Hello everybody, Today I have visited the above museum which has a room dedicated to items that were removed from Campo PG 52 after the armistice by the camp's adjutant, Ten. Filippo Zavatteri, and which his son has now donated to the museum. Amongst the items are: A card index of all the POWs held at any time in the camp. I have attached one with the name,army number and other personal details obliterated to show what they were like. The camp's day book - a sort of diary. As well as daily happenings it records the numbers of men in the camp, and the days following the armistice are particularly interesting. The last to leave, on 15 September, were those in the infirmary. It does not say where they were transferred to. A transfer book, which shows the arrival of prisoners from other camps, (for example from PG 87 Benevento and PG 68 Vetralla when those camps were closed), and the transfer of prisoners elsewhere, for example to the hospital camp in Lucca. Artefacts include: a pair of boxing gloves, and a pair of shoes made from string as a present for Ten Zavatteri's wife by one of the prisoners. Regards, Vitellino
Thanks for posting these Vitellino. A wonderful collection of artefacts. We are fortunate that there was time for these items to be thoughtfully removed by those in authority.
Andrea Giuseppini, the creator of website campifascisti.it, with whom I have been collaborating as a translator, says that he has never seen any of these index cards before and it could be that they are the only ones to survive from all the camps. He says ' something must be done'. Perhaps they should all be photographed and the photos lodged in the IWM. Any ideas? Vitellino
