The Gonars concentration camp was one of the several Italian concentration camps and it was established on February 23, 1942, near Gonars, Italy. Many prisoners were transferred to this camp from another Italian concentration camp, the Rab concentration camp, which served as equivalent of the

final solution The Final Solution or the Final Solution to the Jewish Question was a plan orchestrated by Nazi Germany during World War II for the genocide of individuals they defined as Jews. The "Final Solution to the Jewish question" was the official ...

Mario Roatta Mario Roatta (2 February 1887 – 7 January 1968) was an Italian general. After serving in World War I he rose to command the Corpo Truppe Volontarie which assisted Francisco Franco's nationalist forces during the Spanish Civil War. He was the d ...

ethnic cleansing Ethnic cleansing is the systematic forced removal of ethnic, racial, or religious groups from a given area, with the intent of making the society ethnically homogeneous. Along with direct removal such as deportation or population transfer, it ...

policy against ethnic

Slovenes The Slovenes, also known as Slovenians ( ), are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Slovenia and adjacent regions in Italy, Austria and Hungary. Slovenes share a common ancestry, Slovenian culture, culture, and History of Slove ...

from the Italian-annexed Province of Ljubljana and

Croats The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...

from Gorski Kotar, in accord with the

racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

1920s speech by

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...

, along with other Italian war crimes committed on the Italian-annexed territories of

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

: The first transport of 5,343 prisoners (1,643 of whom were children) arrived two days after its establishment, on February 23, 1942, from the Province of Ljubljana and from two other Italian concentration camps, the Rab camp and the camp at Monigo (near

Treviso Treviso ( ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 87.322 inhabitants (as of December 2024). Some 3,000 live within the Venetian wall ...

). The camp was disbanded on September 8, 1943, immediately after the Italian armistice. Only in 1973 was a memorial created by the

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

Miodrag Živković at the town's cemetery. The remains of 453 Slovenian and Croatian victims were transferred into its two underground

crypt A crypt (from Greek κρύπτη (kryptē) ''wikt:crypta#Latin, crypta'' "Burial vault (tomb), vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, Sarcophagus, sarcophagi, or Relic, religiou ...

s. It is believed that at least 50 additional persons died in the camp due to

starvation Starvation is a severe deficiency in caloric energy intake, below the level needed to maintain an organism's life. It is the most extreme form of malnutrition. In humans, prolonged starvation can cause permanent organ damage and eventually, de ...

and

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...

. At least 93 children were killed at the camp, including those that had been transferred from the Rab concentration camp to Gonars.

Notable inmates

Slovenes

* Viktor Antolin, professor of philosophy (student/journalist at the time) * France Balantič, poet * France Bučar, lawyer, writer, and statesman in post-1991 Slovenia * Lojze Bukovac, recipient of the Commemorative Medal of the Partisans of 1941, a writer * Alojz Gradnik, poet * Bogo Grafenauer, historian * Zora Konjajev, pediatrician * Boris Kraigher, politician * Vasilij Melik, historian * Frane Milčinski (pen name ''Ježek''), a poet, actor, children's writer, and director * Odon Peterka, poet * Jakob Savinšek, sculptor and poet * Bojan Štih, literary critic, essayist, and stage director * Bogdana Stritar, opera singer * Aleš Strojnik, engineer and educator * Nada Vidmar, opera singer * Nande Vidmar, painter *

Anton Vratuša Anton Vratuša (born Vratussa Antal; 21 February 1915 – 30 July 2017) was a Slovenian politician and diplomat who was Prime Minister of Slovenia from 1978 to 1980, and Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia's ambassador to the U ...

, politician * Vitomil Zupan, writer * Tone Čufar, writer

Sources

* Alessandra Kersevan (2008): '' Lager italiani. Pulizia etnica e campi di concentramento fascisti per civili jugoslavi 1941–1943''. Editore Nutrimenti, * Alessandra Kersevan (2003): ''Un campo di concentramento fascista. Gonars 1942–1943.'', Kappa Vu Edizioni, Udine. * Nadja Pahor Verri (1996): ''Oltre il filo : storia del campo di internamento di Gonars, 1941–1943'', Arti Grafiche Friulane, Udine. * Luca Baldissara, Paolo Pezzino (2004): ''Crimini e memorie di guerra: violenze contro le popolazioni e politiche del ricordo'', L'Ancora del Mediterraneo.

References

External links

Gonars Concentration Camp (EUROM)

A website devoted to the Gonars Memorial

Aerial view of the two sub-camps (white zones on the left): camp B is the vertical stripe just north of Gonars, camp A is the square zone north-west of the town
{{Authority control 1940s in Italy 1942 establishments in Italy 1943 disestablishments in Italy Italian war crimes Italian fascist internment camps in Italy

Notable inmates

Slovenes

Sources

Further reading

See also

References

External links