Bolzano Subsidiary Camps
Lager Satellites
The Bolzano-Gries camp had numerous small
subsidiary camps:
- Bressanone
- Campo Tures
-
Certosa
- Colle Isarco
- Dobbiaco
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In his research entitled "Il Lager di Bolzano"
(The Bolzano Lager), Luciano Happacher gives us some information about them.
Certosa
The Certosa Val Senales camp held only about
50 people. At first the prisoners were put up in barracks in the town and later
transferred to the Guardia di Finanza (military bodies responsible for enforcing
the law on income tax and monopolies). The main task of the deportees was to
transport material from the town’s railway station. During the first few days of
February 1945 the camp had been practically cleared.
In "L'ombra del buio" (The Shadows of Darkness)
by Carla Giacomozzi,
Tullio Bettiol, ex-deportee of the Certosa Camp, gives us an insight
into his experience:
"On the 23rd September 1944 we were
transferred to Val Senales. There, we were put up in wooden barracks built
south of the town of Karthaus (Certosa) and only later moved to the Army
barracks of the Guardia di Finanza (see above-mentioned definition). The
camp security guards were from the SS together with regulars from Wehrmacht
army. They took us to the Malles station by trucks, which we had to load up,
and then transport to Certosa; I remember loading boots and French
rucksacks. As prisoners, we were incarcerated either for political motives
or for our Jewish status. There were about 50 of us in total. In January
1945, there were about 30 Jews and a dozen or so Italians, but towards the
end of the month, the camp was evacuated and when I escaped (4th
February 1945) only 4 prisoners remained [….]".
" I recall with fondness a particular instance
of humanity and courage. Two young girls, Anna and Tina, who were the owners
of a small hotel in Karthaus, supplied us, whenever possible, with food and
medicine, despite it being absolutely forbidden by the Germans. It was an
undertaking that put them at extreme risk".
Merano
This was the largest among Bolzano’s subsidiary
camps. It held about 400 people (men and women) in its army barracks near Maia
Bassa. As in the case of Certosa, work mainly consisted of transporting
materials from the train station. Don Primo Michelotti, inspirer of the local
CLN (National Liberation Committee) was extremely active in assisting the camps’
deportees.
In "L'ombra del buio" (The Shadows of Darkness)
by Carla Giacomozzi, Tullio Bettiol, ex-deportee of the Certosa Camp,
gives us an insight into his experience:
"At the end of August-beginning of
September 1944 we were transferred to the Maia Bassa army barracks in
Merano. It was situated near the racecourse and the old train station. There
were about 400 men and women interned including political opponents of the
regime and Jews, coming mainly from Lombardia. Our main job was to unload
different kinds of goods (food, paintings, carpets, clothing and other
items) from the wagons at the nearby train station. These goods were
undoubtedly plundered from all over Europe and were then transported, in
part to the army barracks, and the rest (the most valuable part, e.g.
carpets and paintings) to a nearby castle. I recall the incredible number of
rolls of carpets that were transported. We remained in Merano until 23rd
September 1944".
Sarentino
The camp, built on the Banks of the Talvera, at
the mouth of the Val Sarentino, was built following the failure of a
"transportation" towards German and Polish camps. The camp was surrounded by
barbed wire, and consisted of six wooden barracks for the deportees, a small
stable for the horses, and a small hut for the security prison guards. 200
people were imprisoned, employed in carpentry works and in the upkeep of roads
in the area.
In "L'ombra del buio" (The Shadows of Darkness)
by Carla Giacomozzi,
Giovanni Gasperin, ex-deportee of the Sarentino Camp, gives us an
insight into his experience:
"After the last failed attempt to
transport the deportees to Mauthausen, the SS "lightened" the camp by
sending a number of prisoners (including a contingent on the banks of the
Talvera) to a small camp. There, we were made to erect the barbed wire
enclosure as well as build the wooden barracks, prefabricated in the
carpentry detachment of the Bolzano camp (a division which, if I am not
mistaken, was under the control of a certain marshal Koeing). The camp was
situated on the right of the road climbing the Sarentino Valley, just before
a bridge over the Talvera [...] Along a wall, which I think was of a
river embankment, a canal was built, made out of stones and cement. The
prisoners used its waters as latrines. The camp was more or less square in
shape, with the Command barrack and those of its prison guards,[…] the
horses’ stables, […] the courtyard for the parades and the twice daily
rollcalls. I think there were 6 prison barracks in total, arranged in two or
three rows. Each barrack held about 40 prisoners. The guards were from the
Trentino Corps (Trentino Security Corps) integrated with a few members of
the SS Corps. […] The camp was under the command of a Marshal from the
Wehrmact, who had been injured in the War and "reutilized". […] The
prisoners were used in part to transport equipment and materials to the
factories under the tunnels, repair the roads and work in sawmills or other
activities in Sarentino. On 30th
April we were taken to Bolzano and freed the following day".
The above-mentioned "consignment" to Germany was
supposed to take place on 25th February 1945, but due to
bombardment on the Brennero railway, could not be carried out. In that period
the Bolzano camp prisoners amounted to about 2,300, whilst the camp’s capacity
was only 1,500. Furthermore, the flow of prisoners from Italian jails continued.
Vipiteno
The Vipiteno camp was a small detachment. The
deportees, put up in Army barracks, were categorised according to their
professional specialisation and employed in a weapons’ factory (originally
situated in Cremona, but evacuated after allied bombardments).
Sources:
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Associazione Nazionale ex Deportati Politici
nei Campi Nazisti (ANED) - https://www.deportati.it/campi/ - in Deutsch,
Francais, Italiano, and
. https://www.deportati.it/english_bolzano.html (English),
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