From POW Camp to Civil Internment Camp: PG 52 and PG 73 Italy

It is a little known fact that after the Italian Armistice of 8 September 1943, and the subsequent take-over of the POW camps by the German military and their Fascist supporters, several were used not only as transit camps but also as civilian internment camps. Two such camps spring readily to mind - PG 52 at Coreglia Ligure-Calvari (misleadingly referred to in British documentation as Chiavari) and PG 73 at Fossoli (Carpi di Modena).

Here is the translation of part of an article dealing with PG 52:

The civil internment camp at Calvari by Antonio A. Piga

Campo PG 52 was set up at the beginning of 1941 and continued to function until July 1944 when it was finally closed and dismantled. Built by military engineers, it was sited in the Lavagna flood plain between the river and the hillside. There were 44 wooden barracks and a brick building housing the kitchens, a refectory, a library, an assembly room, a chapel, a theatre and a shop. In another building set aside from the rest there was an infirmary. All told it could hold around 4,000 prisoners.

With the setting up of the Repubblica Sociale Italiana following the Armistice of 8 September 1943 the camp was used to accommodate about 100 Jews, arrested from the end of November 1943 onwards. The last group left the camp for Germany on 21 January 1944. It was then turned over to political prisoners, mainly from the province of Genoa, of whom there were 93 in total, including 8 women who did not hold Italian citizenship. The political prisoners were sent in batches to the Camp at Fossoli (the former PG 73) and from there to Germany. These transfers were brought to an end around the middle of June 1944.


One of the political internees, author Leonida Balestreri, active in the political movement known as Justice and Freedom, wrote in a letter to his family on 23 March 1944 that:

Today, 23 days after my arrest, I have been interrogated. The judge put a few brief questions to me, after which I was given the reason for my detention: I was accused of vilifying Fascism and its institutions during the period between 2 August and 8 September 1943, for which I was to be tried by a Special Tribunal.

On 13 May 1944 the Provincial Military command handed over the running of the camp to the civil authorities. In actual fact the situation protracted itself until 7 July 1944 when the camp was dismantled and the wood and other usable building materials were taken away by the locals.

What happened at PG 73 can be discovered on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossoli_di_Carpi

Vitellino

 

Jimmy52. Thanks for this. Does anyone know to which POW camp in Germany the captive South African soldiers, (previously held in Camp 52 Coreglia Ligure-Calvari) were sent towards the end of the war.

 

Hi Felicia

The members name is Vitellino - wheres Jimmy52??

If you provide a name, initials, service number etc or a combination of we can probably find out which camp your man was in. They would not all have been sent to a single camp I think, but distributed to where needed to work in the associated work camps.

TD

 

Hi, The name is EWT Smyth, Regimental number 79669, Transvaal Scottish. The Imperial prisoners of war document indicates that he was held in Italy in 1943 in Camp 52, PianDi Coreglia (Genova).

 

Hello Felicia,

EWT Smyth was sent from PG 52 to Stalag 18C Markt Pongau in Austria (formerly Stalag 317). He appears in WO 392/1 - Imperial Prisoners of war held in Germany and German - Occupied territories. The last prisoners left PG 52 for Germany on 15 September:

3957688 Sgt. Evan Llewellyn Edwards, The Welch Regiment, who testified at the Nuremberg Trials, indicates when the transfer took place:

On 15th September 1943 after the capitulation of Italy, the German forces took control of PG 52, where I was a prisoner of war. The men in the camp were put into barrack groups and a number of groups were detailed to move by rail to Germany.

I am currently preparing a website on PG 52 which I hope will be ready early in the new year,

Vitellino

 

UK, British Prisoners of War, 1939-1945
Name: E W T Smyth
Rank: Pte
Army Number: 79669
POW Number: 39075
Camp Number: 18C
Section: South African Land Forces : Officers and Other Ranks

TD

 

Thank you Vitelino and TD for your welcome help. I am Temple Smyth's niece and sole surviving next of kin and look forward with anticipation to the Website on PG 52. In the interim I shall try to visit the village in Italy in which he started his long POW life. I might be able to contribute some small items of interest to your website once it is operational.

 

Another link you may need to follow is - Requests for information about people held during the Spanish Civil War or the Second World War: Quarterly limit reached this may provide further details of his time as POW, but as you will see it is heavily in demand so patience may be necessary

TD

 

My thanks again to the two experts Vitellino and TD, who have assisted me so generously. I will now get to work following up all the leads and information you have provided. Felicia

 

Not experts, just been around here a little longer than yourself

You may also need to try obtaining his SA service records - info in this thread - Researching a South African Serviceman

TD

 

Do let us know what you find out - a photo would go well on my website,

Vitellino

 

Hello everybody interested in PG 52.

On Wednesday I shall be visiting the Telecommunications Museum in Chiavari where all the Camp's record cards are now held.

If anyone would like me to photograph their relatives' card please send me a private message,

Vitellino

 

Hi Vitellino, it's a long time since the post of Sep 24, 2018, but if you do go to the Telecommunications Museum in Chiavari again I would love a copy of my Grandfathers record card. He was Paul Henry Peillon NZ Med Corp, 6th FA, No. 41551. My Uncle died last week and we found in his things some letters to my Grandmother and from my Grandmother to him in the camp. I think they said Hut 40. My sister who has the letters wasn't keen for me to have them but has promised to scan them for me, so I am excited to be finally able to read something that he actually has to say about the camp himself.
Sorry, I'm not on here a lot and am not sure how to send a PM.

 

Hi everyone, my grandfather used to play the violin. I am wondering if he might have been part of any musical recitals or productions put on in PG66 or PG52. Does anyone have any photos of any of these please? I only have two photos of my Grandfather during the war - the one here on my avatar and one of him with his regiment prior to departure. It would be great to see if I can spot him in any photos. He was Campo 66 25.3.42 then Campo 52 22.9.42 according to his service record. He went to Lucca Hospital PG202 before being repatriated. I do have a photo taken at Lucca Hosptial, but can't recognise him in that.

 

Hello Brian,

Sorry to hear about your Uncle's death. Anything at all that you care to send me when you receive a copy of the letters I will put on my website. powcamp52.weebly.com

I won't be up at the Communications Museum in the near future but will ask my contact to look for his card for you when he has time. He's deputy mayor of the Commune and always extremely busy do so don't expect a quick reply.

The only photos I have seen of cultural activities are on this website:

http://www.marina.difesa.it/il-tuo-futuro-e-il-mare/formazione-in marina/formazione_specialistica/stelmilit/Documents/la_caserma_di_caperana.pdf

I suggest you contact forum member GeoffMNZ whose father was in Lucca hospital and was repatriated at the same time,

Best wishes,

Vitellino

 

Thanks Vitellino, it is very sad about my Uncle. He was a child when his father died so only knew a small amount himself. Thank you I will look at that website. Thank you also for asking the Deputy Major to look for my Grandfathers card when he has the time. I do understand it could be a long wait - not problem.

I have talked to Geoff in the past and it does seem that his father and my Grandfather were in Lucca Hospital at the same time.

Regards
Belinda

 

I will contact the Deputy Mayor for you,

Vitellino

 

Felicia,
SA Sapper Bill Norton was a POW friend of my fathers and they were at PG52. Dad was transferred to PG202 in 1942 and Bill stayed on at PG52 and was transported to Stalag 4B. after the Italian Armistice. Part of a reply I received in another thread and this may give you an answer;

As a start the only possible South African that was in German hands that fits the bill is:
UK, British Prisoners of War, 1939-1945
Name: W Norton
Rank: Spr.
Army Number: 255444
POW Number: 279902
Camp Type: Stalag
Camp Number: 4B
Camp Location: Muhlberg (Elbe), Germany
Section: South African Land Forces : Officers and Other Ranks

Bill survived the War and returned to SA, see thread "
Bill (William?) Norton, #255444, South African Sapper

 

I have translated the letters from my Grandfather and my grandmother to and from the camps. I will send them to your website when I get a chance. Probably next week now as we have some family stuff going on right now. There is some interesting things in them like a list of what he had in a package he received and he complains about my Grandmother not writing to him but she says she wrote every week so obviously letters weren't getting through.

Belinda

 

Belinda,

I have taken the contacts page off the website for the moment as I am very busy with other things.. I will now send you a private message with my email address to which you can send the the letters.

Vitellino