[Meeting] JGSCV - “The First Massive Jewish Deportation: To Camp de Gurs in 1940” (Thousand Oaks, CA, May 1, 2011)

[publ...@jgscv.org]

To commemorate Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Memorial Day), the Jewish
Genealogy Society of the Conejo Valley and Ventura County presents
Werner Frank, speaking on "The First Massive Jewish Deportation: To
Camp de Gurs in 1940" at Temple Adat Elohim 2420 E. Hillcrest
Drive, Thousand Oaks, CA 91362.

Gauleiters Robert Wagner and Joseph Bürckel, administrative heads of
the States of Baden and the Pfalz/Saar, sought to be the first among
their Nazi cohorts to make their territories Judenrein (free of
Jews). They had engineered a massive expulsion of over 6,500 Jews to
Camp de Gurs, located in unoccupied Vichy France. The event became
known as the Wagner-Bürckel Aktion and was offered by the Gauleiters
as their gift to the Führer on October 23, 1940.

The relocation of Jews to the Gurs concentration camp became only an
intermediate step prior to the infamous "Final Solution" which was
pronounced in January 1942. This Nazi inspired annihilation program
triggered yet a second round of transports that would move the
incarcerated from Gurs to the Parisian suburb of Drancy, an assembly
point where the victims faced a final deportation to the death camp of
Auschwitz.

The story of this little known tragedy is told by Frank, who delves
into the background of the historical events that led to the Aktion,
recounts the impact of this cataclysm on his hometown of Eppingen and
relates the tribulations and ultimate fate encountered by his widely
located family in the State of Baden.

Speaker: Werner Frank is a founding member, former board member and
former newsletter editor of JGSCV, and a member of JGSLA. He was one
of the founders of GERSIG (the German Special Interest Group of
JewishGen, Inc.), and has written articles for ROOTS, Maajan, Avotaynu
and Stammbaum. Frank has been researching his family’s history,
amassing a genealogical database of over 33,000 names, resulting in
the publication of the history of his family, Legacy: The Saga of a
German-Jewish Family over Time and Circumstance, published by Avotaynu
Foundation in 2003. He has spoken at numerous IAJGS conferences and
other venues.

The Jewish Genealogical Society of the Conejo Valley and Ventura
County is dedicated to sharing genealogical information, techniques
and research tools with anyone interested in Jewish genealogy and
family history. (www.jgscv.org)

There is no charge to attend the meeting. Anyone may join JGSCV.
Annual dues are $25 for
an individual and $30 for a family.
For more information contact: infor...@jgscv.org Jan Meisels
Allen@ 818-889-6616