The double deportation
Double deportation from Sulmona Prison
The prison of Badia di Sulmona, located in a former convent, came into operation in the aftermath of Mussolini's taking power.
The first "Slavs" condemned for anti-fascist activities – Slovenians and Croats from the areas incorporated into the Kingdom of Italy after the First World War – arrived at the penitentiary of Badia di Sulmona as early as the second half of the 1920s. Their number however rose with the attack launched by Italy against Yugoslavia and the consequent occupation of large areas of the country. By the summer of 1943, in addition to Italians and Greeks, there were many political detainees from Slovenia, Dalmatia and Montenegro, and also, to a lesser extent, from the province of Carnaro.
The detainees' background
We will focus here on the issue of double deportation, during which people from the territory of present-day Croatia were sent by the Italian authorities to serve their sentence in Sulmona – in some cases after passing through several prisons located in Italian-occupied territories or within Italy itself – and from there they were then deported by the Germans following the Italian armistice of 8 September 1943. An analysis of the backgrounds of these deportees – largely from Dalmatia – also offers considerable insight into anti-fascist political activism in the area belonging to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in the months preceding 8 September 1943.
From the time of the setting up of the Protectorate of Dalmatia the city of Split offered strenuous resistance to the occupying Italian forces, which found its expression both in anti- fascism and and in general oppostion to the Italians, especially following the implementation of forced Italianisation measures within public institutions. The Special Court of Dalmatia based in Šibenik passed numerous sentences for anti-fascist activity on young people who, after a period of detention lasting several months in the city's prisons, were sent to Italian prisons, including Sulmona. Some of them were arrested for general anti-fascist activities, others for specific acts connected with the resistance. Marin Ferić, for example, was arrested on Mosor mountain of for being a partisan and sentenced to life imprisonment1. Bruno Dumanić, on the other hand, was convicted of mounting an attack in Via Tartaglia against the Italian Military Orchestra2, one of the main actions carried out by the antifascist resistance movement in Split. Planned by Rade Končar, then secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Croatia, the attack, which took place in a climate of mounting tension, led to the injury of dozens of Italian soldiers as well as civilians and was followed up the next day by 143 arrests3.
The fight against the occupying power was a constantly increasing phenomenon that profoundly characterized the resistance in Split, with widespread activism particularly among the younger generation and students. For example, the youngsters of the Technical Middle School and the School for Male Artisans4 payed a high price in terms of repression. After the creation of the Protectorate of Dalmatia the authorities responsible for employment speedily implemented both the Italianisation programme and the programme which required adherence to the precepts of Fascism. In specific terms, a Board of Studies was set up within the school system and teaching staff were brought in from Italy, while fascist symbolism (such as the Roman salute) and the Italian language were both imposed5. The students demonstrated their opposition to these provisions by carrying out a series of actions, ranging from protests – for example, against the consignment of diplomas in Italian – to participation in anti-fascist demonstrations. A number of measures were taken to counter these actions, ranging from suspensions, which affected hundreds of students, to institutional violence and judicial persecution, with the issuing of sentences out of proportion to the crimes committed. In at least one case the penalty meted out to the author of some anti-fascist writings was that of 30 years' imprisonment. In the school year 1942-1943 alone, about fifty students between the ages of 15 and 19 from the Middle School were arrested, two of whom were sentenced to death, and four were killed in reprisals. Some teachers were also victims of this repression, two of whom had been deported to the Lipari Islands in November 1941, while the tragic case of Professor Ćiro Gamulin, who died as a consequence of torture under interrogation, has become well known. Eleven Middle School students were interned or sent to prisons in Italy, including Veljko Matošić, who was later deported from Sulmona to Dachau6.
The other Croatian prisoners present in the prison in Sulmona came from the province of Carnaro, another area renowned for its anti-fascist stance, and generally speaking arrived in Sulmona following a sentence issued by the Italian Military Tribunal appertaining to the Second Army at Sušak7. According to statements made by the detainees themselves or by family members, not all of them had actually been involved in anti-fascist activities. On 1 May 1942 Ivan Žanić was in church in Novi Vinodolski, attending mass in honour of the local patron saint, at a time when partisan leaflets were being distributed in the streets. The Italians, who had not been warned of the religious function, became immediately suspicious, convincing themselves that those responsible were to be found amongst the congregation. After searching both those present and the place of worship itself, they arrested Žanić as a suspect, and after twenty days they moved him to Fiume, where he was sentenced by the Second Army Tribunal to 4 years imprisonment, and from there he was transferred first to Udine and then to Sulmona8.
Political activity in prison and escape plans
The Badia di Sulmona prison was divided into two sections, one set aside for common Italian criminals and the other for political detainees, among whom – on 25 July 1943 – there were about 250 "Ex-Yugoslavs" and numerous Greeks9. Many Italians were also incarcerated in this section, sentenced by the Special Court for the Defence of the State10, some of them coming from Civitavecchia prison, which had been bombed in May 1943. The living conditions in the prison were particularly severe; a former detainee records that "we were starving", meals were two a day, frequently only consisting of courgettes and turnip tops. The opportunities for movement were limited aand prisoners were frequently punished by being put in solitary confinement11.
The strong politicisation of the Yugoslav detainees led to the development of intense anti-fascist activity. Within the prison walls there was an efficient communist political network, with collectives organized in the cells housing 20-25 people, who elaborated action plans updated in line with the changed external political circumstances12. Ante Cinotti and Mario Vidjak from Split, Vojo Masnikosa from Ivoševci in the Bucovizza, a region lying in the Croatian interior, and Mohamed Musić from Bjelopolje, in the Lika, were held in these cells. Cinotti also joined the executive committee in the prison, together with Giancarlo Pajetta and Giuseppe Rossi13. Although it was a working prison, the Yugoslav detainees generally refused to carry out any activity that would benefit the occupying forces14.
After 25 July 1943 and the fall of Mussolini the Italians were gradually released while the Yugoslavs remained in captivity. The then chief of police, Carmine Senise, proceeded with extreme slowness where the liberation of prisoners and internees was concerned, in particular with regard to the categories considered to be the most dangerous, that is, the communists, anarchists and "Slavs"15. Many of them, moreover, had refused to ask for clemency, considering such a step to be an admission of guilt16. The "former Yugoslavs" were thus still interned in Sulmona on 8 September and remained there during the days which followed. There are several testimonies regarding the events preceding their deportation to Germany, for example that of socialist Giovanni Melodia17, one of the Italians still held after 25 July 1943, and those of some Yugoslav detainees.
Meanwhile, according to the testimony of Cinotti, who had joined the Yugoslav Committee inside the prison, the Yugoslavs prepared an escape action and at the same time entered into negotiations with the prisoners' representative of the adjoining camp for British and Commonwealth prisoners of war, a former British General's emissary. The Yugoslavs, who expressed their intention of taking up arms against the German forces in Italy, were under the impression that the British, having understood that they were dealing with the Tito's partisans and not with the pro-royalist Chetniks, wanted to prolong the negotiations in order to hand them over to the Germans. In the end they planned an escape, which failed due to the actions of the common criminals interned there19 who, wary of the political detainees, anticipated their plan by attempting to break out of the entrance gates and then head for the Governor's office. Here the prison guards reacted by opening fire, leaving 5 dead and 7-8 wounded lying on the ground. Soon afterwards the Germans arrived, stationed an armoured car at the prison gates and brought back all the detainees, putting them back in the cells20. In the meantime the prison guards had slipped off, as had the Commonwealth prisoners. The detainees did not give up their attempts to flee even after the Germans had taken control of the prison. For example, they planned to attack the guards as they were being loaded onto the convoys that would take them to Germany. But, having almost certainly guessed their plan, the Germans led them out of prison in small groups interspersed with the common detainees21. Ante Ivanisević from Split, immobilized by a fractured leg, witnessed the departure of his companions, and recalled that the prison governor had refused to hand over to the prisoners their money and personal effects, another example of the repressive attitude taken towards them by the Italian authorities22.
Deportation
On 8 October almost 200 Yugoslav prisoners, together with a few dozen Greek prisoners and the Italian internees - according to Melodia more than 400 people - were deported by the Germans via the Brenner Pass to Dachau, where they arrived on 13 October 194323. During the journey, which lasted 5 days, the prisoners were crammed into enclosed wagons which were without sanitary facilities. They were supplied with water at only a few of the halts, while they remained without food for almost the entire distance, if you discount the small amount of bread which had been distributed to some of them before departure. According to an eye-witness, during some of the halts the Red Cross would distribute food, but only to Allied prisoners of war24. However, despite these controls at least one deportee managed to escape and join the Italian Resistance25.
Dachau
Having arrived at Dachau, the prisoners were forced to submit to being disinfected and medically inspected and were subjected to a series of bureaucratic procedures, immediately experiencing both abuse and violence. About half of those who arrived in Dachau on the convoy of 13 October remained there, while the others were sent to Buchenwald and then from there, on frequent occasions, to other camps. Velimir Milković was among those who spent the entire period of captivity in Dachau. According to what he told the Yugoslav authorities on his return to his homeland, he had been immediately set to work in the D.A.W.W.W. factory, which was owned by the SS. It was a large carpentry workshop, where the prisoners commonly worked over 12 hours a day on a small amount of bread and watered-down soup at noon and in the evening. Such treatment soon led to a decline in the detainees' health, some of whom came to weigh only 40 kg. Ill-treatment and diseases decimated the prisoners. At the end of 1944 an epidemic of typhus broke out in Dachau, which spread largely as a result of a decision taken by the medical staff in the service of the SS. In fact, although the doctors present among the prisoners had recommended that the ward in which the typhus cases were being treated should be isolated, they decided to close it and distribute the prisoners throughout the various blocks, with the result that the epidemic spread. Many of the the perpetrators of this inhuman treatment of the prisoners were sentenced to death by the Anglo-American authorities after the liberation of the camp26.
Buchenwald
After three weeks of quarantine spent in Dachau one hundred Yugoslav deportees from Sulmona prison were sent to the camp at Buchenwald, where they arrived on 30 October 194327. According to the testimony of Ivan Voljč, a native of Ljubljana, the Yugoslavs were entrained with about 2000 other people, amongst whom were Ukrainians and Italian military internees28. Converging on Buchenwald there were also other "double deportees" - Yugoslavs from prisons and fascist camps, such as Perugia and Renicci, as well as numerous other civilians deported by the Germans from Istria and Trieste, largely sympathisers with, or activists in, the Resistance. The list of names shows that a total of 3,872 Yugoslavs passed through Buchenwald, but according to some scholars this figure is underestimated29.
The work routines at Buchenwald were exhausting. The prisoners slept six to a bed, they had to wake up at 4 in the morning and attend lengthy roll-calls held in the open air. Moreover, meals were largely insufficient, consisting of bread and watered-down soup: many deaths were due to hunger. The prisoners were taken to work outdoors in areas often subjected to Allied bombardments. In addition, medical experiments were carried out on them30.
The other camps
Some of the prisoners deported from Sulmona spent their entire perod of their German incarceration in Buchenwald concentration camp. This was the case where Ante Cinotti was concerned31. For others, Buchenwald was only one of several transit camps. For example, after Buchenwald Bogomir Linić spent two and a half months in Cologne and was then moved to France, initally to Calais and then to the town of Hesdin, where he was employed in the manufacture of torpedoes. From there he passed through Osnabrück on his return to Buchenwald, where he remained until the end of a 1944, andcin after a period in a camp the name of which he does not remember, he was deported to the Polish towns of Walhau and Wrocław. From there he was finally sent to Brandenburg-Görden prison, situated near Brandenburg an der Havel, where he found himself at the time of the town's liberation by the Red Army32.
Branko Vidan was also assigned to forced labour in several French and German cities, ending up in Gardelegen. Here the prisoners held in a variety of different sub-camps associated with the main camp at Dora-Mittelbau – where they were employed in factories underground – were all amassed together with the approach of the Allied troops33. In Gardelegen, the prisoners were subjected to gruelling work for 12 hours a day, in stone quarries or in clearing rubble in the bombed-out cities. The days leading up to the liberation were marked by a particularly dramatic event which has gone down in history as the Gardelegen massacre. Here on 13 April 1945, one day before the U.S. troops reached the locality, over a thousand deportees were locked up inside a shed that was doused with gasoline and set alight, while the SS and members of other local Nazi organizations shot dead those who were trying to escape34. This massacre was witnessed by Branko Vidan, one of the few survivors. According to the data provided by the Isenschnibbe Gardelegen Memorial, 1016 out of 1180 prisoners were killed. One of these was Dionizo Sirotković, a partisan who had been sentenced to life imprisonment by the Special Court of Šibenik, and had served time in Sulmona prison and then in the camps at Dachau, Buchenwald and Cologne before being transferred to France (to Amiens, Albertville and Ars). After the Normandy Landings he was sent back to Germany, initially to Dora-Mittelbau and then to Gardelegen35.
The double deportation survivors who had passed through Sulmona prison began to return to Yugoslavia after June 1945. Some of them had however been released earlier thanks to the intervention of the Red Cross36. The enormous variety in the deportation routes they had been sent on makes it impossible to give a reliable estimate of the number of survivors at the present time.
Francesca Rolandi (2018)
Antifašistički Split. Ratna kronika 1941. – 1945., Split, Udruga antifaštičkih boraca i antifašista grada Splita, 2010, accessible on website http://www.ratnakronikasplita.com/#
International Tracing Service ITS, Bad Arolsen, DE ITS 1.1.5.3 Archivnummer 5850508.
Statement made by Pero Dumanić, State Archives of Split, Split, Gradska komisija za ispitivanje zločina okupatora i njihovih pomagača [Local Commission for the Determination of Crimes committed by the Occupying Forces and their Collaborators], HR-DAST-412, 1944, k. 2, 1944.
Izvješće Srednje Tehničke Škole u Splitu [Report on the Technical Middle School, Split], State Archives of Split, Split, Gradska komisija za ispitivanje zločina okupatora i njihovih pomagača [Local Commission for the Determination of Crimes committed by the Occupying Forces and their Collaborators], HR-DAST-412, 1945, k. 10.
Davide Rodogno, Il nuovo ordine mediterraneo. Le politiche di occupazione dell’Italia fascista in Europa, 1940-1943, Torino, Bollati Boringhieri, 2003, pp. 329-330; Izvješće Srednje Tehničke Škole u Splitu [Report on the Technical Middle School, Split], State Archives of Split, Split, Gradska komisija za ispitivanje zločina okupatora i njihovih pomagača [Local Commission for the Determination of Crimes committed by the Occupying Forces and their Collaborators], 1945, k. 10.
Izvješće Srednje Tehničke Škole u Splitu [Report on the Technical Middle School, Split], State Archives of Split, Split, Gradska komisija za ispitivanje zločina okupatora i njihovih pomagača [Local Commission for the Determination of Crimes committed by the Occupying Forces and their Collaborators], HR-DAST-412, 1945, k. 10.
Statement made by Maksimilijan Šuperina, State Archives of Fiume, Fiume, “Okružna komisija za utvrđivanje ratnih zločina - Sušak” [District Commission for the Investigation into War Crimes - Sušak] HR-DARI-105, k. 19.
Statement made by Ivan Žanić, State Archives of Fiume, Fiume, “Okružna komisija za utvrđivanje ratnih zločina - Sušak” [District Commission for the Investigation into War Crimes - Sušak], HR-DARI-105, k. 32.
Biblioteca della Casa della Memoria e della Storia, Fondo Archivio Giovanni Melodia (Library of the House of Historical Recollections, Papers of Giovanni Melodia); Đuro Đurašković, Nikola Živković, Jugoslovenski zatočenici u Italiji 1941-1945, Beograd, Institut za savremenu istoriju, pp. 98-99.
Statement made by Ante Ivanišević, State Archives of Split, Split, Gradska komisija za ispitivanje zločina okupatora i njihovih pomagača [National Commission for the Identification of Crimes committed by the Occupying Forces and their Collaborators], HR-DAST-412, 1945, k. 7, 273.
Đuro Đurašković, Nikola Živković, Jugoslovenski zatočenici u Italiji 1941-1945, Beograd, Institut za savremenu istoriju, pp. 98-99.
Biografija Cinotti Ing. Ante [Biography of Ante Cinotti, Engineer, Croatian State Archives, Zagreb, Savez Komunista Hrvatske. Centralni Komitet [Croatian Communist League. Central Committee], HR-HDA-1220, Kontrolno-statuarna komisija [State Control Commission], k. 43.
Đuro Đurašković, Nikola Živković, Jugoslovenski zatočenici u Italiji 1941-1945, Beograd, Institut za savremenu istoriju, pp. 98-99.
Carlo Spartaco Capogreco, I campi del duce: l’internamento civile nell’Italia fascista, 1940-1943, Torino, Einaudi, 2006, pp. 171-172.
http://www.cnj.it/PARTIGIANI/JUGOSLAVI_IN_ITALIA/NOVO/testi_lolliAquilano.pdf.
Giovanni Melodia, La quarantena. Gli italiani nel lager di Dachau, Milano, Mursia, 1971, pp. 38-39, 217-228; Giovanni Melodia, Sotto il segno della svastica. Gli italiani nel lager di Dachau, Milano, Mursia, 1979.
Statement made by Velimir Milković, State Archives of Fiume, Fiume, “Okružna komisija za utvrđivanje ratnih zločina - Sušak”, [District Commission for the Investigation into War Crimes – Sušak], HR-DARI-105, k. 32; Giovanni Melodia, La quarantena. Gli italiani nel lager di Dachau, Milano, Mursia, 1971, p. 219. In actual fact the “Jean” referred to by Milković was the prison governor De Jean, see Aldo Pavia, I grandi della deportazione: Giovanni Melodia, in “Triangolo Rosso”, 1-3, 2009, consultable on website http://www.deportati.it/static/pdf/TR/2009/1-3/20_28.pdf
Biografija Cinotti Ing. Ante [Biography of Ante Cinotti, Engineer], Croatian State Archives, Zagreb, Savez Komunista Hrvatske. Centralni Komitet [Croatian Communist League. Central Committee], HR-HDA-1220, Kontrolno-statuarna komisija [State Control Commision], k. 43; Giovanni Melodia, La quarantena. Gli italiani nel lager di Dachau, Milano, Mursia, 1971, p. 219.
Đuro Đurašković, Nikola Živković, Jugoslovenski zatočenici u Italiji 1941-1945, Beograd, Institut za savremenu istoriju, pp. 98-99.
Giovanni Melodia, La quarantena. Gli italiani nel lager di Dachau, Milano, Mursia, 1971, p. 221.
Statement made by Ante Ivanišević, State Archives of Split, Split, Gradska komisija za ispitivanje zločina okupatora i njihovih pomagača [National Commission for the Identification of Crimes committed by the Occupying Forces and their Collaborators], HR-DAST-412, 1945, k. 7.
Biblioteca della Casa della Memoria e della Storia, Fondo Archivio Giovanni Melodia (Library of the House of Historical Recollections, Papers of Giovanni Melodia); La quarantena. Gli italiani nel lager di Dachau, Milano, Mursia, 1971, p. 38. According to the reconstruction of events made by Aldo Pavia, the convoy which left Sulmona prison was made up of 391 persons: 9 Italian anti-fascists and 151 common criminals including those serving life sentences, with the remainder being Yugoslavs and Greeks. Aldo Pavia, I grandi della deportazione: Giovanni Melodia, in “Triangolo Rosso”, 1-3, 2009, consultable on website http://www.deportati.it/static/pdf/TR/2009/1-3/20_28.pdf
Statement made by Velimir Milković, State Archives of Fiume, Fiume, “Okružna komisija za utvrđivanje ratnih zločina - Sušak” [District Commission for the Investigation into War Crimes – Sušak], HR-DARI-105, k. 32.
Odluka o utvrđivanju zločina okupatora i njihovih pomagača [Decisions made regarding the investigations into the crimes committed by the Occupying Forces and their Collaborators], Bosdari Francesco-Soveri, State Archives of Split, Split, Gradska komisija za ispitivanje zločina okupatora i njihovih pomagača [Local Commission for the Determination of Crimes committed by the Occupying Forces and their Collaborators], HR-DAST-412, 1945, k. 8.
Statement made by Velimir Milković, State Archives of Fiume, Fiume, “Okružna komisija za utvrđivanje ratnih zločina - Sušak” [District Commission for the Investigation into War Crimes – Sušak], HR-DARI-105, k. 32.
Biografija Cinotti Ing. Ante [Biography of Ante Cinotti, Engineer], Croatian State Archives, Zagreb Savez Komunista Hrvatske. Centralni Komitet [Croatian Communist League. Central Committee], HR-HDA-1220, Kontrolno-statuarna komisija [Statuary Control Commission], k. 43.
Izvještaj o radu part. organizacije u K. L. Buchenwaldu [Report on the work of the party organisation in the concnetration camp at Buchenwald], Croatian State Archive, Zagreb, Savez Komunista Hrvatske. Centralni Komitet [Croatian Communist League. Central Committee], HR-HDA-1220, Kontrolno-statuarna komisija [Statuary Control Commission] , k. 43.
The number of "Yugoslavs" includes those who came from territories ceded to the Yugoslav Federation after the Second World War. Jugosloveni u logoru Buchenwald [Yugoslav in the camp at Buchenwald], Croatian State Archives, Zagreb, Savez Komunista Hrvatske. Centralni Komitet [Croatian Communist League. Central Committee], HR-HDA-1220, Kontrolno-statuarna komisija [ [Statuary Control Commission], k. 43; Dragoljub M. Kočić, Jugosloveni u koncentracionom logoru Buhenvald, Beograd, Institut za savremenu istoriju, 1989, p. 82; Marijan Bosnar, “Rudi Supek i nacistički koncentracijski logor Buchenwald kroz arhivsko gradivo Hrvatskog Državnog Arhiva”, “Arhivski Vjesnik”, 54, 1, 2001, pp. 153-178.
Statements made by Frano Mihaljević e di Ante Kuzmanić, State Archives of Split, Split, Gradska komisija za ispitivanje zločina okupatora i njihovih pomagača [Local Commission for the Determination of Crimes committed by the Occupying Forces and their Collaborators], HR-DAST-412, 1945, k. 10.
See the index card belonging to Ante Cinotti.
Statement made by Bogumil Linić,State Archives of Fiume, Fiume, Okružna komisija za utvrđivanje ratnih zločina - Sušak [Commissione distrettuale per l'accertamento dei crimini di guerra – Sušak], HR-DARI-105, k. 28.
Statement made by Branko Vidan, State Archives of Split, Split, Gradska komisija za ispitivanje zločina okupatora i njihovih pomagača [Local Commission for the Determination of Crimes committed by the Occupying Forces and their Collaborators], HR-DAST-412, 1945, k. 10, 361.
Archivio Centrale dello stato, Roma, Ministero dell'Interno, Direzione generale di pubblica sicurezza, Divisione affari generali e riservati. Ufficio dipendenti dalla sezione prima, Casellario politico centrale, Fascicoli personali, b. 4837 (Central State Archives, Rome, Ministry of the Interior, Minister responsible for Public Security, Division of General and Restricted Affairs. Office adminstered by the previous section, Central political records, Personal files, B. 4837); Croatian State Archive, Zagreb, "Zemaljska komisija za utvrđivanje zločina okupatora i njihovih pomagača NRH Zagreb" [National Commission for the Determination of Crimes committed by the Occupying Forces and their Collaborators in the People's Republic of Croatia Zagreb], HR-HDA-306, Grad Split [City of Split], Spisak lica koji su odvedeni od Talijana Grad Splita [List of those deported by the Italains from the city of Split], pp. 1-2.
Croatian State Archive, Zagreb, “Republički odbor Saveza udruženja boraca Narodnooslobodilačkog rata Hrvatske (1947-1992)” [Republican Committee of the League of Combatants' Associations in the fight for national liberty], HR-HDA-1241, k. 239.
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.