| Risiera di San Sabba | |
|---|---|
| Concentration camp | |
 Internal courtyard of the Risiera di San Sabba. The remains of the crematorium can be seen on the wall. | |
  Location of Risiera di San Sabba within Italy | |
 Interactive map of Risiera di San Sabba | |
| Coordinates | 45°37′15″N13°47′21″E / 45.62083°N 13.78917°E /45.62083; 13.78917 |
| Other names | Stalag 339, KZ Risiera di San Sabba |
| Location | Trieste,Italian Social Republic |
| Operated by | SS |
| Commandant | Josef Oberhauser |
| Original use | Facility for milling rice |
| Operational | 8 September 1943 – 30 April 1945 |
| Inmates | Italian Political prisoners,Italian Jews,Yugoslavian Resistance fighters and Yugoslavian civilians (primarilySlovenes andCroats) |
| Killed | 3,000–5,000 |
| Notable inmates | Boris Pahor |
| Website | https://risierasansabba.it/ |
Risiera di San Sabba (Slovene:Rižarna) was aNazi concentration camp operating inTrieste. Officially designated as a police detention camp (Polizeihaftlager), it was the only one on Italian territory with acrematorium. It was primarily used to eliminate members of the resistance in theOperational Zone of the Adriatic Littoral (OZAK), but another important function was as a transit camp forJews on the way to theextermination camps, primarilyAuschwitz.[1] It was a place typical of theNazi system to help realize thefinal solution to the Jewish question and to suppress undesirable rebels (which the Nazis labelled asBanditen), while on the other hand systematically exploiting the civilian population.[2]
On top of prisoners killed on the spot or deported, civilians who were captured in raids or destined forforced labour were also confined here. Estimates for the number of victims of San Sabba range from 2000 based on court testimonies[3][4] up to a maximum of 5000.[5] Victims were usually killed either using exhaust gasses from transport vehicles or they were bludgeoned to death; it is also recorded that some of the victims were shot.[6]
Approximately 1450 Jews deported from OZAK passed through San Sabba, of which only around 20 survived, while 28 are confirmed to have been killed in the camp as they were deemed too old or weak for transportation.[7]
In 1965 the Risiera was declared a national monument and in 1975 it became a museum.[8][9]
The building complex was built between 1898 and 1913 in the periphery ofTrieste in the San Sabba (orSan Saba) neighbourhood and was first used forrice-husking, giving it the nameRisiera.[10]
Following theArmistice of Cassibile, large parts of northernItaly became part of theItalian Social Republic, with the provinces ofUdine,Trieste,Gorizia,Pola,Fiume andLjubljana fell under the control of OZAK.[11] The administration of the territory was placed under the command ofFriedrich Rainer, theGauleiter ofCarinthia.
Initially the Risiera became a provisionalprisoner of war camp for Italian soldiers captured following the armistice, becoming known asStalag 339.[10]
At the end of October 1943 the complex became aPolizeihaftlager (or police detention camp), used for the collection of prisoners awaiting deportation toGermany andPoland. The facility was used for the detention or elimination of partisans and political prisoners,Jehovah's Witnesses[12][13] and Jews who were deemed too weak to survive transportation.[14]
After a few months acrematorium was built at the camp byErwin Lambert.
The Risiera was also used as a storage facility for the items stolen from the prisoners.SS officialOdilo Globočnik, previously a close collaborator ofReinhard Heydrich and responsible for the extermination camps in theGeneral Government as part ofOperation Reinhard, responsible for the killing of 1.2 million Jews supervised the Risiera.[15] He was assisted by members of theEinsatzkommando Reinhard, under the command ofDietrich Allers [de] whileJosef Oberhauser was thecommandant. Both had begun their work as part ofAktion T4, which organized theforced euthanasia of the physically and mentally disabled in the camps ofTreblinka,Sobibor andBelzec (100,000 victims according to theNuremberg Trials).[16]
The thenBishop of Trieste,Antonio Santin often intervened with the Nazi authorities, sometimes resulting in the release of prisoners (such asGiani Stuparich and his family), but often with little success.
The Nazis used a variety of methods for executions, such as using the exhaust gasses from motor-vehicles, using the drying room from the Risiera before transforming it in to a crematorium[8][9] which was then used for the destruction of bodies starting from 6 April 1944 with the cremation of about 70 bodies from prisoners who were shot the previous day at VillaOpicina. In a number of cases prisoners were burnt alive, such as partisansCecilia Deganutti [it] andVirginia Tonelli. Others were murdered by gunshot or being clubbed with a mace that was later found and kept in the museum until it was stolen in 1977.
The Risiera served as a transit camp, holding more than 8000 deportees from the eastern provinces and headed for other concentration camps, notably Jews destined forAuschwitz,[14][17] it was also used for the detention, torture of murder of prisoners who were suspected of subversive activities by the Nazi regime.[14][18][19][20] Some Italianinformers actively participated in revealing the identities of Jews to the Nazi authorities, the most well known of these informers wasMauro Grini who is thought to be responsible for the arrest of about 300 Jews with his network of collaborators.[21]
The crematorium was demolished using explosives on the night between 29 and 30 April 1945 by the Nazis attempting to destroy the evidence of their crimes while abandoning the camp, but the details were later described in testimonies of surviving prisoners. Bones and human ashes were found in the ruins.[22]
The majority of victims of the camp came fromFriuli, theJulian March and theProvince of Ljubljana.[citation needed]
After the war, the camp served as arefugee camp and transit point for the mass exodus of soldiers of theRoyal Yugoslav Army and their families who were loyal toKing Peter II and the 1950s for many people, especially ethnic Italiansfleeing former Italian territory in theSocialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.[23][24][25]
On the 15th April 1965President of ItalyGiuseppe Saragat declared the Risiera di san Sabba a national monument as the "unique example of a Nazi lager in Italy.[26]
In 1975 theRAI television network produced a documentary byEmilio Ravel [it].
On the 16th of February 1976 a trial was started in front of theCorte d'Assise ofTrieste against those responsible, after a 30-year investigation. The case was represented by 30 lawyers on behalf ofPietro Caleffi [it], the families of the victims and the president of thenational association fordeportees to Nazi camps [it].
Among the accused for multipleaggravated homicide wereJosef Oberhauser and his superiorDietrich Allers [de].[10] Others responsible had either been killed by partisans at the end of the war or died during the investigation.[10] Allers died in March 1975,[10] so at the end of the trial on 29 April 1976, it was only possible to convict Oberhauser though he never served his sentence as an Italian-German treaty permitted extradition only for crimes committed after 1948.[10] The sentence was confirmed on 28 February 1978,[27] and Oberhauser died on 22 November 1979, never having served his sentence.[10]
Inaugurated in 1975, the museum was re-structured as part of a project by the architectRomano Boico [it].[28]
There are a number of structures that no longer exist in the camp due to the transformation into a refugee camp for the Italians fleeing from theSocialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and its restoration and transformation after it became a national monument. Still visible today are:
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
| History |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Geography and surrounding area | ||
| Buildings and landmarks | ||
| Places of worship |
| |
| Culture | ||
| Local media |
| |
| Education and research | ||
| Sports venues |
| |
| Transport | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
Media from Commons
