Credits: Federico Creatini
Where are we?
We are in Coltano
A destination of neo-Fascist visits, this memorial commemorates the detention centre for republicans, Germans and collaborators of various nationalities that the Allies set up at the end of the war.
On their journey up the peninsula, the Allies created internment camps for prisoners of war. Three were set up in Coltano: 336 for German soldiers; 337 for Italians; and 338 for German army collaborators, mainly Poles and Soviets. The three facilities remained in use for six months and only the one reserved for Italians came under the responsibility of the Italian Ministry of War.
The living conditions were very harsh, and many prisoners were forced to sleep in tents that were totally unsuitable for protecting them from the weather.
The story of Coltano was brought to public attention by several former prisoners. Pietro Ciabattini, a former soldier of the Italian SS, denounced the harshness of the camp’s living conditions and its relatively unknown existence by the public, and fought for a memorial stone to be placed on the site. Inaugurated in 1996, the memorial stone has been periodically defaced and broken. However, it is regularly restored by RSI memorial associations, who still carry out commemorations at the camp.
Facility or museum: no
Geographic location: Coltano (PI), Tuscany
Photo gallery
Watching /reading tips
Coltano 1945. Un campo di concentramento dimenticato
Book
(Pietro Ciabattini, 2009)