Prisoners gather by the barbed wire fence surrounding the Gurs internment camp.

Male and female prisoners separated by barbed wire fence in the Gurs concentration camp

The Kann Family at the Gurs Internment Camp

The Kann family in the Gurs concentration camp, Renée Kann Silver (right) and her sister Edith (front) were later sent to Le Chambon

Renee Kann Silver and her sister pictured with a refugee soldier from the Spanish Civil War

Renée Kann Silver and her sister Edith with a refugee soldier from the Spanish Civil War

Food distribution at Rivesaltes Internment Camp

Children in the Rivesaltes transit camp receive food from the Secours Suisse aid organization

OSE pre-school in Rivesaltes Internment Camp

Children imprisoned in the Rivesaltes transit camp attend a pre-school run by the OSE (OEuvre de Secours aux Enfants) aid organization

Cost of Survival

Would you be willing to be separated from your family to escape captivity? How do you think the refugee children felt about being rescued?

reflection

Several aid organizations were present inside French concentration camps and aid workers often approached parents who were willing to give permission to have their children transferred. Transferring children out of camps like Gurs meant that the children would have to leave their parents behind. Parents knew that this would be their children’s sole opportunity to escape the deprivations, hardships, and unknown fate that lay ahead. For many child refugees of Le Chambon, the cost of survival meant hiding in isolation and never seeing their families again.