Type		182 Prison Camp
Historical Name of Location		HersheyPennsylvaniaUnited States
Coordinates		40.300000000-76.660000000

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseDuring the Great DepressionMilton S. Hershey decided to build a hotel on Pat's Hill in PennsylvaniaUnited States overlooking the town and the chocolate factory both bearing his name. The original phase of the construction aimed to recreate the famous Heliopolis Palace Hotel in Egyptbut the unexpected high coststhe death of his wifeand the outbreak of war led to the final phase of the project being finished with a simpler design with Spanish and Mediterranean influences. The end result was a luxurious hotel that was eclectic in . Between 1939 and 1940grand hotel buildingor specifically its cupolasserved as the town's visual aircraft detection tower. In Nov 1942the air defense stations moved to the nearby Milton Hershey School Senior Halland the hotel became the place of internment for Vichy French personnel such as Ambassador Gaston Henri-Haye. The internees had access to many of the hotel's amenitiesthus the interment was rather comfortable; the interneesin factprotested that they had to pay for their consumption of alcoholic beverages. During the next several monthsa number of the internees declared allegiance to the Free French and were freed as political asylum seekers. In Sep 1943Henri-Haye and the remaining internees were transferred out of Hotel Hershey to another internment camp in Warm SpringsVirginiaUnited States. Hotel Hershey resumed its business as originally intended immediately after the departure of the last internees.

ww2dbaseSources:
Howard BlumThe Last Goodnight
Hershey Community Archives,
Wikipedia

Last Major Update: Mar 2017

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Hotel Hershey Interactive Map

Hotel Hershey Timeline

23 May 1932	Construction of the Hotel Hershey began in HersheyPennsylvaniaUnited States.
26 May 1933	Hotel Hershey began operations in HersheyPennsylvaniaUnited States.
17 Nov 1942	French Ambassador to the United States Gaston Henri-Haye arrived at Hotel Hersheyhis place of internmentin HersheyPennsylvaniaUnited States.
21 Sep 1943	The US State Department informed the manager of Hotel Hershey in HersheyPennsylvaniaUnited States that the Vichy French internees currently residing at the hotel would soon be transferred out.
30 Sep 1943	Former French Ambassador to the United States Gaston Henri-Haye was transferred out of Hotel Hershey in HersheyPennsylvaniaUnited States for his next place of internment in Warm SpringsVirginiaUnited States.

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