View of the Rivesaltes camp, France, 1941/42. Rivesaltes, located in the Pyrenees in southern France, was the largest detention camp in this region for members of the Sinti and Roma communities, who were labelled ‘nomades’ by the authorities. In less than two years, a total of 17 500 people were interned at Rivesaltes; more than 9 000 Spaniards, 7 000 Jews and nearly 1 400 ‘nomads’ passed through this camp between January 1941 and November 1942.
The photograph was taken by Friedel Bohny-Reiter (1912–2001), who was a member of the Swiss Children’s Relief Organisation and provided humanitarian aid in the camp. She documented her work in a diary that was later published and also took numerous photographs of Sinti:ze and Roma in the camp.
