Internment in Localities (Italy)

In a circular decree of 11 September 1940, the Chief of Police Arturo Bocchini (1880–1940) instructed all prefects of the Kingdom of Italy to ‘track down Gypsies still in circulation [in circolazione] with established or presumed Italian citizenship’ and to ‘concentrate’ them in each province in a place that would make continuous surveillance possible.¹Archivio Centrale dello Stato (ACS) [Central State Archives], Ministero degli Interni (MI) [Ministry of the Interior], Gabinetto [Minister’s Office], Ufficio cifra [Cipher Office], Telegrammi in partenza, da Capo della polizia a prefetti Regno e questore Roma [Outgoing telegrams, from Chief of Police to Prefects of the Kingdom and Chief of Police Rome], Circolare telegrafica della Divisione polizia amministrativa e giudiziaria (Sezione III) [telegraphic circular decree of the administrative and criminal police (III. Section)], n. 63462 dell’11 settembre 1940 [11/09/1940].

Since the locations chosen for this purpose were to be far from factories, explosives depots, buildings of military interest and troop concentrations, the prefects of the border provinces could not have any internment centres set up in their areas, and so they transferred the Sinti and Roma arrested in their jurisdictions to other provinces or to concentration camps (campi di concentramento). Remote, often hard-to-reach small communities were chosen as places of internment.

This was known as Internment in Localities [internamento in località or internamento libero], and it consisted of being forced to live in a location chosen by the Ministry of the Interior, which the internees were not allowed to leave without the permission of the Carabinieri. The internees could rent flats and move within a limited area within the town.

Arrests and Transfers

By 13 January 1941, 878 Sinti and Roma had been arrested. 534 of them were interned in the localities designated by the prefects, while the remaining 344 were transferred to the municipalities where they had their officially registered or habitual residence. The number of interned Sinti and Roma rose slightly in the course of 1941, only to fall steadily thereafter. By the summer of 1943, there were only two localities still operating as places of internment.

Internment meant that most Sinti and Roma were no longer able to pursue their previous occupations to earn a living, as these required a certain freedom of movement.

Living Conditions

Internment in localities [internamento in località] affected various categories of internees. There are no studies on the total number of internees; there is only information on the number of Jews interned in individual provinces. If the internee had no means of their own or was unable to find work in the place where they were forced to live (Jews were almost always prohibited from working), they were paid a daily allowance.

For Sinti and Roma, the daily allowance was lower than for all other categories of internees and proved to be completely insufficient even for basic needs, partly because of the high number of minors who had to follow one or both parents into internment. The male head of a family received 5.5 lire per day plus 1 lira for his wife and each minor child. The monthly allowance for accommodation was 50 lire. In order to estimate the real value of the daily allowance, we need to bear in mind that with 50 lire a month one could rent a room at most, and that a kilo of bread cost 2 lire, a kilo of sugar 6.50 lire and a kilo of flour 1.20 lire. For the other categories of internees, 50 lire were also provided for accommodation, but the male head of a family received 6.5 lire per day and 4 lire for his wife.²Capogreco, I campi del Duce, 129.

It can be concluded from this that the Ministry of the Interior regarded Roma and Sinti as a category of internees who needed less funding than everyone else. This made their living conditions even more difficult, especially as there is no evidence that they received any support from relatives still living in freedom or from national or international organisations.

Internment at Provincial Level

In general, the practice of internment in localities aimed to intern only a limited number of people in each locality in order to separate the internees both from each other and from the rest of the population. In the case of Sinti and Roma, by contrast, it was decided to bring them together on a provincial basis, with the result that dozens of internees arrived in some towns and villages without suitable accommodation being provided for them.

Local governments were often forced to find accommodation for dozens of Sinti and Roma. Over time, it became clear that the Ministry of the Interior would never reimburse the money spent on this. This was one of the reasons why the administration in many towns and villages designated as places of internment allowed the Sinti and Roma to leave, even though they had not been instructed to do so. They were unable to cope with providing for them.

Overview of the Internment of Sinti and Roma

The following non-exhaustive list, which reflects the current state of knowledge, is an overview of the number of Roma and Sinti interned in the individual provinces, indicating the place of internment, if known, and the period of internment.³Unless otherwise indicated, all data cited are taken from the ACS, MI, Direzione Generale Pubblica Sicurezza (DGPS) [Directorate General of Public Security], Polizia Amministrativa e Sociale – già Divisione di polizia, sezione III [Administrative and Social Police – former Police Division, III Section], b. 221, fasc. Zingari statistica [Gypsy statistics folder]. The list is organised by region and follows a geographical order from north to south in order to highlight the different ways in which the circular decrees were implemented, depending on whether Sinti and Roma (in the north) or Roma (in the south) were affected.

Under the Fascist regime, the number of provinces in Italy was increased to 94; there were no regions in the sense of separate administrative units at the time.

The highest number of people interned in localities was in northern Italy, mainly in the regions of Emilia-Romagna and Piedmont, where mostly Italian Sinti lived. They mainly practised itinerant trades and rarely had an official residence. In this context, it should be borne in mind that the Sinti and Roma arrested as a result of the circular decree of 11 September 1940 had to return to their place of residence or usual abode if they had one. In each municipality, only those who were not officially registered with the registry office there or anywhere else in the Kingdom of Italy were formally interned. This explains the extremely small number of southern Italian Roma who were interned in localities, as they had fixed places of residence.

Piedmont

• Turin: Three families interned in Pinerolo (the total number of family members is not known); July 1941 to August 1941.
• Asti: 18 people from Aosta interned in Canelli; autumn 1940 to spring 1942.
• Cuneo: 18 people interned in Bagnasco; autumn 1940 to spring 1944.
• Alessandria: 39 people interned in Castelnuovo Scrivia; 6 November 1940 to April 1941.⁴Archivio Storico del Comune di Castelnuovo Scrivia [Historical Archive of the Municipality of Castelnuovo Scrivia], Cat. CC. ECA (1937–1943).

Lombardy

• Milan: Members of a ‘caravan’ stopped in Bolzano (number not specified) interned in Monza; November 1940 to July 1943. In July 1943, the prefect of Milan requests that they be transferred to a concentration camp. The whereabouts of the people are not known.
• Cremona: Eleven people from Varese interned in Vailate; 8 November 1940 to March 1944.
• Pavia: Eight internees interned in various localities (no information on the names of the places); 1940 to unknown.

Liguria

• Genoa: 44 people interned in Torriglia; autumn 1940 to unknown.

Veneto

• Rovigo: Five people interned in Bergantino; November 1940 until their escape on 22 December 1942.
• Verona: 35 people interned in San Zeno di Montagna; November 1940 to April 1941.⁵Archivio Storico del Comune di San Zeno di Montagna [Historical Archive of the Municipality of San Zeno di Montagna], Cat. Varie [Miscellaneous category] 1941–1942, fasc. Categoria 15, Rastrellamento zingari [Arrest of Gypsies] (1940–1941), documenti vari [various documents].
• Vicenza: 31 people interned in Valdastico; arrested on 30 May 1943. On 11 June 1943 they all tried to escape, 13 adults with children were seized and returned to Valdastico. They were later sent back to Postumia, which at the time belonged to the Province of Trieste, as it turned out that they owned land and houses there.

Tridentine Venetia

• Trento: 13 people interned in the Castello Tesino; autumn 1941 to December 1944.⁶Archivio Storico del Comune di Castello Tesino [Historical Archive of the Municipality of Castello Tesino], Registro delle comunicazioni del 1942 e del 1944 [Register of communications from 1942 and 1944].

Julian Venetia

• Trieste: Six people interned in Longera; the period is unknown.

Emilia-Romagna

• Bologna: 48 people interned in Savigno; start: between September and October 1940, end: between November and December 1941.
• Ferrara: 21 people interned in Berra di Ferrara. Arrested on 14 September 1940 and interned in Berra, they were transferred to the Bojano concentration camp in February 1941 after it was discovered that they had Yugoslav citizenship. 20 other people, also interned in Berra di Ferrara; October 1940 to March 1943.
• Forlì: Eight people interned first in Rocca San Casciano and later in Rimini; October 1940 to March 1941.
• Modena: 69 people interned in Prignano sulla Secchia;⁷Their number rose to 79 in the course of 1941. Archivio Storico del Comune di Prignano sulla Secchia [Historical Archive of the Municipality of Prignano sulla Secchia], schede nominali degli internati [Index cards of the internees]. 11 November 1940 to March 1943.
• Parma: 21 people interned Sorbolo; November 1940 to unknown.
• Ravenna: Six people interned in Conselice; autumn 1940 to unknown.

Tuscany

• Arezzo: Ten people interned in Poppi; autumn 1940 to unknown.
• Pistoia: 19 people interned in various localities (Tizzana, Agliana, Sambuca Pistoiese, Pieve a Nievole); October 1940 to unknown.

Brands

• Macerata: 17 people interned in Pollenza; autumn 1940 to April 1941.

Lazio

• Frosinone: A woman transferred there by the prefecture of Fiume who was interned in Picinisco. After being arrested by soldiers from the Gerovo garrison on 18 June 1942, she was imprisoned in Fiume (Rijeka) and interned in the Province of Frosinone from 8 September 1942 until an unknown date.
• Viterbo: 22 people interned in an unnamed village; autumn 1940 to unknown. Three persons transferred by the Prefecture of Trieste interned in Cellere; 31 May 1941 to unknown.⁸ACS, MI, DGPS, Div. polizia, Atti amministrativi e/o fascicoli personali confinati comuni e mafiosi, ammoniti, diffidati politici e comuni dal 1895 al 1945 [Police Division, Administrative files and/or personal files of banished common criminals and mafiosi, admonished, political and generally cautioned from 1895 to 1954], b. 23, fasc. Zingari [Gypsy folder].

Abruzzo and Molise

• Chieti: Two persons transferred by the prefecture of Milan interned in Rapino. Arrested in Milan on 15 September 1942, they arrived in Rapino on 8 January 1943; the end of their internment is unknown.⁹ACS, MI, DGPS, Divisione Affari Generali e Riservati (DAGER) [General and Secret Affairs Division], cat. A4bis, b. 167, fasc. Hujer.
• Teramo: 18 persons interned in Teramo, eight persons in Bellante, 15 persons in Tortoreto, three persons in Atri, 20 persons in Roseto, six persons in Sant’Egidio; autumn 1940 to unknown.
• Campobasso: 53 people interned in various localities (the names of the localities are not known); autumn 1940 to unknown.

Campania

• Avellino: Four people interned in Prata; autumn 1940 to unknown.

Apulia

• Bari: 24 people interned in Corato; autumn 1940 to unknown.