From international origins to transnational commemoration: the cemetery of the Gurs camp, 1939–1963

Abstract

Abstract While the origins, operation and experiences of the internment camps of the Third Republic and Vichy have been studied, little is known about how they were closed and transformed into sites of commemoration. Drawing from fresh archival material, this study demonstrates the complexity of closing the vast complex of Gurs whilst also questioning the extent to which this camp can be understood as a peripheral or forgotten site during the frequently overlooked period of the postwar decades. The analysis of French administrative correspondence not only reveals how the legacy of the camp generated a significant level of ‘administrative noise’, it also furthers understanding of how postwar narratives of the ‘dark years’ were constructed and buttressed by French officials. The failure of the latter to resolve the overlapping issues of responsibility and the maintenance of the camp cemetery underpins this article’s argument that the international origins of the deceased explain both the neglect of the burial ground and its eventual transformation into a transnational site of commemoration in the early 1960s.