The Gurs Haggadah

Book excerpt: How do you live a 'normal' life in a Concentration Camp? The Gurs Camp (technically called a 'detention' camp) in south-western France was the testing ground for thousands of Jews attempting to pit their belief in God and themselves against the inhumanity of war. Here, in 1941, the inmates decided to hold a Seder on Passover, the Holiday of Freedom, in order to declare their own freedom from the terror of oppression. Replete with photographs, and featuring a facsimile of the actual Haggadah recreated from memory and used in the camp, this book sheds light on a little known camp where, despite the stresses and sub-human conditions, the people enriched their own lives by organising both religious and cultural activities while suffering under the yoke of Nazi brutality.