Im Fout labor camp
| Im Fout labor camp | |
|---|---|
| Labor camp | |
| Coordinates | 32°43′46″N 7°55′51″W / 32.72944°N 7.93083°W |
| Other names | Imfout, Im-Fout, Imfoud, In-Fout, In-Foud, Qujda-Imfout |
| Operated by | Vichy France |
| Inmates | Groupe des Travailleurs Étrangers |
The Im Fout labor camp was a forced labor camp established by 1941 by Vichy France near the construction site of the Im Fout Dam on the Oum Er-Rbia River in Morocco, at the time a French protectorate. Most of Im Fout's prisoners were political prisoners, demobilized soldiers, former military volunteers,[1] and "undesirables"[2] classified as "foreign workers" (Groupement de travailleurs étrangers (GTE)) by the Department of Industrial Production (Direction de la Production Industrielle) in Rabat.[3][4] The Im Fout cohort was designated as GTE No. 9.[3] Im Fout was the main center for demobilized soldiers and former war volunteers designated as "foreign workers" in Axis-occupied North Africa.[1]
The camp's structures included low-ceilinged cement barracks with cement floors, which were stocked with bedbug-infested wooden beds with straw mattresses[5] and one blanket for each prisoner—approximately 100 men per barrack.[3] The camp also had a library, containing books and games that the prisoners shared with the laborers.[3] There were no places of worship accessible to prisoners.[3] The camp's population was recorded at 264[a] by ICRC physician Edouard Wyss-Dunant in July 1942, but had dropped to 23[b] men, all soon to be released, by April 1943.[3] 59 of the camp's prisoners were Polish nationals.[1]
While the camp's assembly hall was under construction, the prisoners ate at the canteen for the dam construction workers.[3] Breakfast foods included bacon, boiled eggs, coffee, jam, and sardines; lunch foods included baked potatoes, cheese, chickpea salad, "eggs with spicy sauce", lamb stew, roast pork, squash salad, stuffed tomatoes, tomato salad, watermelon, and wine; dinner foods included beef stew, biscuits, fig squares, hard-boiled eggs with tomato sauce, lentils, mashed beans, onion soup, pork stew, pork, vegetable soup, and wine.[3] They drank spring water brought by truck, and bathed in the Oum Er-Rbia River.[3]
A "well set-up infirmary" was supervised by a male nurse, and a doctor visited the camp weekly to treat mild ailments.[3] Dozens of prisoners suffered from malaria,[5] and survivor Sami Dorra testifies that there were cases of typhus at the camp.[3] Very sick prisoners were taken for treatment to a hospital in Casablanca.[3] Dr. Wyss-Dunant reported that morale at the camp was very low, since the prisoners' calls for release were generally unheard, and many suffered from health problems.[3]
The laborers were paid a daily wage of 1.50 francs, with the possibility of earning a bonus.[3] The prisoners were issued shorts in the summer, and work suits, raincoats, and sweaters in the winter. They were permitted to wash their clothes once per week.[3] They were allowed an annual 12 days of leave, and received mail, which was distributed daily.[3]
As of May 31, 2006, prisoners interned at Im Fout until November 1942[6] were recognized by the German government as eligible for reparations[7] following the negotiations of the Jewish Claims Conference.[8]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Ambrochowicz-Gajownik, Anna (2023-12-31), "Diplomatic Tools and Tools of War: Activities of the Polish Office in Casablanca during Second World War – a Case Study", in Pogońska-Pol, Magdalena (ed.), Tools of war, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego, pp. 223–236, doi:10.18778/8331-461-7.13, hdl:11089/52761, ISBN 978-83-8331-462-4, retrieved 2025-03-06
- ↑ Boum, Aomar (2020), "Redrawing Holocaust Geographies", A Companion to the Holocaust, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, pp. 431–448, doi:10.1002/9781118970492.ch24, ISBN 978-1-118-97049-2, retrieved 2025-03-06
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, 1933–1945, vol. III: Camps and Ghettos under European Regimes Aligned with Nazi Germany. Indiana University Press. 2018. doi:10.2307/j.ctt22zmbr7.19. ISBN 978-0-253-02373-5. JSTOR j.ctt22zmbr7.
- ↑ Boum, Aomar; Abrevaya Stein, Sarah (2022). Wartime North Africa: a documentary history, 1934-1950. Stanford (Calif.): Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-1-5036-1151-1.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Oliel, Jacob (2005). Les camps de Vichy: Maghreb-Sahara, 1939-1944. Montréal: Les Editions du Lys. ISBN 978-2-922505-19-1.
- ↑ List of recognised camps in the scope of the follow-up negotiations to the Article 2 Agreement with the Jewish Claims Conference (JCC)
- ↑ "Interned in France - Compensation and restitution for Holocaust Victims in France". holocaust-compensation-france.memorialdelashoah.org. Retrieved 2025-03-06.
- ↑ Satloff, Robert (2006). Among the righteous: lost stories from the Holocaust's long reach into Arab lands. New York: Public Affairs. ISBN 978-1-58648-399-9.