The double deportation
The Deportation of Montenegrins: from Ponza concentration camp to German concentration camps
The identification of the internment and 'double deportation' itineraries followed by some Montenegrin civilians on their way to concentration camps at Ponza, Renicci, Nuremberg, Flossenbürg, Buchenwald and Dora, has been made possible by examining the detailed testimony of Branko Petričević, published in 20081, and the brief account given by Milorad Petrović in 19462.
From Montenegro to Ponza
Branko Petričević was born in Podgoriza in Montenegro on 2 June 19133. After having attended both junior and senior schools in Podgoriza, he enrolled in the Faculty of Law at Belgrade University, from where he graduated in 1939. From his time at University Petričević recalls that: "before the start of the war I belonged to groups of progressive thinkers at university and along with them participated in numerous demonstrations during which I was held for questioning by the police on two occasions". After graduating he was employed by the Post Office.
''But things turned out differently,'' related Petričević. "I was arrested on 9 December 1941 and locked up in the "Kuća Rogosić". I was imprisoned for two days and then released. On looking back I can say that this was nothing other than a strategy to check up on us, to observe who we were talking to, in this way they could capture other members of the Resistance." And in fact he was arrested again and locked up in the former prison of Podgoriza. On that occasion his detention was to last until the end of the war.
Deportation to Ponza
In March 1942, together with another 200-300 who had been arrested, Petričević was taken to the prison in Naples, which was "built on the American model of Sing Sing," he remembers with a touch of pride. "We were kept under constant observation by the warders who controlled us through a peep-hole in the door. From the bars of the windows we could see a sliver of sky. And from Naples it wasn't long before we were interned on the island of Ponza".
In the summer of 1941 the Ministry of the Interior decided to transform the former penal colony on Ponza into a concentration camp with a capacity of about 800, to be used to intern civilians deported from those parts of Yugoslavia which had been occupied by the Italians.
Branko Petričević - exaggerating the numbers involved - recalled: "According to my calculations, about 1,000 were interned on Ponza, almost all from Montenegro and Metohija - the Kosovo region dear to the hearts of the Serbs. The gates of the concentration camp were opened at dawn and closed at sunset. During the day the prisoners could move freely around the island. Those people who received parcels from home containing money were able sit around in the cafés whilst those who did not have a penny wandered around aimlessly. We got drunk on many occasions and we sang the 'Internationale'. The carabinieri used to say, 'Gentlemen, please do not sing'. People who were drunk were taken back to the camp, but violence was not used. When I was in the German concentration camps I often thought back to the time on Ponza. There we had enough freedom to ensure that we were not homesick. In the Ponza camp, in 16 months, the two people who died did so of natural causes.
With the fall of Mussolini plans to evacuate Ponza concentration camp were formulated6. Petričević remembered that: "At the beginning of September groups of us were transferred to central Italy. The first group, of which I was a member, was transported by train to the concentration camp at Renicci, and on 8 September, the day of the capitulation, we were in travelling through Rome. At Renicci we were organized politically under Pavle Kadović, our leader, a member of the Communist party since 1932 and already active on Ponza."
The group from Ponza arrived in Renicci on September 8-9 into the midst of a very explosive situation. On 8 September the detainees, who had been waiting to be liberated since 25 July, had decided to take the situation into their own hands. On 9 September, in order to to quell a demonstration inside the camp, the Italian soldiers fired on the internees and wounded four of them.
Different versions of what took place7 describe how a wave of prisoners flowed into the countryside around Anghiari, some heading north by following the course of the Tiber upstream (the Slovenians), and others setting off east in the direction of the Adriatic along the route of the Apennine railway that linked Anghiari to Fossato di Vico.
"I was in the group with Veljko and Milorad Petrović, Vojslav and Branko Novaković, Milivoj Vukičević, Cvetko Mišolić, Todor Marinković, Đorđe Vukičević and others who had joined us. We reached Fossato to the south. We approached a middle-aged Italian, a communist, who told us to go even further south where there were active partisan formations. We were hungry and exhausted. He insisted we rest on the ground floor of a small house with a walled courtyard. The inhabitants of the house were very friendly. They supplied us with a good plateful of pasta and excellent wine. We chatted and decided to resume our journey, but the fascist militia had already surrounded the house. They captured us and handed us over to the Germans who were passing through the town and they took us back to Renicci."
From Renicci to the Nuremberg and Flossenbürg concentration camps
"After one night they made us get into open wagons and transported us to Germany8. The Germans probably did not have the correct information about us, as to start with they held us in a prisoner of war camp in Nuremberg. We Yugoslavs were the only ones there. There were about 700 of us."
In Nuremberg they spent 14 days in quarantine before being transferred to Flossenbürg concentration camp.
"A Flossenbürg station it was already Hell. The SS were waiting for us, they dragged us off the train by our arms and legs and beat us. The station is two or three kilometres away from the concentration camp and we had to pass through the village, the people there were screaming at us. They cut our hair in Flossenbürg. The doctors of the SS walked around inspecting us and we were put into categories according to our physical condition. I was in a good condition because whilst in Italy, in addition to the camp food, I had received parcels from my mother back home in Montenegro. They asked me what work I did and I said I was employed at the Post Office. "
From Flossenbürg to Buchenwald
"About a week after we arrived in Buchenwald some people paid us a visit. I remember one Slovenian particularly well. He asked us about our politics10. These questions seemed suspicious to us, so we were on the defensive. Probably it was due to this Slovenian that only a few members of our group remained in Buchenwald. Among other things, he did not even make a valid selection, because those who remained were certainly not communists. If it is true that the Slovenian along with others had a say in deciding who should leave Buchenwald and who should stay, the wary attitude towards him that we sixteen11 had also adopted on previous occasions - both on Ponza and in Renicci - caused him to regard us in a very negative light, so they sent us to Dora12."
Both Petričević and Petrović allude to the clandestine communist committee in Buchenwald which, having been infiltrated by members of the camp administration, was in fact able to influence the fate of many deportees.
Milorad Petrović said that of the 450 internees who were sent to the Dora-Mittelbau camp only 40-50 survived. He continued: "The internees called the Dora camp 'The death camp'. From the end of October 1943 there was a need for tunnels and other underground spaces to be opened up. We worked without a break on 12-hour shifts. From October 1944 to Spring 1945 the entire concentration camp was located below ground. Our work consisted of digging out further tunnels and spaces to house the workshops which produced both Junkers aircraft and V2 missiles. We did not see the sky for months. The mortality rate was very high. There was no ventilation in the tunnels where we slept, and we were suffocated by the dust that rose up following the detonation of each explosive. According to the calculations made by the prisoners themselves, the average survival rate was two months. Proof of this is that every week new batches of 500 prisoners arrived to take the place of the deceased. The Russians were the worst affected, then we Yugoslavs (Montenegrins and Dalmatians). But we held up better than the Belgians and French did, probably because we came from areas where modern medicine was not yet widespread and those that survived in those conditions were the most robust, a sort of natural selection.
Life in the tunnels was made even worse by the quality and quantity of food. To get to the dormitory we had to go pass through a narrow corridor and were always beaten up, so that going to bed became a torture. Hygiene was non-existent and instead of toilets we had buckets. My hair was infested with lice. We were reduced to skeletons. Only our calves seemed to still have flesh on them. But when you pressed them with your finger its impression remained, because they were full of water. We lived those five months as if in a nightmare, day after day.
In the Spring the underground camp was ready. The last of the barracks to be built were at the entrance. And we saw the light again. For us it was a sign of hope. They grabbed hold of us and made us take a bath in a huge tub full of disinfectant. The overcrowding in the tub cost some people their lives. More fell ill with pneumonia soon afterwards, because as they came out of the tub they were made to put on their clothing which was dripping wet, due to the fact that in the meantime it had been boiled to disinfect it.
Of the sixteen of us who came via Ponza, Renicci, Flossenbürg and Buchenwald nine died. I felt most sorry for Branko Novaković, who died of tuberculosis. He never complained, but the same must be said of the others. Judge Bašić and young Milivoje Radivojević died stoically. Bašić was suffering from the inflammation of the kidneys, but continued to work 12 hours before being liquidated by the Germans. In the same way Radivojević died without complaining once. Todor Marinković and Đorđe Vukičević died after the concentration camp had been evacuated. Vučeta Petrović, Pero Mutoša, the fellow from Pljevlja and Ivo Čubranović also died.
We walked for 3-4 days under supervision. Towards Lübeck the guards panicked and disappeared, and I hid together with most of the others in a warehouse. Left to our own devices, we decided to continue the journey, but avoiding the main roads along which German civilians fleeing from the Russians were passing. When near to Pritzwalk we made an overnight stop. There we were joined by many deportees who had managed to escape from the German columns. We met the Russians. I was repatriated through Prague, where I stayed for a month to help the Yugoslav committee with repatriation. "
Thomas Porena (2018)
Alessandro Pirzio Biroli (Campobasso, 23 July 1877 – Rome, 20 May 1962), was a general of the Italian IX Army. From 3 October 1941 until 20 July 1943 he was governor of Montenegro, where, on 15 July 1941, he had been given full military and civil powers to enable him to put down the revolt which had broken out a few days earlier. He is remembered for the use he made of violent and brutal methods.
Carlo Spartaco Capogreco: I campi del duce. L'internamento civile nell'Italia fascista (1940-1943) (Torino, 2004), p. 202.
brothers Branko e Vojslav Novaković, Milivoje Vukičević, Vučeta Petrović, Todor Marinković, Đorđe Vukičević, Blažo Ulić, Pero Mugoša, Branko Petričević, Pavle Vrbica a priest from Njeguši, Judge Stevan Bašić e Milivoje Radivojević di Priština, an elderly Muslim from the area around Pljevlja and Ivo Čubranović from the Podgoriza area.
The workers' re-education camps (AEL) were set up in 1940 by the Gestapo in order to re-educate individuals accused of acts of industrial sabotage or who, for some reason, were held to be “reluctant” to work. In effect, these camps were also a means of exploiting forced labour. It has been estimated that in Germany and the German-occupied territories around 200 Arbeitserziehungslager had been set up in which around 500,000 people had been imprisoned.
During the Second World War the Germans established prisoner of war units known as Bau-und Arbeits Battaillon (shortened to B.A.B.). The B.A.B. were made up on average of 600 prisoners of war who were used as forced labour. The distinguishing feature of these forced labour units was that they were mobile; unlike the prisoners who were being held in the Stalag, these workers were not stationed in a specific location but were moved around according to necessity.
The I.G. Farben Company was founded in 1925 from the merger of several different German industries. During the Second World War it was the main producer of chemicals for Nazi Germany. I.G. Farben made more use of forced labour than any other industry, particularly during the construction of the plants at Auschwitz. The directors of I.G. Farben were among the accused at the Nuremberg Trials of 1947/48. At the end of the war the decision was taken to split up the industry into its original component parts.
The Arbeitskommando were work camps detachments for prisoners who had been captured by the Germans. Usually made up of a few hundred prisoners, they were set up near to places of employment (factories, mines, agricultural establishments etc.). They were run from a central Stalag (prisoner of war camp), which may have been responsible for hundreds of work detachments. The work detachments for Allied prisoners of war were visited on a regular basis by representatives of the Red Cross.
The Military Work Inspectorate was set up in October 1943 with the aim of organising a workforce which was to construct territorial defences for the Italian Republic of Salò and repair the damage caused by air raids. Known as the “Organizzazione Paladino” (Paladino Organisation) after its founder and commanding officer, and operating in strict collaboration with, and at times directly employed by, the Germans, it took on several tens of thousands of workers.
The Todt Organisation was begun in Germany at the end of the 'Thirties with the aim of setting up a workforce which would build military defences. The idea of Fritz Todd, who was also its director until his death in 1942, during the war it exploited forced labour in German-occupied countries. In Italy it played a fundamental role in the construction of defences along the Appenines in support of the Wehrmacht, employing tens of thousands of men.
Born in Scilla (Reggio Calabria) in 1890, he volunteered for the Corps of Engineers as a telegraphist in 1907. In 1908 he rose to the rank of sergeant, a rank he held throughout the War in Libya. In 1914 he was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant and during the First World War he was made captain.
Afterwards he remained in the Armed Forces and in 1932 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. In 1936 he took part in the War in Ethiopia, during which he was promoted to the rank of colonel.
In the Second World War, he returned to Italy after participating in the Greek campaign and was assigned to the Bolzano Corps. In 1942 he was promoted to brigader general. After the armistice he joined the Italian Social Republic for which he created the Military Labour Inspectorate.
He finally retired in 1945 and in 1970 he was awarded the honorary grade of major general.
He died in 1974.
Fritz Sauckel, born in 1894, was a local Nazi party official. In 1942 he was nominated plenipotentiary for the organisation of work throughout all the German-occupied territories. In practice, he was responsible for the compulsory engagement of forced labour. In Italy his organisation tried to round up hundreds of thousands of men to send to the German Reich, with scarce results. He was tried at Nuremberg and condemned to death, the sentence being carried out in 1946.
Albert Speer, born in 1905, was an architect who enjoyed an excellent personal relationship with Adolf Hitler. Even though he was not an ardent Nazi, he was the brains behind the staging of the Party parades, thereby assuring for himself the esteem and trust of the dictator. In 1942, after the death of Fritz Todt, he was put in charge of the Ministry of Arms and Munitions, which oversaw the Todt organisation. He was tried at Nuremberg and condemned to twenty years imprisonment. He died in London in 1981.
A German prisoner of war camp. The living conditions in the Stalag varied considerably according to the nationality of the prisoners (Allied, Russian, Italian military internees, etc.)
Fritz Todt was a German engineer who was responsible, in the 'Thirties, for building the motorway system as desired by Hitler. At the end of the 'Thirties he set up the Todt Organisation, with the aim of supplying forced labour to be used in the building of defences along the French border. During the war his organisation oversaw the use of forced labour in the occupied territories. He died in a plane crash in 1942.
The Gemeinschaftslager, like the Wohnlager, were unsupervised camps for foreign workers, while the Arbeitslager were supervised. Generally speaking, the concept of forced labour is applied only to the latter, but at the present time historians are undoubtedly tending to review the concept of forced labour, extending it to include work situations which are apparently free but in reality are forced. More specifically, the current discussion tends to be orientated towards a concept of forced labour which includes these three distinctive elements:
- from a legal point of view, it is impossible for the worker to dissolve the relationship with his employer
- from the social point of view, the possibilities of significantly influencing employment conditions are limited
- there is a high mortality rate, which indicates a higher than average workload and a provision of means of sustenance below the necessary requirements.
See: [https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/geschichte/auslaendisch/begriffe/index.html]
The workers' re-education camps (AEL) were set up in 1940 by the Gestapo in order to re-educate individuals accused of acts of industrial sabotage or who, for some reason, were held to be “reluctant” to work. In effect, these camps were also a means of exploiting forced labour. It has been estimated that in Germany and the German-occupied territories around 200 Arbeitserziehungslager had been set up in which around 500,000 people had been imprisoned.
During the Second World War the Germans established prisoner of war units known as Bau-und Arbeits Battaillon (shortened to B.A.B.). The B.A.B. were made up on average of 600 prisoners of war who were used as forced labour. The distinguishing feature of these forced labour units was that they were mobile; unlike the prisoners who were being held in the Stalag, these workers were not stationed in a specific location but were moved around according to necessity.
The I.G. Farben Company was founded in 1925 from the merger of several different German industries. During the Second World War it was the main producer of chemicals for Nazi Germany. I.G. Farben made more use of forced labour than any other industry, particularly during the construction of the plants at Auschwitz. The directors of I.G. Farben were among the accused at the Nuremberg Trials of 1947/48. At the end of the war the decision was taken to split up the industry into its original component parts.
The Arbeitskommando were work camps detachments for prisoners who had been captured by the Germans. Usually made up of a few hundred prisoners, they were set up near to places of employment (factories, mines, agricultural establishments etc.). They were run from a central Stalag (prisoner of war camp), which may have been responsible for hundreds of work detachments. The work detachments for Allied prisoners of war were visited on a regular basis by representatives of the Red Cross.
The Military Work Inspectorate was set up in October 1943 with the aim of organising a workforce which was to construct territorial defences for the Italian Republic of Salò and repair the damage caused by air raids. Known as the “Organizzazione Paladino” (Paladino Organisation) after its founder and commanding officer, and operating in strict collaboration with, and at times directly employed by, the Germans, it took on several tens of thousands of workers.
The Todt Organisation was begun in Germany at the end of the 'Thirties with the aim of setting up a workforce which would build military defences. The idea of Fritz Todd, who was also its director until his death in 1942, during the war it exploited forced labour in German-occupied countries. In Italy it played a fundamental role in the construction of defences along the Appenines in support of the Wehrmacht, employing tens of thousands of men.
Born in Scilla (Reggio Calabria) in 1890, he volunteered for the Corps of Engineers as a telegraphist in 1907. In 1908 he rose to the rank of sergeant, a rank he held throughout the War in Libya. In 1914 he was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant and during the First World War he was made captain.
Afterwards he remained in the Armed Forces and in 1932 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. In 1936 he took part in the War in Ethiopia, during which he was promoted to the rank of colonel.
In the Second World War, he returned to Italy after participating in the Greek campaign and was assigned to the Bolzano Corps. In 1942 he was promoted to brigader general. After the armistice he joined the Italian Social Republic for which he created the Military Labour Inspectorate.
He finally retired in 1945 and in 1970 he was awarded the honorary grade of major general.
He died in 1974.
Fritz Sauckel, born in 1894, was a local Nazi party official. In 1942 he was nominated plenipotentiary for the organisation of work throughout all the German-occupied territories. In practice, he was responsible for the compulsory engagement of forced labour. In Italy his organisation tried to round up hundreds of thousands of men to send to the German Reich, with scarce results. He was tried at Nuremberg and condemned to death, the sentence being carried out in 1946.
Albert Speer, born in 1905, was an architect who enjoyed an excellent personal relationship with Adolf Hitler. Even though he was not an ardent Nazi, he was the brains behind the staging of the Party parades, thereby assuring for himself the esteem and trust of the dictator. In 1942, after the death of Fritz Todt, he was put in charge of the Ministry of Arms and Munitions, which oversaw the Todt organisation. He was tried at Nuremberg and condemned to twenty years imprisonment. He died in London in 1981.
A German prisoner of war camp. The living conditions in the Stalag varied considerably according to the nationality of the prisoners (Allied, Russian, Italian military internees, etc.)
Fritz Todt was a German engineer who was responsible, in the 'Thirties, for building the motorway system as desired by Hitler. At the end of the 'Thirties he set up the Todt Organisation, with the aim of supplying forced labour to be used in the building of defences along the French border. During the war his organisation oversaw the use of forced labour in the occupied territories. He died in a plane crash in 1942.
The Gemeinschaftslager, like the Wohnlager, were unsupervised camps for foreign workers, while the Arbeitslager were supervised. Generally speaking, the concept of forced labour is applied only to the latter, but at the present time historians are undoubtedly tending to review the concept of forced labour, extending it to include work situations which are apparently free but in reality are forced. More specifically, the current discussion tends to be orientated towards a concept of forced labour which includes these three distinctive elements:
- from a legal point of view, it is impossible for the worker to dissolve the relationship with his employer
- from the social point of view, the possibilities of significantly influencing employment conditions are limited
- there is a high mortality rate, which indicates a higher than average workload and a provision of means of sustenance below the necessary requirements.
See: [https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/geschichte/auslaendisch/begriffe/index.html]
The workers' re-education camps (AEL) were set up in 1940 by the Gestapo in order to re-educate individuals accused of acts of industrial sabotage or who, for some reason, were held to be “reluctant” to work. In effect, these camps were also a means of exploiting forced labour. It has been estimated that in Germany and the German-occupied territories around 200 Arbeitserziehungslager had been set up in which around 500,000 people had been imprisoned.
During the Second World War the Germans established prisoner of war units known as Bau-und Arbeits Battaillon (shortened to B.A.B.). The B.A.B. were made up on average of 600 prisoners of war who were used as forced labour. The distinguishing feature of these forced labour units was that they were mobile; unlike the prisoners who were being held in the Stalag, these workers were not stationed in a specific location but were moved around according to necessity.
The I.G. Farben Company was founded in 1925 from the merger of several different German industries. During the Second World War it was the main producer of chemicals for Nazi Germany. I.G. Farben made more use of forced labour than any other industry, particularly during the construction of the plants at Auschwitz. The directors of I.G. Farben were among the accused at the Nuremberg Trials of 1947/48. At the end of the war the decision was taken to split up the industry into its original component parts.
The Arbeitskommando were work camps detachments for prisoners who had been captured by the Germans. Usually made up of a few hundred prisoners, they were set up near to places of employment (factories, mines, agricultural establishments etc.). They were run from a central Stalag (prisoner of war camp), which may have been responsible for hundreds of work detachments. The work detachments for Allied prisoners of war were visited on a regular basis by representatives of the Red Cross.
The Military Work Inspectorate was set up in October 1943 with the aim of organising a workforce which was to construct territorial defences for the Italian Republic of Salò and repair the damage caused by air raids. Known as the “Organizzazione Paladino” (Paladino Organisation) after its founder and commanding officer, and operating in strict collaboration with, and at times directly employed by, the Germans, it took on several tens of thousands of workers.
The Todt Organisation was begun in Germany at the end of the 'Thirties with the aim of setting up a workforce which would build military defences. The idea of Fritz Todd, who was also its director until his death in 1942, during the war it exploited forced labour in German-occupied countries. In Italy it played a fundamental role in the construction of defences along the Appenines in support of the Wehrmacht, employing tens of thousands of men.
Born in Scilla (Reggio Calabria) in 1890, he volunteered for the Corps of Engineers as a telegraphist in 1907. In 1908 he rose to the rank of sergeant, a rank he held throughout the War in Libya. In 1914 he was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant and during the First World War he was made captain.
Afterwards he remained in the Armed Forces and in 1932 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. In 1936 he took part in the War in Ethiopia, during which he was promoted to the rank of colonel.
In the Second World War, he returned to Italy after participating in the Greek campaign and was assigned to the Bolzano Corps. In 1942 he was promoted to brigader general. After the armistice he joined the Italian Social Republic for which he created the Military Labour Inspectorate.
He finally retired in 1945 and in 1970 he was awarded the honorary grade of major general.
He died in 1974.
Fritz Sauckel, born in 1894, was a local Nazi party official. In 1942 he was nominated plenipotentiary for the organisation of work throughout all the German-occupied territories. In practice, he was responsible for the compulsory engagement of forced labour. In Italy his organisation tried to round up hundreds of thousands of men to send to the German Reich, with scarce results. He was tried at Nuremberg and condemned to death, the sentence being carried out in 1946.
Albert Speer, born in 1905, was an architect who enjoyed an excellent personal relationship with Adolf Hitler. Even though he was not an ardent Nazi, he was the brains behind the staging of the Party parades, thereby assuring for himself the esteem and trust of the dictator. In 1942, after the death of Fritz Todt, he was put in charge of the Ministry of Arms and Munitions, which oversaw the Todt organisation. He was tried at Nuremberg and condemned to twenty years imprisonment. He died in London in 1981.
Fritz Todt was a German engineer who was responsible, in the 'Thirties, for building the motorway system as desired by Hitler. At the end of the 'Thirties he set up the Todt Organisation, with the aim of supplying forced labour to be used in the building of defences along the French border. During the war his organisation oversaw the use of forced labour in the occupied territories. He died in a plane crash in 1942.
The workers' re-education camps (AEL) were set up in 1940 by the Gestapo in order to re-educate individuals accused of acts of industrial sabotage or who, for some reason, were held to be “reluctant” to work. In effect, these camps were also a means of exploiting forced labour. It has been estimated that in Germany and the German-occupied territories around 200 Arbeitserziehungslager had been set up in which around 500,000 people had been imprisoned.
During the Second World War the Germans established prisoner of war units known as Bau-und Arbeits Battaillon (shortened to B.A.B.). The B.A.B. were made up on average of 600 prisoners of war who were used as forced labour. The distinguishing feature of these forced labour units was that they were mobile; unlike the prisoners who were being held in the Stalag, these workers were not stationed in a specific location but were moved around according to necessity.
The I.G. Farben Company was founded in 1925 from the merger of several different German industries. During the Second World War it was the main producer of chemicals for Nazi Germany. I.G. Farben made more use of forced labour than any other industry, particularly during the construction of the plants at Auschwitz. The directors of I.G. Farben were among the accused at the Nuremberg Trials of 1947/48. At the end of the war the decision was taken to split up the industry into its original component parts.
The Arbeitskommando were work camps detachments for prisoners who had been captured by the Germans. Usually made up of a few hundred prisoners, they were set up near to places of employment (factories, mines, agricultural establishments etc.). They were run from a central Stalag (prisoner of war camp), which may have been responsible for hundreds of work detachments. The work detachments for Allied prisoners of war were visited on a regular basis by representatives of the Red Cross.
The Military Work Inspectorate was set up in October 1943 with the aim of organising a workforce which was to construct territorial defences for the Italian Republic of Salò and repair the damage caused by air raids. Known as the “Organizzazione Paladino” (Paladino Organisation) after its founder and commanding officer, and operating in strict collaboration with, and at times directly employed by, the Germans, it took on several tens of thousands of workers.
The Todt Organisation was begun in Germany at the end of the 'Thirties with the aim of setting up a workforce which would build military defences. The idea of Fritz Todd, who was also its director until his death in 1942, during the war it exploited forced labour in German-occupied countries. In Italy it played a fundamental role in the construction of defences along the Appenines in support of the Wehrmacht, employing tens of thousands of men.
Born in Scilla (Reggio Calabria) in 1890, he volunteered for the Corps of Engineers as a telegraphist in 1907. In 1908 he rose to the rank of sergeant, a rank he held throughout the War in Libya. In 1914 he was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant and during the First World War he was made captain.
Afterwards he remained in the Armed Forces and in 1932 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. In 1936 he took part in the War in Ethiopia, during which he was promoted to the rank of colonel.
In the Second World War, he returned to Italy after participating in the Greek campaign and was assigned to the Bolzano Corps. In 1942 he was promoted to brigader general. After the armistice he joined the Italian Social Republic for which he created the Military Labour Inspectorate.
He finally retired in 1945 and in 1970 he was awarded the honorary grade of major general.
He died in 1974.
Fritz Sauckel, born in 1894, was a local Nazi party official. In 1942 he was nominated plenipotentiary for the organisation of work throughout all the German-occupied territories. In practice, he was responsible for the compulsory engagement of forced labour. In Italy his organisation tried to round up hundreds of thousands of men to send to the German Reich, with scarce results. He was tried at Nuremberg and condemned to death, the sentence being carried out in 1946.
Albert Speer, born in 1905, was an architect who enjoyed an excellent personal relationship with Adolf Hitler. Even though he was not an ardent Nazi, he was the brains behind the staging of the Party parades, thereby assuring for himself the esteem and trust of the dictator. In 1942, after the death of Fritz Todt, he was put in charge of the Ministry of Arms and Munitions, which oversaw the Todt organisation. He was tried at Nuremberg and condemned to twenty years imprisonment. He died in London in 1981.
Fritz Todt was a German engineer who was responsible, in the 'Thirties, for building the motorway system as desired by Hitler. At the end of the 'Thirties he set up the Todt Organisation, with the aim of supplying forced labour to be used in the building of defences along the French border. During the war his organisation oversaw the use of forced labour in the occupied territories. He died in a plane crash in 1942.