It means the place was described as having conditions, control, and treatment similar in severity and abuse to a concentration camp — overcrowding, deprivation, harsh discipline, and severe human suffering. In the case of Gurs, historical sources say it was overcrowded, short on water, food, and clothing, and that many detainees died of disease; later, Vichy officials also handed over thousands of Jewish prisoners to the Germans.

What the phrase implies

“Run like a concentration camp” is usually a comparison , not a literal claim that it was exactly the same system as Nazi camps. It suggests people experienced it as a place where basic rights and humane treatment were stripped away, with strict control and dangerous living conditions.

Why people use it

People use that phrase when they want to emphasize:

  • Severe overcrowding.
  • Starvation or lack of essentials.
  • Punishment, intimidation, or extreme control.
  • Conditions so bad they felt dehumanizing.

Important nuance

The phrase is powerful and often controversial because “concentration camp” has a very specific historical meaning, especially in Holocaust history. So when someone says Gurs was “run like a concentration camp,” they are usually trying to express that it had internment, deprivation, and cruelty , not making a precise legal classification.

In plain English

They mean: “People were held there in awful, dehumanizing conditions, with little food, poor shelter, and little protection from disease or abuse.”

TL;DR: The phrase means Gurs was allegedly operated in a brutal, dehumanizing way, with overcrowding and deprivation, and later became part of the machinery that transferred Jewish prisoners to Nazi authorities.