Opened on September 2, 1939 in a closed down brickyard, the CAMP OF LES MILLES was the only gathering camp of the 15th Military Region. This function ceased on April 18, 1940, but the camp was reopened as of May to receive there new arrested internees following the German offensive.

The survey of DANNECKER dated July 1942 brings the following precise details:

"The camp is an old firmly built brickyard. The conditions are worse for the Jews than in the Jewish camp of DRANCY close to PARIS. Toys and various wooden objects are manufactured in various workshops. A number of internees: 1,306 Jews. Among those, one counts 781 old German subjects, 290 old Austrian subjects, 92 old Polish subjects, 16 old Czechoslovakian subjects and 13 old Russian subjects. Regarding the old German subjects, they are almost only individuals reported the 25-10-1940 from the Country of Bade and Palatinat within the framework of Action BURCKEL. The majority of them are more than 50 years old. Two supervised stay places for women in MARSEILLES (Hotel Bompard and Hotel Terminus) also concern the direction of the camp of Les MILLES. 361 Jewish are there, 321 are stateless people (159 ex-germans). 1,192 deportable Jews."

August 14 at September 9, 1942, six convoys for AUSCHWITZ will start from DRANCY with 5,991 Jews, including 1,379 coming from Les MILLES.

Among the German personalities interned in this camp, it is necessary to quote Lion FEUCHTWANGER (1884-1958) writer, author of "the Suss Jew" in 1925; living in France since 1933, it managed to gain the United States in 1940; Max ERNST (1891-1976) painter; Hans BELLMER (1902-1975) painter.

November 4, 1942, the 217 internees who are still in the CAMP OF Les MILLES are transferred to the Hotel Bompard and the Hotel Terminus in MARSEILLES, as to the Camp of LES MEES (Alpes-Maritimes) and of LA ROQUEBRUSSANE (Var).

The camp is then used to accomodate Jews massively captured on January 23, 1943 in the area of MARSEILLES.

Lastly, March 15, 1943, Wehrmacht takes along towards COMPIEGNE about thirty internees that it finds there.