ViewMate - Image Archive, Image 111879 - Photo Identification - France - Braun


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Information

Picture

Question

Category: Photo Identification
Approval Date: 8/24/2025 2:51 PM
Family Surname: Braun
Country: France
Date of Image: March 1939

Click the picture to enlarge

Photo taken in French internment camp, March 1939 -- but which camp?

The camps at Argelers and Gurs were established in early 1939, but they were for Spanish prisoners. German/Jewish refugees arrived later.

Fritz and Leo Braun were Viennese Jews. In the center is Fritz Braun (dob 4/15/1897), a physician, who had a French identity card effective until March 20, 1939, as a resident of Pujols, Lot-et-Garonne. He emigrated to New York in 1940. On the left is Leo Braun (dob 8/22/1898), an attorney, who was transported from Drancy to Auschwitz on 9/25/1942.

The watermark on back of the photo is of Gevaert Ridax, a Belgian who produced photo paper. In pencil is "März 39" and a note from Fritz's daughter, written decades later. I find it improbable that Fritz (or his wife) would have written a wrong date on the photo.

I would also like to understand more about who managed to take and develop such photos in the camps.

Response

8/25/2025 6:26 PM

This looks nothing like a French internment camp left over from the Spanish Civil War. It is clearly a family dwelling.

I got interested in Saint-Cyprien camp after discovering my uncle had been interned there after being arrested by the Belgian authorities in Antwerp at dawn on 10th May 1940, at the instant the German army set a toe on Belgian soil. Because he was German.

When Republican Spaniards were interned in Saint Cyprien in 1936 or 1937, the beach was bare. Barbed wire on 3 sides, the sea on the 4th. Nothing to protect them from the cold. They dug holes in sand on the beach to cuddle together and keep warm enough to not die of cold overnight.

They were provided with materials to build barracks. Nothing like this photo.

ViewMate Posting VM 111879

Submitted by Terry Eli Hill

Learn more about our organizational leadership, mission, and values. There are numerous opportunities to get involved yourself!

Search millions of records from around the globe, including more than 4 million records related to the Holocaust, and more than 4.2 million burial records. Records are continually added each month - check back often for new information!

Discover your ancestral town, explore geographic/regional based sections of the JewishGen site (Research Divisions), and explore what daily life was like for your ancestors - and what we can learn from them today.

Enhance your research with online classes and dozens of helpful articles. University students can apply for the Bennett & Robin Greenspan L'dor V'dor Legacy Program, and those "out of school" can help preserve Jewish Heritage in Poland with unique study & volunteer experiences.

Connect with tens of thousands of other JewishGen members via the Family Finder, Discussion Group, Facebook Group, and ViewMate. It's a great way to share success, ask questions, and stay informed of the happenings throughout the Jewish genealogical community.

The JewishGen site is offered as a free public resource. However, it costs a lot of money to maintain and expand our services. If you are in a position to do so, please consider a contribution today - your support will make a difference!

ViewMate Posting VM 111879

Submitted by Terry Eli Hill