PG 120 - Chiesanuova

Sheet by: Costantino Di Sante

General data

Town: Padova

Province: Padova

Region: Veneto

Location/Address: Chiesanuova, ex caserma Romagnoli (former «Romagnoli» barracks) - Padova

Type of camp: Work camp

Number: 120

Italian military mail service number: 3200

Intended to: troops

Local jurisdiction: Difesa Territoriale di Treviso

Railroad station: Padova

Accommodation: military quarters

Capacity: 1000

Operating: from 02/1943 to 09/1943

Commanding Officer: Captain Giuseppe David (February – March 1943); Captain Enzo D’Ayala Valva (April – June 1943); Captain Ezio Gaspari (July – September 1943)

Brief chronology:
23 February 1943: the camp was opened in the former «Romagnoli» barracks.
February – April 1943: the Italians opened some work detachments in Padua province.
September 1943: almost all PoWs managed to escape.

Allied prisoners in the Padova camp

Date Generals Officers NCOs Troops TOT
31.3.1943 620 620
30.4.1943 899 899
31.5.1943     6 1203 1209
30.6.1943     6 1192 1198
31.7.1943     6 1192 1198
31.8.1943     5 1145 1150
 

Camp’s overview

PG 120 Chiesanuova was opened in February 1943 on the site of the former «Romagnoli» barracks where, since the end of June 1942, there had already been an internment camp for Yugoslavian civilians. Before its official opening, the Italian Chief of Staff sent 260 white South Africans from PG 82 Laterina (Arezzo)to work the fields in the district of Saonara (Padua), in the Wollemberg villa in Loreggia. Later, the PoWs were separated from the civilian internees, although the camp’s administration remained unified for the two groups.
During the following months, the Italians established 16 work detachments from Chiesanuova, almost all intended for PoWs to work on farms. Eight of them left some reliable sources:

• 25.2.1943 Pontevigodarzere (Padua), 100 white South Africans from the work camp in Passo Corese were employed as car mechanics;
• 3.3.1943 Cittadella (Padua), 50 New Zealanders from Grupignano were employed as farmers in the F.lli Gottardo firm;
• 10.3.1943 Saletto (Mantua), 70 white South Africans from Laterina were employed as farmers in the Ditta Stevanin;
• 10.3.1943 Piove di Sacco (Padua), 60 New Zealanders from Grupignano were employed as farmers in the Ditta Millecampi;
• 11.3.1943 Bagnoli di Sopra (Padua), 80 white South Africans from Laterina were employed as farmers in the Ditta Avas;
• 23.3.1943 Sant’Anna, district of Chioggia (Venice), 60 white South Africans from Gravina were employed as farmers in the Tenuta Valgrande;
• 23.3.1943 Cona (Venice), 60 white South Africans from Gravina were employed as farmers in the Ditta Toffano Marcello;
• 29.3.1943 Cona (Venice), 60 white South Africans from Gravina were employed as farmers in the Ditta Novo Antonio.

According to Roger Absalom, another detachment was in the district of Fogolana, Codevigo (Padua).
At the end of August, international representatives finally managed to inspect eight detachments. At the time, PG 120 housed 1,150 PoWs, mostly South African privates, with some British and New Zealanders mixed in. The delegates noted that the general conditions were good and discipline excellent. The PoWs worked between eight and 10 hours a day and were paid 4.5 lire for eight hours of work, plus 0.5 lire for each hour of overtime. They also reported that escape attempts did not lead to harsh punishments, except in one case, when the escapees were incarcerated, and the guards stopped the delivery of Red Cross packages.
After the Armistice, most of the PoWs managed to escape or were freed by their captors in the detachments. At Saoanara, the PoWs were helped to cross the Swiss border by the Italian commander who pointed them in the right direction. At Chiesanuova too, the PoWs received maps and Red Cross parcels to help them on their journey.
After the war, the «Romagnoli» again became a barracks of the Italian army until 2009. After many years of neglect, in 2021, some associations and public institutions banded together in order to assess this place of memory and prevent its demolition.

Archival sources

Bibliography

Online resources

Stories linked to this camp