This multistory complex served as the Drancy transit camp. The
overwhelming majority of Jews deported from France were held
here prior to their deportation. Drancy, France, 1941-1944.
Federation Nationale des Deportes et Internes Resistants et
Patriots The Drancy camp, named after the northeastern suburb of
Paris in which it was located, was established by the Germans in
August 1941 as an internment camp for foreign Jews in France; it
later became the major transit camp for the deportations of Jews
from France. Until July 1, 1943, French police staffed the camp
under the overall control of the German Security Police. In July
1943 the Germans took direct control of the Drancy camp and SS
officer Alois Brunner became camp commandant. The camp was a
multistory U-shaped building that had served as a police
barracks before the war. Barbed wire surrounded the building and
its courtyard. The capacity of the camp was 5,000 prisoners.
Five subcamps, used primarily as warehouses for personal
property confiscated from J