The National Archives in Washington (NARA) holds all the files of the Allied Screening Commission which provided monetary rewards to Italians who had assisted escaped PoWs in any way, from providing a bit of food and clothing to keeping them hidden for up to 18 months. There are 80,000 individual files plus a lot of other administrative documentation, totalling 1.5 million documents in all. At the instigation of the Monte San Martino Trust, these files will all be digitised over the next 5 years or so. At the moment, the only search method is by Italian names. Thus if a researcher only knows the name of the escaper, it is impossible to find any relevant information. The index to the files (under the Italian name) is now online at https://catalog.archives.gov/search-within/75857261 . So if you know who helped the individual you are researching, and they made a claim for compensation to the ASC, you should be able to find their index card and follow it up by contacting NARA direct to ask for that specific file.
Hi Ted - I am currently researching my father's WWII journey which included PG 49 in Italy and Stalag VIIA in Germany and I too am thrilled that the M.S.M.T. has instigated this project to have these records digitised by N.A.R.A.. But I should mention that I have had some luck in entering the English Officers name too. More by chance than anything else as I had tried VAJENTI which was in the original post that I came across for an anonymous author (ANON - Anon) and also PONZI who had supplied the information, but with no luck. So the only name I had left in the post was DE CLERMONT and I hit the Jackpot! Only to find that the Italian name in the A.S.C. document was actually VAIENTA. Could this simply be "Lost in Translation"? You can read all about it here - NARA 2 Cheers, Chris
A kind soul has transcribed part of the ASC War Diaries file at NARA. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/297330129?objectPage=3&objectPanel=transcription "The Origin of Allied Screening Commission (Italy) On 8 Sep 43, the date of the Italian Armistice, there were approximately 75,000 Allied Ps.W. in Camps in Italy. Of these, in the general confusion immediately after the Armistice, some 30,000 (very rough estimate) were either liberated or escaped from P.W. Camps, and dispersed themselves throughout the length and breadth of Italy. Many thousands of these were recaptured after a very short period of liberty. The majority of Italians were friendly towards these Ex.Ps.W. and gave them all kinds of assistance, the most common forms being food, shelter, civilian clothing and money. Several thousands af these escapers in the North of Italy succeeded in passing into Switzerland, having been helped by many civilians on the way. Many more thousands had moved South, and as winter advanced they found it almost impossible to pass the now strongly defined German Line. The majority of these were given hospitality, under increasingly dangerous circumstances, by thousands of friendly Italian civilians. . . ." Now read on.
There is no J in the Italian alphabet as it is substituted by an I. However, some surnames do use a J instead of an I. The final letter is wrong in any case - the surname is Vajente. Ponzi is correct. Regards, Vitellino Edited to say: I have just checked the index and the surname Vaienti has come up twice in Fidenza, one at the Café Ballila. The two cards I have attached are those of Prisca and Tina Valenti. Claims cards attached
