Meslay-du-Maine

Meslay-du-Maine
region	Pays de la Loire
Department	Mayenne
Arrondissement	Château-Gontier
Canton	Meslay-du-Maine (main town)
Community association	Pays de Meslay-Grez
Coordinates	47 ° 57 ′ N , 0 ° 33 ′ W Coordinates: 47 ° 57 ′ N , 0 ° 33 ′ W
height	63-112 m
surface	24.18 km 2
Residents	2,875 (January 1, 2017)
Population density	119 inhabitants / km 2
Post Code	53170
INSEE code	53152
Website	http://www.ville-meslaydumaine.fr/
	; Tower of the Church of St. Peter and Paul

Meslay-du-Maine is a French commune with 2,875 inhabitants (at January 1, 2017) in Mayenne in the region Pays de la Loire . It belongs to the arrondissement of Château-Gontier and is the capital of the canton of Meslay-du-Maine .

location

Meslay-du-Maine is around 20 kilometers southeast of Laval on the banks of the Vassé river . Neighboring communities are:

Arquenay		Saint-Denis-du-Maine
Le Bignon-du-Maine		La Cropte
	Saint-Charles-la-Foret	Le Buret

Population development

year	1962	1968	1975	1982	1990	1999	2009
Residents	1,693	1,676	1,981	2,201	2,418	2,612	2,726

Attractions

Romanesque church of Saint-Pierre et Saint-Paul, tower from 1629
Les Arcis Castle (16th century)

Community partnerships

Remseck am Neckar (Baden-Württemberg)

Camp de Meslay-du-Maine

From the beginning of the Second World War until the defeat of France (September 2, 1939 to June 17, 1940) there was a camp in Meslay in which more than 2000 German and Austrian civilians, mostly men from the Paris region, were interned. In view of the German advance, the camp was evacuated on June 17, 1940, and the prisoners were transferred first to Angers and then to Albi . Among the prisoners were:

Johnny Friedlaender (1912–1992), graphic artist and etcher, returned to Paris after the war
Norbert Mühlen (1909–1981), resistance fighter, managed to escape to the USA
Leon Askin (1907–2005), actor, he was allowed to leave the camp after six months because his US visa had arrived.
Karl Farkas (1893–1971), Viennese actor and cabaret artist
Heinrich Rodenstein (1902–1980), educator, exile and educational politician

literature

Le Patrimoine des Communes de la Mayenne. Flohic Editions, Volume 2, Paris 2002, ISBN 2-84234-135-X , pp. 766-768.

Web links

Commons : Meslay-du-Maine - collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

^ Dominique Barnéoud, Le camp de Meslay-du-Maine: ses internés civils, leur odyssée, leur sort (2 September 1939-June 1940-fin 1942) Quelques souvenirs dans la tourmente: le camp des étrangers de Meslay-du-Maine ( Mayenne, 2 septembre 1939-juin 1940) , présentation préliminaire de soixante pages d'extraits du témoignage du lieutenant Dubuc, Nantes, Laval, Siloë, 2003, 245 p. See also the article by Denis Peschanski, “Allemands et Autrichiens dans un camp français d'internement (1939–1940). Journal d'Albert Mary Dubuc, commandant du camp de Meslay-du-Maine, " Histoire et archives , No. 1, June 1997, pp. 61-81.

[1] Dominique Barnéoud, Le camp de Meslay-du-Maine: ses internés civils, leur odyssée, leur sort (2 September 1939-June 1940-fin 1942) Quelques souvenirs dans la tourmente: le camp des étrangers de Meslay-du-Maine ( Mayenne, 2 septembre 1939-juin 1940) , présentation préliminaire de soixante pages d'extraits du témoignage du lieutenant Dubuc, Nantes, Laval, Siloë, 2003, 245 p. See also the article by Denis Peschanski, “Allemands et Autrichiens dans un camp français d'internement (1939–1940). Journal d'Albert Mary Dubuc, commandant du camp de Meslay-du-Maine, " Histoire et archives , No. 1, June 1997, pp. 61-81.