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Fossoli camp

Coordinates:44°49′42″N10°54′10″E/ 44.82833°N 10.90278°E/44.82833; 10.90278
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Fossoli camp
Concentration camp
Panorama of the camp
Fossoli camp is located in Italy
Fossoli camp
Location of Fossoli camp within Italy
Coordinates44°49′42″N10°54′10″E/ 44.82833°N 10.90278°E/44.82833; 10.90278
LocationCarpi, Italy
CommandantDomenico Avitabile
Mario Taglialatela
Karl Friedrich Titho
Operational1942
Notable inmatesPrimo Levi
Notable booksThe Periodic Table

TheFossoli camp(Italian:Campo di Fossoli) was a concentration camp inItaly,established duringWorld War IIand located in the villageFossoli,Carpi,Emilia-Romagna.It began as aprisoner of war campin 1942, later being a Jewishconcentration camp,then a police and transit camp, a labour collection centre for Germany and, finally, a refugee camp, before closing in 1970.

It is estimated that 2,844 Jews passed through this camp, 2,802 of whom were then deported.

History

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Prisoner of War camp

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The camp was established by theRoyal Italian Armyon 30 May 1942 for the British, South African and New Zealand military personnel captured in military operations in North Africa and originally calledCampo PG 73.On 22 July 1942 1,800 prisoners of war were moved to the camp and accommodated in 191 tents in what was called the "Old camp", theCampo Vecchio.With thesurrender of Italy on 8 September 1943the camp was evacuated and all prisoners of war moved to Germany.[1][2]

Concentration camp

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After the surrender, the camp was enlarged by 60 wooden and 20 stone barracks which became the "New camp", theCampo Nuovo.In December the camp was renamed Fossoli di Carpi and became the "national concentration camp" for the Jews in theItalian Social Republic,following the issue ofRSI Police Order No. 5.The camp was operated by fascist Italian militias.[1]Police captain Domenico Avitabile was the first Italian commandant of the concentration camp, succeeded by Mario Taglialatela. Avitabile was described by former inmates as a kind but corrupt man[3]while Taglialatela was described as cruel and as mistreating the prisoners.[4][5][6]

In March 1944, owing to the camp's strategic location close to theModena–Veronarailway line, theCampo Nuovocame under German control and was renamed Transit camp Carpi. It now fell under jurisdiction of the German Commander in Chief of the Security Police,Wilhelm Harster,who was based in Verona, while theCampo Vecchioremained under Italian control.SS-UntersturmführerKarl Friedrich Tithowas appointed as commander of the German part of the camp, withSS-HauptscharführerHans Haageas his deputy, while the guards consisted of 40 Italians, later reinforced with five Ukrainians.[1]

The purpose of the camp was to act as a transit camp and it was to be filled to capacity with Italian Jews and, once full, these were to be deported predominantly toAuschwitzfor extermination. It was during this period that the first two trains left on 19 and 22 February 1944, intended for Anglo-Libyan prisoners with destinationBergen-BelsenandAuschwitz,with the camp still under Italian control.[3]The second convoy left with 650 other prisoners (whichPrimo Levirecalls in the first pages of the famous bookIf This Is a Man).[1]

During Titho's time as camp commander at Fossoli di Carpi, 67 prisoners were executed in theCibeno massacreas a reprisal for a partisan attack on German soldiers atGenoa.On 12 July 1944 70 prisoners were selected on the pretext of being taken to Germany and their names read out by Titho, moved on trucks to a local shooting range and 67 of them executed while three managed to escape.[7]For his role in the execution of the prisoners, the Italian media later referred to him as theExecutioner of Fossoli.[8]

During its existence as a transit camp, the camp had a total of 5,000 inmates, of which around half were Jewish. The last transport for Auschwitz left the camp on 26 June 1944,[1]Fossoli having become too insecure because of the proximity to the front line, and was replaced with theBolzano Transit Camp,with Titho and Haage as the commander and deputy commander as well. Following the final deportation of Jews, the camp was used for the deportation of forced labour to Germany with as many as 800 to 1,000 people transiting through the camp daily. In November 1944 the camp ceased operations.[2]

After the Second World War

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From November 1945 to May 1947 the camp was once more in use, now for foreign refugees,[1]some of them Jewish Holocaust survivors.[2]

In 1947 the camp was converted into a refuge for war orphans, by Father Zeno Saltini. The Church ordered Saltini to leave in February 1952, and the community was closed with huge debts. There was a satellite community inMaremmawhich today comprises the intentional community ofNomadelfia.[9]

The camp reopened once more from 1954 to 1970 to serve as accommodation forethnic Italian refugees fromYugoslaviabefore it finally closed.[1][2]

Commemoration

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In 1996 a foundation was formed to preserve the former camp. From 1998 to 2003 volunteers rebuilt the fencing around theCampo Nuovoand, in 2004, one of the barracks that used to house Jewish inmates was reconstructed.[1]

Notable inmates

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  • Camp today
    Camp today
  • Barracks
    Barracks
  • Allied POW camp
    AlliedPOWcamp
  • Camp's plan
    Camp's plan

See also

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References

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  1. ^abcdefghDer Ort des Terrors: Geschichte der nationalsozialistischen Konzentrationslager Bd. 9: Arbeitserziehungslager, Durchgangslager, Ghettos, Polizeihaftlager, Sonderlager, Zigeunerlager,Zwangsarbeitslager[The Place of Terror: History of the National Socialist Concentration Camps Vol. 9: Labor education camps, transit camps, ghettos, police detention camps, special camps, gypsy camps, forced labor camps] (in German). Wolfgang Benz, Barbara Distel. 2009.ISBN978-3406572388.Retrieved9 September2018.
  2. ^abcd"FOSSOLI".ANED – National Association of Italian political deportees from Nazi concentration camps.Retrieved10 September2018.
  3. ^abPezzetti, Marcello (21 February 2024)."Primo Levi nel limbo di Fossoli"[Primo Levi in Fossoli's limbo].la Repubblica(in Italian).Retrieved22 February2024.
  4. ^Megargee, Geoffrey P.; White, Joseph R. (2018).The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos.ISBN978-0253023865.Retrieved21 September2018.
  5. ^Sullam, Simon Levis (2018).The Italian Executioners: The Genocide of the Jews of Italy.ISBN978-0691184104.Retrieved21 September2018.
  6. ^Thomson, Ian (2003).Primo Levi.ISBN978-0099515210.Retrieved21 September2018.
  7. ^"Poligono del Cibeno, Fossoli, Carpi, 12.07.1944"(in Italian). Atlas of Nazi and Fascist Massacres in Italy.Retrieved10 September2018.
  8. ^Schwarzer, Marianne (17 February 2016)."Dem" Henker von Fossoli "blieb ein Prozess auf deutschem Boden erspart"[The „Executioner of Fossoli “is spared from a trial on German soil].Lippische Landes-Zeitung(in German).Retrieved9 September2018.
  9. ^Utopian Dreams,Tobias Jones, 2007,Faber and Faber Ltd,pp. 58–59.

Bibliography

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  • Sacchi, Danilo (2002).Fossoli: transito per Auschwitz: quella casa davanti al campo di concentramento.Firenze: Giuntina.ISBN978-8880571384.
  • Lallo, Angelo.; Toresini, Lorenzo. (2001).Psichiatria e nazismo: la deportazione ebraica dagli ospedali psichiatrici di Venezia nell'ottobre 194.Portogruaro (Venezia): Nuova dimensione.ISBN978-8885318601.
  • Castelli, Enrico (2005).Musei territori percorsi.Morlacchi Editore. p. 408.
  • Sanfilippo, Matteo (2006). "Per una storia dei profughi stranieri e dei campi di accoglienza e di reclusione nell'Italia del secondo dopoguerra".Centro Studi Emigrazione.164:535–566.hdl:2067/751.
  • Steinacher, Gerald (2006). "L'Alto Adige come regione di transito dei rifugiati (1945–1950)".Centro Studi Emigrazione.43(164).
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