Kraljevica concentration camp
 
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The concentration camp Kraljevica ( campo di concentramento Kraljevica ) also KZ Porto Re was an Italian concentration camp of fascist Italy at the time of the Second World War . It existed from August 1942 to September 8, 1943 under the direction of the II. Armata . In it "Jews" were saved from deportation .
Partisan war
The camp consisted of four large residential barracks with space for 1,200 people and initially served to accommodate Croatians who had been dragged from their villages as reprisals against partisan attacks.
Internment of Jews
On August 21, 1942, at the request of the German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop , Mussolini agreed to the extradition of Croatian and refugee Jews from the Italian-occupied part of Croatia to the Independent State of Croatia (NDH). The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the army refused, on various pretexts and questions, to implement the Duce's instructions because they knew about the deportations and murders of Jews. For example, plans were discussed “without undue haste” on how to concentrate the Jews and clarify the nationality of each individual without extraditing, for example, Italian citizens (including Jews from the annexed parts of Croatia).
When the German and Croatian diplomatic pressure for immediate extradition of the Jews increased in October, the diplomats suggested to Mussolini that all Jews be interned so that they would no longer pose a threat and it would be easier to determine the nationality. Mussolini agreed. The military was able to accommodate the Jews in protected areas and give the diplomats the opportunity to refer to the technical implementation of the planned extradition. On October 28, 1942, Marshal Ugo Cavallero issued the clear order to the headquarters for Slovenia and Dalmatia (Supersloda) immediately
- interning all Jews in special concentration camps.
- to divide these Jews according to their Italian and Croatian citizenship.
- Send inventory lists to headquarters.
As a result, around 3,000 Jews were interned in various places. Some committed suicide for fear of deportation because they did not know the real motives for internment. Most of them were interned in Kraljevica, around 1,160 people. General Mario Roatta visited the camp at the end of November and promised the internees that the Italian army would protect them. Additional barracks were built to house a synagogue and a chapel and school classes were held, and a cultural life developed with lectures, theater and music events similar to that in Ferramonti di Tarsia . The internees were transferred to the Rab concentration camp in July 1943 against the background of the looming defeat of Italy for security reasons , where they then mostly joined Tito's partisans in September 1943 after the armistice of Cassibile and the self-liberation of the prisoners .
literature
- Daniel Carpi: The Rescue of Jews in the Italian Zone of Occupied Croatia . Yad Vashem, Shoah Resource Center.
- Klaus Voigt: Refuge on Revocation - Exile in Italy 1933-1945 . Klett-Cotta 1993, Volume 2, ISBN 3-608-91160-X .
Web links
- Campo di Concentramento Kraljevica on I Campi Fascisti
- Ivo Herzer: Fascist Italy's forgotten Rescuers , Washington Post, March 20, 1994
Individual evidence
- ^ Campo di Concentramento Kraljevic a auf I Campi Fascisti, accessed on March 23, 2017.
- ^ Klaus Voigt: Refuge on Revocation - Exile in Italy 1933-1945 . P. 232 ff.
- ^ Klaus Voigt: Refuge on Revocation - Exile in Italy 1933-1945 . P. 233.
- ^ Rosemary HT O'Kane: Terror, Force and States: The Path from Modernity . Edward Elgar 1996, ISBN 1-85278-694-9 , pp. 74 ff.
- ^ Daniel Carpi: The Rescue of Jews in the Italian Zone of Occupied Croatia . P. 15.
- ^ Daniel Carpi: The Rescue of Jews in the Italian Zone of Occupied Croatia . P. 20 ff.
- ^ Daniel Carpi: The Rescue of Jews in the Italian Zone of Occupied Croatia . P. 23 ff.
- ^ Klaus Voigt: Refuge on Revocation - Exile in Italy 1933-1945 . P. 233 f.
- ^ Daniel Carpi: The Rescue of Jews in the Italian Zone of Occupied Croatia . P. 35 ff.