Italian concentration camps include camps from the Italian colonial wars in Africa as well as camps for the civilian population from areas occupied by Italy duringWorld War II. Memory of both camps were subjected to "historical amnesia". The repression of memory led to historical revisionism in Italy[1] and in 2003 the Italian media publishedSilvio Berlusconi's statement thatBenito Mussolini only "used to send people on vacation".[2][3]
There were numerous war crimes conducted by theItalian Army in the colonies. InCyrenaica alone between 1929 and 1933 over 40,000 people were killed and 80,000 locked up in concentration camps,[4] out of a total population of just 193,000. According to the historianIlan Pappé, the fascist regime between 1928 and 1932 killed half the Bedouin population either directly or by starvation in the fields.[5] According to the historianAngelo Del Boca, in 1933, of the approximately 100,000 Libyans deported from Jebel Achdar and Marmarica, more than 40,000 died in the camps.[6]
Name of the camp | Location of camp | Present-day country | Date of establishment | Date of disestablishment | Estimated number of prisoners | Estimated number of deaths |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nocra | Nocra | Eritrea | 1930s | 1941 | 1,500[7] | |
Abyar | Abyar | Libya | 1930 | 1933 | 3,123[8] | |
Agedabia | Ajdabiya | Libya | 1930 | 1933 | 10,000[8] | 1,500[9] |
El Agheila | El Agheila | Libya | 1930 | 1933 | 10,900[8] | |
Marsa Brega | Brega | Libya | 1930 | 1933 | 21,117[8] | |
Sid Ahmed el Maghrun | El Magrun | Libya | 1930 | 1933 | 13,050[8] | 4,500[9] |
Soluch | Suluq | Libya | 1930 | 1933 | 20,123[8] | 5,500[9] |
Derna | Derna | Libya | 1930 | 1933 | 145[8] | |
Apollonia | Apollonia | Libya | 1930 | 1933 | 1,354[8] | |
Barce | Barce | Libya | 1930 | 1933 | 538[8] | |
Driana | Driana | Libya | 1930 | 1933 | 225[8] | |
Nufilia | Nufilia | Libya | 1930 | 1933 | 375[8] | |
Danane | Mogadishu | Somalia | 1935 | 1941 | 6,000[8] | 3,175[10] |
Total | ~44 675[11] |
Name of the camp | Location of locality | Present-day country | Date of establishment | Date of disestablishment | Estimated number of prisoners | Estimated number of deaths |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bakar | Bakar | Croatia | 31 December 1942 | 1 July 1943 | 893[12] | 100–120[13] |
Bolzano | South Tyrol | Italy | September 8, 1943 | April 29 and May 3, 1945 | 11,000 | |
Buq Buq | Buq Buq (بقبق [ar]) | Egypt | Late August 1942 | November 6, 1942 | 350 | 0 |
Campagna | Salerno | Italy | 15 June 1940 | 19 September 1943 | ||
Chiesanuova | Padua | Italy | June 1942 | |||
Ferramonti di Tarsia | Cosenza | Italy | summer 1940 | 4 September 1943 | 3,800 | |
Giado | Jadu, Libya | Libya | January 1942 | 24 January 1943 | 3,146[14] | 564 |
Gonars | Palmanova | Italy | March 1942 | 8 September 1943 | 7,000 | 453; >500 |
Mamula | Mamula island | Montenegro | 30 May 1942 | 14 September 1943 | 2,322 | 200[15] |
Monigo | Treviso | Italy | 1 July 1942 | May 1945 | 10,000 | 187–225 |
Molat | Molat | Croatia | 28 June 1942 | 8 September 1943 | 20,000[16] | c. 1,000[16] |
Pisticci | Southeast ofPisticci in Camporotondo[17] | Italy[17] | 1939[17] | September 13, 1943[17] | Capacity of 1,000[17] | Not stated[17] |
Rab, separate camps forSlovenes/Croats andJews | Rab (Arbe) island | Croatia | July 1942 | 11 September 1943 | 10,000; 15,000 | 2,000; >3,500; 4,000 |
Renicci di Anghiari | Arezzo | Italy | October 1942 | 10,000 | 159 | |
Risiera di San Sabba[18] | Trieste | Italy | October 1943 | April 1945 | > 11,500 | 4,000–5,000[19] |
Sidi Azaz | Sidi Azaz | Libya | July 1942 | Late January 1943 | 1,000 | 3 |
Visco | Palmanova | Italy | winter 1942 | |||
Zlarin | Zlarin | Croatia | March 1943 | June 1943 | 2,500 | 26 |
Campo di Fossoli | Carpi | Italy | May 1942 | March 1944 |
Gli ultimi lager sarebbero stati smantellati nel settembre 1933. Dei 100.000 libici che erano partiti dal Gebel Achdar e dalla Marmarica, ne sarebbero tornati a casa 60.000.