Ferramonti di Tarsia

Ferramonti di Tarsia, located near Cosenza in Southern Italy, was an internment camp for Jews. It the largest of the fifteen internment camps established by Mussolini between June and September, 1940.

Building of Ferramonti began on June 4, less than a week before Italy entered World War II.

The arrest of Jews began on June 15, and prisoners began arriving at the camp on June 20. Over 3,800 Jews were imprisoned at the camp, of which, only 141 were Italians, the majority, 3,682, were foreign-born Jews, and 141 were Italians.

Between June, 1940, and August, 1943 there were 3,823 Jewish internees at Ferramonti.

The camp was never a concentration camp in the German sense of the term. Internees were allowed to receive food parcels and visit sick relatives. In addition, there were no mail restrictions.

Six weeks after Mussolini's downfall (September, 1943), the prisoners were released. Many of these internees joined the Allied armed forces. About 1,000 were shipped to the United States and interned at Camp Oswego, New York. Ultimately, they were permitted to stay in the United States.

External links

* [http://www.edwardvictor.com/Holocaust/italy_main.htm Judaica Philatelic Resources-Italy]
* [http://motlc.learningcenter.wiesenthal.org/pages/t021/t02153.html Museum of Tolerance - Italy, Ferramonti di Tarsia]
* [http://www.robichek.com/chronology7.htm Ferramonti di Tarsia Internment Camp--Fall 1941]
* [http://www.istrianet.org/istria/history/1800-present/camps/lager-italy.htm The Lager in Italy]
* [http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/media_ph.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005455&MediaId=2081 Jewish inmates in their barracks at the Italian concentration camp Ferramonti di Tarsia] Photographs of Jewish inmates in their barracks at the Italian concentration camp Ferramonti di Tarsia
* [http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/4335/edition_id/79/format/html/displaystory.html Table-tennis champion retires his game but not his memories] Story of Allan Herskovich, who along with his three other brothers, fled Yugoslavia, and were imprisoned in several camps, including Ferramonti di Tarsia

References

History and Memory of the Italian Concentration Camps, written by James Walston, article in The Historical Journal, Vol. 40, No. 1 (Mar., 1997), published by Cambridge University Press, pp. 169-183, 15 pages.