Hi Does anyone have any information pls regards a POW camp near Bolzano? My Grandad was taken here after Sulmona in 1943 before transportation into Germany/Poland. Thanks
Maybe a clue on a POW's movements: From: Queenie From Post 1: From: DCM enquiry - Australian POW Others here know far more about POW camps in Italy.
Hello Coops_0031 It is important to be clear about the difference between Allied Prisoner of War Camps (overseen by the IRC and governed by the agreements in the Geneva convention) and Transit camps. The PRISONER OF WAR CAMP near Bolzano (not at Bolzano) no. 118, was a work camp at Prato Isarco. Camp tab | Allies in Italy There was a TRANSIT CAMP at Bolzano, operative from May 1944 onwards, used by the Germans as a collection point for Jews, political prisoners and other people they were sending to their concentration camps Bolzano Transit Camp - Wikipedia Clearly, your grandfather belonged to the first category. Here is a translated extract regarding PG 118 from campfascisti.it. There are some excellent photos of the POW camp on this site: Allied prisoners of war In an undated document (probably referable to the summer of 1941), the Apostolic Nuncio Francesco Borgongini Duca reported having visited a camp for prisoners of war in "Prato Tires, on the bank of the Isarco river 7 kilometres from Bolzano. The camp has been set up in the premises of a brewery, on the slopes of a mountain covered with fir trees which descends to the river. About 150 of the prisoners are Catholics; the Commander keeps the English separated from the Australians, because it seems that they do not to get along too well together..." [Vatican Secret Archives, Vatican Information Office (Prisoners of War, 1939-1947), 518, fasc.29]. In 28 October 1941 the Interministerial Commission for prisoners of war, established at the Italain Ministry of War, established that "due to contingent needs it was decided that the British prisoners detained in the Prato Isarco camp were to be transferred: - Australians and Dominions to the Grupignano (PG57) - British (300) to Sulmona (PG 78) - the remaining soldiers to Capua (PG 66) The camp structures were used again in the first months of 1943 to temporarily house some of the Italian troops repatriated from the Eastern Front. Finally, in March 1943, the Prisoners of War Office ordered that as soon as this operation had been concluded "property and barracks of the former PG camp, Prato Isarco, should be promptly adapted and used as the base work camp for the PG" (PGPR01) . Regards, Vitellino Edited to say that I would like the moderators to add the words (PG118 Prato Isarco) to the thread title, as Bolzano POW camp as a title on its own may be very misleading to someone searching for information.
Thank you Vitellino, he documented in his account that he was taken to Bolzano after being at Capua and Sulmona in 1943, prior to being transported into Germany. I guess it was still a transit camp then. Do you know how the POWs were taken from the camp and transported?
What dates did he give? Was he at Sulmona at the time of the Armistice (08 09 43) or was he part of the group sent to Prato Isarco after March 1943? As I understand it, it was not used as a transit camp before the armistice. In March 1943 it was designated as a ''base work camp for the PG.''
He left Sulmona in July 1943 to go to Bolzano. Just re-read his notes, he describes thousands of prisoners there but his group was kept separated before being loaded onto trucks for Germany.
That ties in with the above. He would have been part of the group sent to Prato Isarco after March '43, and would have been there at the time of the armistice. The 'trucks for Germany' would have been railway wagons. Out of interest, what is your grandfather's name?
Thank you again, his name was Norman Cooper I have messaged you regards info about Italian camps and have put other posts on here. Just to clarify would the trucks have gone from near the camp?
Hello Coops_0031 The men would have been put on the train at the station of Prato-Tires, on the line from Bolzano passing through to the Brenner Pass.If what happened here followed what happened elsewhere, they would have been marched from the camp to the station. Norman Cooper Is this him? It is an extract taken from WO 392/21; ITALY. IMPERIAL PRISONERS OF WAR. ALPHABETICAL LIST, held in The National Archives LONDON, dated 1943 August. ''This document is a compilation of lists of members of the Allied Forces who were reported by Italian or Red Cross sources as being prisoners in Italian hands, minus those known officially to have died in Italian hands. The document includes men listed who died as a POW at sea in 1942, and also some listed as being in Libyan camps or buried in Greece. Camp locations are given where men were last known to be, in most cases'' The men who were moved to work camps in the summer of '43 are nearly alwyas shown in their preceding camp, hence, he is shown as still being in PG 78 (Sulmona). Regards, . Vitellino
Fantastic info, yes that's him. I have uploaded the first part where he referenced travelling to Bolzano. Appears they were kept separated to other prisoners there. You may have to zoom in to read it. Thanks again
I read another similar report from another prisoner who traveled from Sulmona to Prato who said that on arrival they were kept on the wagons, separate from other POWs already there On arrival there was an allied bombing raid. They then travelled onto Germany. Not sure on exact dates of this but was summer 1943
On arrival at Prato Isarco, or at the station in Bolzano? Firstly, beware of any testimonies you read! They must always be checked out against documentation. No one was moved from Sulmona to the German stalags in the summer of 1943. Three groups were sent in July from PG 73 (Carpi), PG 53 (Macerata) and PG 82 Laterina (https://campifascisti.it) but such transfers were stopped in early August following a complaint from the Foreign Office via the International Red Cross. (file FO 916/692 The National Archives). I had an idea of who the other prisoners might have been and checked out Prigionia e lavoro forzato degli internati militari italiani a site for part of which I was the translator This is what I found regarding the period immediately after the armistice of 8 September have translated the original) ''In just a few days the Italian army was completely disbanded. Over a million Italian soldiers in service in Italy, France ex-Yugoslavia and Greece we put into temporary camps and then sent to camps in Germany or Poland. From Italy alone on 11 October 1943 316,222 prisoners were sent across the Alps.'' So the other prisoners from who they were kept apart would almost certainly have been Italian soldiers waiting to be deported.
Hi Thanks again, yes was unsure of connected . Grandad never mentioned an allied bombing raid, he just mentioned being separate from other prisoners. He did two separate memoirs at different times. One documents the transfer as May, one states was transferred to Pato in July 1943, he does state in his second memoir that the Italians were writing letters. He said the next day they went to the Brenner Pass, to be handed over to the Germans. See attached for second ref.
I think your grandafther is mixing up two things, both of which were correct - the first is that he remembered being sent north in May and also clearly describes crossing the Brenner pass in a cattle truck (this would have been September). The Italians going home were undoubtedly the guards from Prato Isarco following the Armistice and not the guards from Sulmona. They would certainly have been going south, as going north would have taken them into Austria. I am sending you a provate message.
Hi, yes I agree he went to Prato Isarco in May and left in September. Thank you for the clarification on the guards from Prato Isarco. I agree they weren't the guards from Sulmona as he had already left. Thank you very much for the assistance
