Refugee depots for Polish emigrants in Châteauroux and Indre department in the years 1831-1833

In the article the author presents the setting up and operation of refugee depots (Fr. dépôts) in the Indre department for Polish emigrants who arrived in France after the fall of the November Uprising. The refugee depot in Châteauroux was one of the several depots founded by the French government. It was intended for civil exiles. The other camps for military refugees were set up in Avignon, Lunel, Besançon, Bourges, Lons-le-Saunier, Salins and Dijon. From the beginning of August 1832 till August 1833, the French authorities directed civilians to cities of Indre: Châteauroux – the capital of the department, as well as Issoudun, Levroux, La Chatre, Argenton, Buzançais, Chatillon, Saint Benoit, and La Blanc. The author establishes that in that period of time, 634 Polish refugees went through the camps of the Indre department. Most of them were students (from the Vilnius University), young officials and members of free professions. They came from the pre-partition areas of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Lithuania, Volhynia and Podolia). Despite the restrictive policy of the administration and the fact that they stayed in the French province, the Poles engaged in the social and political life of emigration. They participated actively in democratic and educational organizations of the Great Emigration. In many cases, by their own determination, they went to study and obtained aducation at French universities and technical universities. The article is based on sources from the Indre Department Archives in Châteauroux, archives of the Defense Historical Service in Vincennes, the National Archives in Paris, the Polish Library in Paris, the Princes Czartoryski Library in Krakow, and academic studies.