After the defeat of France in the summer of 1940, the border between France and Spain, which stretches the length of the Pyrenees, became the most important escape route out of France. Since the French Atlantic coast was occupied by the Germans, most escapees took the route along the Mediterranean coast. Yet there were also ways to cross the border high up in the mountains.

Around 30,000 refugees undertook the hazardous journey in 1940 alone, often carrying forged papers to avoid being sent back by the Spanish border police. Among them were artists such as Walter Benjamin, Alfred Döblin, Lion Feuchtwanger, Hans Habe, Iwan Heilbut, Heinrich Mann, Hermann Landshoff, Hans Natonek, Franz Werfel and Alma Mahler-Werfel. Lisa Fittko and Hans Fittko were among those who worked with the Emergency Rescue Committee (ERC) to help refugees cross the border. Their route from the French town of Banyuls-sur-Mer to Portbou in Spain also became known as the “F route”.

After the final occupation of France at the end of 1942, the entire border region became a restricted zone. Refugees without documents were sent back to France by the Spanish police. From 1943, the Spanish threatened them with several years in prison. Nevertheless, there were still many attempts to escape across the border. Historian Patrik von zur Mühlen estimates that more than 50,000 people had crossed the Pyrenean border between France and Spain by the end of the war (Patrick von zur Mühlen, “Fluchtweg Spanien-Portugal” (Escape Route Spain-Portugal), 1992). The illegal nature of their escape makes a more precise estimate impossible.

Further reading:
Fittko, Lisa: Mein Weg über die Pyrenäen. Erinnerungen 1940/41 München: Hanser 1985.
Klein, Anne: Flüchtlingspolitik und Flüchtlingshilfe 1940-1942. Varian Fry und die Komitees zur Rettung politisch Verfolgter in New York und Marseille. Berlin: Metropol 2007.
von zur Mühlen, Patrick: Fluchtweg Spanien-Portugal. Die deutsche Emigration und der Exodus aus Europa 1933-1945, Bonn: Dietz 1992.