During World War II, Rennes, a city of almost 100,000 inhabitants, prefecture of the department of Ille-et-Vilaine and capital of Brittany, was in the German-occupied part of France. Under German occupation, there were at least five internment camps for different groups of people in Rennes. On the basis of a German decree of 4 October 1940, the prefecture interned around 400 Sinti and Roma between November 1940 and December 1944. They were held in the Camp départemental des nomades [Departmental camp for ‘Nomades’] in Haute-Salmonière, at the corner of Rue Le Guen de Kérangal and Boulevard Albert 1er.
The Camp
The 100 by 80 metre camp site was located on the south-western edge of the city, about five kilometres from the centre, in an area that was only sparsely built up at the time. When it opened on 2 November 1940, the camp consisted of two large buildings made of concrete blocks and bricks. This location was chosen instead of the prison in Vitré because it offered sufficient space for caravans. 75 per cent of those who were classified as ‘Nomades’ lived in their caravans. The site, surrounded by barbed wire, was flat, damp and loamy, and thanks to the Breton climate, it remained muddy for most of the year.
The camp was under the authority of the prefect and was administered by a former police commissioner. Six civilian guards and two gendarmes were responsible for guarding the camp. A doctor, a nurse and a priest regularly visited the camp to provide medical and pastoral care to the families held there.
Composition of the Internees
Among the internees of the camp were individuals categorised by the authorities as ‘Nomades’, ‘Forains’ [showmen] or ‘Clochards’ [‘vagrants’] who had been arrested and sent there. Arrests usually occurred following police checks or complaints from local residents. On 31 December 1941, 61 people labelled ‘Nomades ou indésirables’ [‘Nomades or undesirables’] arrived at the camp after residents of the Francisco Ferrer neighbourhood sent a petition to the prefect accusing them of theft and noise disturbances. Thirteen families living in caravans were subsequently interned. The total number of ‘Nomades’ in the camp never exceeded 200.
Between 1 October 1941 and 2 July 1942, food smugglers, prostitutes and communists were also transferred to the camp as so-called internés administratifs [administrative internees] and housed in dormitories separate from the ‘Nomades’. The total number of internees in this category is estimated at around fifty. During this period, the camp was officially renamed Camp départemental des nomades et des internés administratifs.
Everyday Life and Living Conditions
Unlike those interned for administrative reasons, basket weavers, street vendors and those with work permits were allowed to leave the camp during the day until 6 p.m. Where the head of a household was not working, it was provided with food by the administration, while working men and women were expected to provide for their families themselves. The camp administration viewed the issuing of exit permits and accommodation in caravans as a means of reducing costs. This situation gave families limited opportunities to improve their circumstances. The survivor Paul Caséach (1929–unknown) later recalled: ‘My mother managed to make sure we had something to eat. The food in the camp was always the same and it wasn’t enough… My mother was a shopkeeper, she had permission leave the camp to run her shop, and she would bring us food.‘1MRAP et al., “Histoire et mémoire,” 21. Translation into English: Emanuel Marx L’Huillier.
Living conditions in the camp were precarious and hygiene conditions were extremely poor: there were no showers, and families lacked clean clothing. Vermin were widespread, as Suzanne Josse (1896–1991), a resistance fighter held in the camp between 12 May and 12 June 1942, recorded in her diary.
The situation of the children remains insufficiently documented due to the generally fragmentary sources: accounts of the schooling of children are contradictory, as it may have taken place either within the camp or at a school in the city.
The camp in Rennes was one of the few detention camps for ‘Nomades’ that did not receive any new internees after its closure and the restructuring of other camps. Some families were transferred to the detention camps at Moisdon-la-Rivière (Loire-Inférieure; today: Loire-Atlantique) and Montreuil-Bellay (Maine-et-Loire) as a disciplinary measure. Moreover, in August 1944, around fifty individuals were transferred to Jargeau (Loiret) in anticipation of the imminent liberation of the camp.
According to the available sources, the last ‘Nomades’ were probably liberated in December 1944, although the exact date is unknown.
After the War
From August 1944 to mid-1945, the barracks were used to house Russian, Ukrainian and Baltic prisoners of war who had been forced to work in the region by the Organisation Todt. In the post-war period, the buildings served as accommodation for destitute people before being demolished between 1968 and 1970 to make way for new residential buildings.
On the initiative of the associations Mouvement contre le Racisme et pour l’Amitié entre les Peuples (MRAP) and Accueil des Gens du Voyage en Ille-et-Vilaine (AGV35), the city of Rennes unveiled a memorial plaque on 23 May 2013 at 12 Rue des Frères Louis et René Moine, a few streets away from the former camp site.
