August 20, 1941
Drancy Internment Camp Opens
Historical context
On this day, August 20, 1941, French police interned thousands of Jewish men arrested in Paris at Drancy, opening the camp that later became the main transit point for deportations from France.
Archive record
Read the event, then follow its documented sources and archive threads.
- Date
- August 20, 1941
- Verified sources
- 1
- Archive threads
- 5
On this day, French police began internment at Drancy, northeast of Paris, after arresting more than 4,000 Jewish men, most of them foreign or stateless, in the city. The unfinished Cité de la Muette housing complex was enclosed and guarded by French gendarmes under German Security Police authority.
From the summer of 1942 Drancy became the principal transit camp for deportations of Jews from France. About 70,000 prisoners passed through before August 1944. German authorities fled as Allied forces approached in mid-August 1944. The Swedish consul Raoul Nordling arranged care for the remaining prisoners. This 1941 opening is not the Vel d’Hiv roundup of 16–17 July 1942.
Research trail
Sources and further reading
- Drancy · United States Holocaust Memorial Museum · Holocaust Encyclopedia View source
Share this history
Support the work
If this history matters to you, you can support Jewish Original.