Sort and the refugees of World War II
During the years of World War II, the town of Sort became a point of convergence for the refugees detained by the Spanish Civil Guard at the border crossings of Pallars Sobirà and Val d’Aran.
Those refugees were brought to the city of Lleida, yet the road was long and windy (the Vielha tunnel was not yet open to vehicle traffic). For this reason, Sort was a necessary stop off, given that it had a prison.
Between 1940 and 1944, 2660 foreign refugees came through Sort: 8 in 1940; 18 in 1941, 410 in 1942; 1,675 in 1943; and 549 in 1944. The French were the largest group, accounting for nearly half of the detainees recorded at the prison, followed by the Jewish refugees and the airplane pilots of the Allied forces. Records also show that 159 women, all of whom were of Jewish origin, came through here.
The prisons did not have the space to accommodate the large numbers of people who were forced to coexist inside them, in arduous living conditions. Pressure from the North American and British diplomatic delegations, and particularly from the Jewish charity organisation known as the American Joint Distribution Committee, led to the authorisation to house some of the detainees in inns and boarding houses as of 1943, requiring them to report twice a day to the municipal bailiff, who served as guardian of the depot. The Hotel Pessets, the Fonda Martí Cases, the Fonda Burrella and the Hostal Toni were among the establishments that housed refugees.
For those who remained in the prison, the Town Council provided for their sustenance, although there was not always an abundance of food. Some of the prisoners exchanged several of their personal belongings for food. Some local residents bought binoculars, others exchanged tobacco for a watch, and a Belgian aviator traded his bomber jacket for a tin of sardines. At the same time, it must be said that the people of Sort were very supportive of the refugees.
The next stop for the detainees was the city of Lleida, where their future was decided. Men of military age were transferred to the city’s prisons and later to the Miranda de Ebro concentration camp. Others were released. For everyone, this was the start of a long process before they were ultimately allowed to leave Spain and set out towards their final destinations. The men of military age went to North Africa or England, and the Jews went to the Americas or to what was then known as the Mandate for Palestine.