People ask a lot of their vacations these days, from weight loss to spiritual fulfillment. For two groups of entrepreneurial Jews in the post-war era, vacation seemed an opportunity to give people an outlet for newfound prosperity and a respite from war-weariness—with just a gleam of socialist idealism.
The Borscht Belt of the 1950s, of course, is famous for giving American Jews luxurious-but-heymish vacations where they could relax like their WASPier compatriots (see: David Kepesh). But meanwhile, two former members of the French resistance, Gerard Blitz and Gilbert Trigano were pitching tents for the Club Méditerranée—or, more chummily, Club Med. Blitz and Trigano started with a straw hut “village” on a beach in Mallorca. As at resorts in the Catskills, all food, lodging, and group activities were included. But unlike the grand, 1500-room Concord Hotel, Club Med kept it simple and utopian, complete with communal washing facilities and beads as currency.
After Blitz and Trigano attracted Rothschild dollars, the Club’s utopian origins seemed to give way to what is today more of a Euro-Disney experience. But back when all they had was army surplus tents, it must have seemed that a vacation could give people exhausted by war a little bit more than just a break from work.
» Read (in French) the story of Gilbert Trigano.
» Watch and unravel a fascinating Catskills Borscht Belt Mystery
» See a pretty cute pic of Trigano with his straw hut.
» Reminisce with a 1980s Club Med TV commercial: