The Nexon camp near Limoges, France, now a small commune, is a reminder of the treatment of Jews in France during the Second World War. Opened in June 1940, it was initially used as a general internment camp. It consisted of 13 barracks with a capacity of 1,200 internees, later increased to 1,600 by four additional buildings, surrounded by a network of barbed wire and guarded by four watchtowers. In 1942, the Vichy regime, in collaboration with the Nazi occupiers, turned Nexon into a regional centre for rounding up Jews. On 29 August 1942, 450 Jews, including 68 children from the Limoges area, were arrested and gathered in Nexon. They were handed over to the Nazis and deported to Auschwitz. Elderly Jews evacuated from the Recebedou camp found "refuge" in Nexon. These people were not intended to stay long, as the camp was used as a staging post before deportation to extermination camps in the northern occupied zone.

A further shift in the camp's population took place in 1943. The focus of the camp shifted to political prisoners. Individuals deemed a threat to the Nazi regime, known as "political" internees, were transferred from various camps to Nexon. Their fate was equally grim - deportation to forced labour camps in Germany.

When Gurs was closed in November 1943, the internees were transferred to Nexon. Living conditions in the camp were harsh and many internees suffered from poor hygiene and malnutrition. With frequent deportations, transfers and roundups, the camp's population fluctuated between 150 and 700 prisoners, most of them communists and trade unionists.

On 11 June 1944, the Forces françaises de l'Intérieur (French Interior Forces), resistance fighters in the later stages of the Second World War, attacked the camp and caused a power cut. 54 prisoners used the opportunity to escape. The other internees were transferred to the Grand Seminaire camp in Limoges. Nexon again became an administrative internment camp and was finally closed in 1945.

Despite the brutality and despair that pervaded Nexon, there are accounts of artistic endeavours within the camp's walls. Understanding these artistic expressions offers a unique window into the lives of those who endured Nexon. It allows us to see beyond their status as victims and to recognise them as individuals with rich inner lives and a desire to create. In March 1943, the artist Karl Schwesig was sent to the Nexon internment camp and classified as a political prisoner. Throughout his imprisonment, Schwesig drew images of daily life in the camps.

(Dr Pnina Rosenberg)