Bergen-Belsen to Philippeville, Algeria

Holocaust · Survivors · Refugees/DPs · Algeria

By Peter Landé

On January 25th, 1945, 200 Jews holding citizenship from countries in North and South America were sent from the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp to Switzerland as part of a prisoner exchange group. They were later sent to a UNNRA ("United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration") camp in Philippeville, Algeria.

The camp was known as "Camp Jeanne d'Arc". Philippeville (also spelled Philipville, Phillipville, or Phillipeville) is now modern-day Skikda, Algeria.

Most of these individuals were born in Europe, primarily in Germany, and somehow acquired passports from Western Hemisphere countries, such as Ecuador, Haiti and El Salvador. A few individuals had United States passports and some were actually born in the United States.

The fields of the database are as follows:

The information contained in this database was indexed from the files of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum ( USHMM File AA0015). The original source of the document was the Centraal Registratiebureau voor Joden in Eindhoven, Netherlands. Nolan Altman, a JewishGen volunteer, compiled the data.

In addition, thanks to JewishGen Inc. for providing the website and database expertise to make this database accessible. Special thanks to Susan King, Warren Blatt and Michael Tobias for their continued contributions to Jewish genealogy. Particular thanks to the Research Division headed by Joyce Field and to Nolan Altman, coordinator of Holocaust files.

Nolan Altman
April, 2007

This database is searchable via JewishGen's Holocaust Database.