Sorgues Ghost Train

At the Sorgues railway station on August 18, 1944, 700 deportees, including 62 women, were loaded into cattle cars bound for Nazi concentration camps.

Surrounded by SS troops, most of them had left the camps at Le Vernet (Ariège), the Saint Michel prison in Toulouse, and the Ha fort in Bordeaux.

The advance and attack of the Allies and the Maquis made the roads unusable, and their convoy was stopped at Roquemaure (Gard), after 45 days of wandering.

Led in a long column, they crossed Châteauneuf du Pape and reached the Sorgues train station after an exhausting 17 km march under a sweltering sun.

The local population and railway workers courageously came to their aid before their tragic departure, enabling several of them to escape.

This convoy, one of the last to leave for Germany, was nicknamed: THE GHOST TRAIN.

Photo credit :Alexandra Rollet
Contributed by Bernard PERRIN

At the Sorgues railway station on August 18, 1944, 700 deportees, including 62 women, were loaded into cattle cars bound for Nazi concentration camps.Surrounded by SS troops, most of them had left the camps at Le Vernet (Ariège), the Saint Michel prison in Toulouse, and the Ha fort in Bordeaux.The advance and attack of the Allies and the Maquis made the roads unusable, and their convoy was stopped at Roquemaure (Gard), after 45 days of wandering.Led in a long column, they crossed Châteauneuf du Pape and reached the Sorgues train station after an exhausting 17 km march under a sweltering sun.The local population and railway workers courageously came to their aid before their tragic departure, enabling several of them to escape.This convoy, one of the last to leave for Germany, was nicknamed: THE GHOST TRAIN.Photo credit :Alexandra RolletContributed by Bernard PERRIN