The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, 1933-1945

The Wehrmacht established Frontstalag 124 on July 19, 1940, and disbanded the camp in August 1941. It received field post number (Feldpostnummer) 24 402 between April 28 and September 14, 1940; the number was struck between February 15 and July 30, 1942.

Frontstalag 124 was initially located in Troyes (Aube) (map 2), where at least three camp sites were in use simultaneously in the summer of 1940, all of which were terribly overcrowded. Léopold Sédar Senghor passed through one of these camps at this time. One site, located in the small suburb Saint-Julien, had 45,000 prisoners in July 1940.¹ The American officials Jefferson Patterson and Dr. Murray Vance, as representatives of the protective power for French prisoners, were allowed to visit another camp (Pont Hubert) on September 17, 1940, but by that time the vast majority of the prisoners were working in rural work commandos and only 977 Frenchmen lived in the camp, a former tank depot of the French army. Conditions were good, but the inspectors heard that not long ago 15,000 prisoners had been crowded into the tank garages. The commander of the Frontstalag was Oberstleutnant Gobbin, and the camp Troyes-Pont Hubert was commanded by Leutnant Wegener.²

On March 14, 1941, Frontstalag 124, still under the command of Gobbin, moved to the garrison town Joigny. It admitted a large group of prisoners arriving from a branch camp of Frontstalag 150 in nearby Cravant and took over the work commandos of Frontstalag 150 in this area. Frontstalag 124 now included 1,683 colonial prisoners (1,156 North Africans, 428 Indochinese, and 99 West Africans), 1,112 metropolitan French prisoners, and 4 members of the French Foreign Legion from Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Of these 2,799 men, 1,620 (roughly half metropolitan French and half colonial prisoners) were working in small work commandos on farms. The conditions in the main camp, located in the former barracks of the French 3rd Artillery Regiment in Joigny, left much to be desired. The metropolitan French prisoners lived in a reasonably well-built and recently painted building, but the African prisoners had to sleep in poorly ventilated halls and the Indochinese soldiers lived in horse stables. The colonial prisoners had bags of straw as mattresses, while the metropolitan French prisoners had to sleep on loose straw. The latrines were dirty and poorly constructed. The camp lacked equipment for sports and games, and it had poor food and tobacco supplies. Eight colonial prisoners were in the camp prison after other prisoners accused them of theft. The camp inspector noted approximately 100 sick Indochinese prisoners. He also bemoaned that the prisoners had not been allowed to send money to their families. The physical structure of the camp was generally in bad shape, but the fact that most of the prisoners in the main camp were working on the development of the camp suggested that it would soon improve.³

When the Scapini Mission returned to Joigny in early May, the main camp had indeed experienced major renovations, and all prisoners had received straw bags as mattresses. The formation of new work commandos in the countryside and in local industry and mining had reduced occupancy in the main camp from 1,179 to 610 (268 North Africans, 185 Indochinese, and 157 metropolitan French). The inspector emphasized that the prisoners appreciated the improvements even though they still missed cigarettes and needed new clothing, shoes, and more plentiful food supplies. The problems with the money transfer to the families and the lack of leisure opportunities also remained unresolved. The inspector was able to see seven agricultural work commandos nearby, which were in good shape.⁴ An inspection by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in June 1941 confirmed the improvements. At this time, however, only 140 prisoners were still living in the main camp. The majority of the metropolitan French prisoners had likely been transferred to Germany, and most of the remaining colonial prisoners were probably sent to work commandos in the countryside.⁵ The camp had 2,281 colonial prisoners plus a small number of metropolitan French prisoners. Among the colonial prisoners, West Africans predominated (1,513). In addition, Frontstalag 124 had 536 North African, 185 Indochinese, and 47 Madagascan prisoners.⁶

Frontstalag 124 maintained a military hospital in nearby Auxerre. With a staff of six French physicians and a pharmacist, as well as nine medical assistants, this hospital served 489 prisoners from February to September 1941. Only 41 prisoners were left in September 1941. A German chief physician, who was well regarded by the French staff, led the hospital. As in most other places, the French medical personnel complained that the Germans allowed them to leave the camp only with a guard even though the Geneva Convention on the Wounded and Sick (1929) stipulated that medical personnel were not prisoners of war.⁷

In early September 1941, Frontstalag 124 held approximately 3,000 prisoners. Occupancy in the site of Joigny was reduced to 134 prisoners (50 Algerians, 30 Moroccans, 25 Indochinese, 12 West Africans, 12 metropolitan French, 3 foreigners—probably Foreign Legion members—and one prisoner each from Madagascar and Martinique), and the camp was in good shape. The latrines were clean and better installed, shower facilities existed, and most prisoners had received new clothing and shoes. Prisoners were able to play soccer in the courtyard of the barracks, and they had a library. Money transfers were now permitted (although this likely did not help many colonial prisoners given the precarious state of overseas communications). The food supply was good thanks to deliveries of aid packages. The tobacco supply was still inadequate and religious services were not available. The Catholic priests who had previously offered masses had all left, and the Muslim prisoners lacked a room for worship. Nonetheless, the morale of the prisoners was very good, although many complained about having no postal connections with their homes. Thirteen prisoners were under arrest, most of [End Page 146] them as a result of disputes with their French employers in the work commandos. Some arrested prisoners were noncom-missioned officers who had refused to work (on the basis of Article 27 of the Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War) but who had apparently signed work contracts with French employers before. The inspector, Jean Detroyat, hinted that there were irregularities in the distribution of aid packages in the camp, indicating that there might be corruption networks.⁸

The report of Algerian prisoner Brahim ben Driss confirms this impression. Ben Driss escaped in August 1941 and wrote to the French authorities that the German camp administration, in conjunction with some pro-German North African prisoners, requisitioned aid packages and sold their contents to the prisoners. He also criticized the North Africans working as camp policemen, who were so brutal that the prisoners preferred dealing with the German guards. Ben Driss’s escape almost failed because a French farmer betrayed his intention to flee to the Germans. Another farmer, however, helped him by giving him civilian clothing.⁹

Evidence of corruption is also revealed in the documents of the prefect of the Yonne Département. In August 1941, for example, the commander of Frontstalag 124 complained that the camp was not receiving adequate tobacco supplies. The prefect thereupon sent a list of all the deliveries, showing that the camp had been supplied at the prescribed level.¹⁰

Aside from the main camp, Detroyat inspected 19 work commandos in the area around Joigny. The state of the prisoners’ clothing and shoes was worse in the commandos, while the food deliveries were uneven. In several commandos, Detroyat found much animosity among prisoners from different territories. The housing of the prisoners was sometimes in poor shape and not heatable. In Cosnes (Nièvre), 47 Algerians working for the German army were living in an abandoned factory with broken windows. A large work commando of 271 prisoners (169 West Africans, 55 North Africans, 42 Indochinese, and others) stationed in Fourchambault (Nièvre) had to load and unload trains at the local rail yard. The prisoners needed new shoes and clothes but were adequately supplied and showed good morale. Most prisoners of the work commandos visited by Detroyat worked for local farmers, and they were generally well fed.¹¹

Like many other camps in France, Frontstalag 124 was closed in the latter half of 1941. The camp of Joigny and its work commandos became part of Frontstalag 141 in Vesoul on October 24, 1941.¹²