Aid from British Quakers to Spanish Republican exiles in internment camps in the South of France

Abstract

In January 1939, the end of the Republic had become a tragic inevi­tability, and thousands of people, both civilians and military, fled to the north to France in what became known as La Retirada (The Retreat). They were accom­panied by volunteers from several aid agencies, notably British Quakers. These distributed food and clothing and provided what medical help they could to the many thousands of refugees making their way to the border. The Quakers continued to offer assistance to the women and children who were subsequently scattered among internment camps throughout France, as well as administering aid to the hundreds of thousands of men who were herded into vast open-air camps along the shores of Roussillon, without shelter, food, or latrines and en­closed by barbed-wire fences. The Quakers were the first to obtain the necessary permits to enter the internment camps in order to administer aid. They provided not only the most basic elements, such as food, clothing, and medicines, but also pencils and notebooks for writing as well as tools and materials of all kinds to work with, in order to combat the inertia and desperation often generated by incarceration. The Quakers were also instrumental in helping many people to escape the horror of life in the camps.