains, Auschwitz

Discusses the role of Aulus-les-Bains, a small thermal resort in the French Pyrenées, as a detention center for Jews between 1942-43. In 1942 the Vichy government assigned 587 Jews, mostly refugees who had arrived in France in 1940 and found shelter in Haute-Garonne, to live in the isolated village. The Jews also included prisoners from the camp in Gurs and persons arrested while crossing over to unoccupied France or during the Vel d'Hiv roundup. Relations with the local population, fewer in number than the Jews, were peaceful. In August 1942 over 100 Jews were rounded up in Aulus and deported to Auschwitz. Of those who remained, some left illegally and at least 23 crossed into Spain. In December 1942 the Interior Ministry ordered the evacuation of all Jews detained in close proximity to the border to areas further away. In January 1943 the remaining 212 Jews of Aulus were rounded up and transferred to other detention centers. Notes that 135 of the Jews obliged to live in the village were deported, of whom five survived. Includes bibliographical references (pages 181-182). 185 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm.