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Ferramonti and the Museum of Memory The internment camp Ferramonti, in the municipality of Tarsia in the province of Cosenza, was the principal (in terms of numerical strength) between the many places of internment for the Jews, stateless persons, foreign enemies and Slavs, opened by the fascist regime between June and September 1940, following the entry of Italy into world War II.The camp was liberated by the British Army in September 1943, but many former internees remained in Ferramonti the following years and the camp Ferramonti was officially closed on 11 December 1945.Thus from the point of view of the chronological events of the Second World War, it has a peculiar record: it was the very first concentration camp for Jews to be released and also the last to be formally closed.

Ferramonti camp

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Ferramonti and the Museum of

MemoryThe internment camp Ferramonti, in the

municipality of Tarsia in the province of

Cosenza, was the principal (in terms of

numerical strength) between the many

places of internment for the Jews, stateless

persons, foreign enemies and Slavs, opened

by the fascist regime between June and

September 1940, following the entry of

Italy into world War II. The camp was

liberated by the British Army in September

1943, but many former internees remained

in Ferramonti the following years and the

camp Ferramonti was officially closed on

11 December 1945. Thus from the point of

view of the chronological events of the

Second World War, it has a peculiar record:

it was the very first concentration camp

for Jews to be released and also the last to

be formally closed.

The concentration camp Ferramonti of Tarsia was built in May

1940 by the firm Parrini of Rome, which was later responsible for

the maintenance of the whole camp. It, unlike the other Italian

camps, was built on a model of a Nazi concentration camp: it

had in fact long sheds and was very close to the railway line

Sybaris-Cosenza. Inside, there were an average of over 2000

prisoners who reached a peak of 2,700 people in the 'summer of

1943. It was also the largest and most important Italian fascist

concentration camp.

On its territory of about

160,000 square meters.

92 barracks stood. The

monitoring carried out

by a Fascist militia

(locals or neighboring

countries), was made

from 'outside the

barbed wire fence that

surrounded the

building, while a

commissioner of public

safety, a sergeant and a

group of agents,

guarded the inside.

Ferramonti camp,

located in the valley of the crater, 6 km from the town of Tarsia, was inserted into a marshy and swampy area, so that malaria was widespread. The company Parrini was already reclaiming the area before the construction of the camp but, after all, during the period of captivity there were many prisoners who contracted malaria and died.

The camp became operation on June 20, 1940.

It was between June and July of that year that one hundred Jews (men only) came to Ferramonti from many central-northern Italy cities. As the prisoners were increasing more and more they were not only Jews, but also people of various cultures, languages and traditions, so the high number and the unfavorable economic conditions created many difficulties for internees.

In the field of Ferramonti shackled internees arrived, accompanied by police or security

officials and they were made to go down to the train station or at the exit of

Mongrassano rail site near the entrance of the camp. Paul Salvatore, former

Commissioner of Public Safety was appointed director of the camp and 10 July of the

same year it was introduced a disciplinary regulations for the inmates. The latter provided

that they could not get out of the barracks after the first of 7.00 and 21.00, were

subjected to 3 calls a day, they could not escape from the field without a special permit;

should not also involved in politics, read foreign publications, write or receive mail

without the control of the boardroom; were finally banned the use of cameras, radio and

playing cards.

Among the internees there

were doctors, musicians,

professors, many graduate

and undergraduate students.

In the autumn of 1940 Erich

Wittenberg founded a

school, directed by Hans

Benda, which had been

enriched with various

courses and had been

accompanied by a nursery.

The artistic and cultural debates were frequent in Ferramonti: culture was expressed through theatre performances, art exhibitions, sports competitions, literary competitions and conferences and was also drawn up a newspaper. The musical life was taken care of thanks to the teacher LavMirski, who before the war had been the conductor of the opera Osijek (Yugoslavia). Sport also had great importance and it excelled in football.

They were also well attended tournaments of chess

On December 11, 1945,

after a survey conducted

by the prefecture of

Cosenza in the premises

and materials, the camp

was closed. After the

barracks were not

guarded by a prefecture

or municipality and this

had resulted in looting

and destruction. At the

end of the 60s the area

of the field was crossed

by the route of the A3

Salerno - Reggio

Calabria.

Today the camp of Ferramonti little remains: only a few shacks used during the

war years by the management offices of the administration, no one spoke more

of the Ferramonti concentration camp until the end of the '70s,when the

Professor Francesco Folino did some researches on this issue, based on the

testimonies of people who had experienced first hand .

At the end of the 80s institutions realized the importance of this historical memory

and restructured municipal funds with two cabins, creating a museum in the first

and in the other a conference room that will be before a documentation

center and then a library.

The museum opened on 25 April 2004, it was visited by the great personalities of

the world of culture and politics.

The memory re-has emerged from the dark past and proposes opening of new

hope and peace.

Photo Museum

Marriage in Field

Dormitory

Conference with survivors of the

camp

Photo with a survivor

Group Photo

Presentation by Francesco

Catalano