"Typology of the French Internment Camps, 1938-1946"
Professional Background
Dr. Christel Trouvé earned a Ph.D. in history from the Center for Antisemitism Studies, Technische University in Germany, and an M.A. and a B.A. in history from Sorbonne University in Paris, France. She wrote her Ph.D. thesis, “Klinkerwerk Oranienburg,” on the history of a subcamp of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. For her Charles H. Revson Foundation Fellowship for Archival Research, Dr. Trouvé conducted research on “Typology of the French Internment Camps, 1938-1946.”
Dr. Trouvé worked as an historian for the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp Memorial in Oranienburg, Germany. She interviewed former concentration camp prisoners for the Brandenburg Memorial Foundation and conducted exhibition tours at the Jewish Museum in Berlin and the “Topography of Terror” exhibition at the former headquarters of the Gestapo and SS in Berlin. Dr. Trouvé also worked as a researcher for the exhibition departments of the German Hygiene Museum in Dresden and the memorial of the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp in France.
Fellowship Research
While in residence at the Center, Dr. Trouvé examined the different types of internment camps run by the French government between 1938 and 1946. She explored each camp’s function and structure inside the French internment system. Her project focused on a comparative analysis of the characteristics of the camps within the three administrative regions (North Zone, South Zone, and North-Africa) of France.
Dr. Trouvé was in residence at the Mandel Center from June 1 to October 31, 2006.