Roberto Castellani

Roberto Castellani (born July 26, 1926 in Prato , Tuscany ; † December 3, 2004 ibid) was an Italian survivor of the concentration camps of Mauthausen and Ebensee .

Childhood and youth

Growing up in the time of Italian fascism , Castellani's childhood and youth were strongly influenced by the teachings of fascist ideology . As a little Balilla and later an avanguardista, he was enthusiastic about Mussolini and his ideas.

General strike, arrest and deportation

On March 4, 1944, a general strike was called in Tuscany (in the rest of Italy already on March 1), which the many textile workers in Prato also joined. Castellani and many other residents of Prato were arrested by Italian fascists three days later because of their involvement in the strike on the orders of the German occupying forces. They were taken to the fortress of Prato and finally to the Scuole Leopoldine in Florence . At 17, Castellani was one of the youngest among those arrested.

On March 8, 1944, a transport consisting of cattle wagons with the inscription "Voluntary Workers for Germany" left the Florence train station for Austria . Hundreds of people from Prato, Florence and the surrounding area, but also from parts of northern Italy, were on board the transport.

After three days and four nights, the train finally reached its destination, the Mauthausen concentration camp . There, following the usual procedure that every inmate had to endure (shaving, shower, inmate clothing), he was transferred to the quarantine, the sole purpose of which was to wear down the inmates physically and mentally. At that time Castellani had the prisoner number 57,027.

After only 14 days in Mauthausen, Castellani and most of his Italian comrades were transferred to the Ebensee concentration camp , which had been built in November 1943 to enable the underground production of rockets .

Life in the Ebensee concentration camp

Generally speaking, the Italian prisoners fared worst in the camp, with the highest mortality rate (512 of 955 Italians in Ebensee did not survive). In addition, they were not only viewed as traitors by the Germans, but were also attacked by fellow prisoners because the Italian fascists, as Castellani himself noted, “had waged war against everyone”.

Castellani was initially employed as a gardener in the barracks of the SS . He was able to get enough food from leftover food from the SS and the watchdogs and thus also help other prisoners. However, his situation deteriorated dramatically when he stayed away from work out of sympathy for a prisoner friend who was ill. A kapo caught him doing it and Castellani was immediately sent to work in the tunnels, where he had to work until the concentration camp was liberated.

The conditions under which the inmates had to toil in the tunnels 12 hours a day were appalling. They were not only exposed to constant reprisals from the SS, but also, especially in winter, were completely inadequately clothed and malnourished (about 700 kcal per day). At the time when the Ebensee concentration camp was liberated on May 6, 1945, Castellani only weighed 28 kilograms.

A special experience during his imprisonment gave Castellani new hope and was one of the reasons for him why he returned to Ebensee soon after the liberation: While working outside the camp, a little girl from Ebensee gave young Castellani a treat. After much research, Castellani and that girl from then were reunited in 2004.

Life After Captivity

After the concentration camp was liberated, Castellani and three friends set off on foot to Italy, where it was initially very difficult to find a normal life again. Added to this were the doubts of many Prato's residents who could not believe Castellani's descriptions of the events in Ebensee.

Castellani always felt the need to remember the events in Ebensee to be a special duty. So he returned to Ebensee in 1948. He also developed a strong political commitment , which found expression in his commitment to the socially disadvantaged.

The political education , particularly of young people, has always been a big concern Castellani. He not only gave hundreds of lectures at schools throughout Tuscany, but also accompanied countless groups of schoolchildren to the memorials of Mauthausen and Ebensee.

In the 1980s, Castellani and other survivors and residents of Prato found everyday objects from back then in the Ebensee tunnels, which are now exhibited in the Museo della Deportazione e Resistenza ( Deportation and Resistance Museum) in Prato.

After a short, serious illness, Castellani died on December 3, 2004 in Prato.

City partnership Prato - Ebensee

The memorial stone at the Ebensee concentration camp cemetery

A special legacy of Castellani is the founding of the town twinning between the municipalities of Prato and Ebensee. For years, Castellani tried to connect the two places, which was finally closed in 1987. This “partnership of peace” is expressed in numerous encounters and friendships between Prates and Ebenseers.

In addition, Castellani, as the then President of the ANED Prato ( National Association of Former Political Deportees ), played a key role in founding the Museo della Deportazione in Prato. The Ebensee community also granted him honorary citizenship and donated a memorial stone at the Ebensee concentration camp cemetery.

Individual evidence

^ Roberto Castellani's testimony on RAI Educational

literature

Michele di Sabato: Il Sacrificio di Prato sull'ara del Terzo Reich , Prato: Editrice Nuova Fortezza 1987
Drahomír Bárta: Diary from the Ebensee concentration camp , ed. by Florian Freund and Verena Pawlowsky, Vienna: Turia + Kant 2005

Movies

Luci nel Buio ( Lights in the Dark ): Documentary film directed by Gabriele Cecconi, 2003

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Castellani, Roberto
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Italian survivor of the Mauthausen and Ebensee concentration camps
DATE OF BIRTH	July 26, 1926
PLACE OF BIRTH	Prato , Tuscany
DATE OF DEATH	December 3, 2004
Place of death	Prato , Tuscany

[1] Roberto Castellani's testimony on RAI Educational