Routes

Planner

Features

Updates

App

Login or Signup

Get the App

Login or Signup

Discover
Places to see
France
Pays de la Loire
Saumur
Montreuil-Bellay

Montreuil-Bellay Internment Camp Memorial

Highlight • Historical Site

Montreuil-Bellay Internment Camp Memorial

Recommended by 1 road cyclists

This Highlight is in a protected area

Please check local regulations for: Parc naturel régional Loire-Anjou-Touraine

Save

Share

  • More

  • Save

    Share

  • More

  • Take Me There

    Routes here

    Best Road Cycling Rides to Montreuil-Bellay Internment Camp Memorial

    5.0

    (1)

    53

    riders

    1. Saumur – Saumur Wine Route loop from Berrie

    137km

    06:46

    780m

    780m

    Expert road ride. Very good fitness required. Some segments of this route may be unpaved and difficult to ride.

    Navigate

    Send to Phone

    Expert

    Intermediate road ride. Good fitness required. Some segments of this route may be unpaved and difficult to ride.

    Intermediate

    Intermediate road ride. Good fitness required. Mostly well-paved surfaces and easy to ride.

    Intermediate

    Tips

    July 20, 2024

    Outside the town of Montreuil-Bellay, along a railway line, this site hosted, from 1941 to 1946, one of thirty French concentration camps for “homeless individuals, nomads and fairground people, of the Romani type”. In other words for Roma, Gypsies, Manouches or Gypsies. Of this camp, all that remains now are stone steps, foundations, a cellar which served as a prison and a commemorative stele. These Gypsies, in entire families, came from a multitude of small camps opened following the law of April 6, 1940 signed by Albert Lebrun, last president of the 3rd Republic, a law which stipulated that these nomads had to be gathered in communes designated under police surveillance and which was applied with zeal by Vichy. Also interned in Montreuil were tramps arrested in the streets of Nantes at the beginning of the summer of 1942, and almost all of whom disappeared before the end of the winter that followed.
    The camp was not an extermination camp. The thousands of Gypsies interned there, around 1,500 at the height of the occupation, were not subsequently deported to German death camps. But living conditions there were deplorable.
    Fallen into oblivion after the war, this site was only recently rediscovered. And it was only in 2010 that the ruins of this camp were listed as a historic monument in order to prevent their total disappearance and make them a place of memory.
    Some images on this site sadly steeped in history fondationshoah.org/memoire/montreuil-bellay-un-camp-tsigane-oubli-un-film-dalexandre-fronty

    Translated by Google •

      In the know? Log-in to add a tip for other adventurers!

      Sign up for free

      Details

      Informations

      Elevation 60 m

      Weather

      Powered by AerisWeather

      Today

      Tuesday 4 November

      18°C

      13°C

      0 %

      If you start your activity now...

      Max wind speed: 9.0 km/h

      Most visited during

      January

      February

      March

      April

      May

      June

      July

      August

      September

      October

      November

      December

      Loading

      Location: Montreuil-Bellay, Saumur, Pays de la Loire, France

      Other Popular Places to Check Out

      Château de Montreuil-Bellay

      Explore
      RoutesRoute plannerFeaturesHikesMTB TrailsRoad cycling routesBikepacking
      Download the app
      Follow Us on Socials

      © komoot GmbH

      Privacy Policy