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During WWII, European refugees fled to Syria. Here’s what the camps were like.

May 1, 2016 7:23 pm by admin

US Army General Allen Gullion and Fred K. Hoehler, Director of the United Nation’s Division of Displaced Persons, stand before a map predicting the movement of European refugees of World War II. Many Europeans would find a haven in refugee camps in the Middle East.

Since civil war erupted in Syria five years ago, millions of refugees have sought safe harbor in Europe by land and by sea, through Turkey and across the Mediterranean.

Refugees crossed these same passageways 70 years ago. But they were not Syrians and they traveled in the opposite direction. At the height of World War II, the Middle East Relief and Refugee Administration (MERRA) operated camps in Syria, Egypt and Palestine where tens of thousands of people from across Europe sought refuge.

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