Gonars concentration camp
Encyclopedia
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
fascist
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
regime established a concentration camp in Gonars
Gonars
Gonars is a town and comune near Palmanova in the province of Udine, Friuli, northeastern Italy.-World War II:On February 23, 1942 the fascist regime established a concentration camp in the town, mostly for prisoners from present day Slovenia and Croatia...
, a town with approx. 4,600 inhabitants near Palmanova
Palmanova
Palmanova is a town and comune in northeastern Italy, close to the border with Slovenia. It is located 20 km from Udine, 28 km from Gorizia and 55 km from Trieste near the junction of the Autostrada Alpe-Adria and the Autostrada Venezia-Trieste .Palmanova is famous for its fortress...
in the Province of Udine
Province of Udine
The Province of Udine is a province in the autonomous Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy, bordering Austria and Slovenia. Its capital is the city of Udine....
in northeastern Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
.
Most of the prisoners were from present day Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
and Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
. The first transport of 5,343 internees (1,643 of whom were children) arrived two days later from the Province of Ljubljana
Province of Ljubljana
The Province of Ljubljana was a province of the Kingdom of Italy and of the Nazi German Adriatic Littoral during World War II. It was created on May 3, 1941 from territory occupied and annexed to Italy after the Axis invasion and dissolution of Yugoslavia, and it was abolished on May 9, 1945, when...
and from the Rab camp
Rab concentration camp
The Rab concentration camp was an Italian concentration and internment camp on the Adriatic island of Rab, now part of the Republic of Croatia, during World War II. The camp was located at...
and the camp in Monigo near Treviso
Treviso
Treviso is a city and comune in Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 82,854 inhabitants : some 3,000 live within the Venetian walls or in the historical and monumental center, some 80,000 live in the urban center proper, while the city...
.
The camp was disbanded on September 8, 1943, immediately after the Italian armistice. Every effort was made to erase any evidence of this black spot of Italian history. The camp's buildings were destroyed, the materials were used to build a nearby kindergarten
Kindergarten
A kindergarten is a preschool educational institution for children. The term was created by Friedrich Fröbel for the play and activity institute that he created in 1837 in Bad Blankenburg as a social experience for children for their transition from home to school...
and the site was turned into a meadow
Meadow
A meadow is a field vegetated primarily by grass and other non-woody plants . The term is from Old English mædwe. In agriculture a meadow is grassland which is not grazed by domestic livestock but rather allowed to grow unchecked in order to make hay...
.
Only in 1973 a sacrarium was created by sculptor
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
Miodrag Živković
Miodrag Živkovic
Miodrag "Miko" Živković is the president of the opposition Liberal Party of Montenegro and one of its representatives in the Parliament of Montenegro.Born to father Đorđije and mother Vojislava , Živković finished primary and secondary school...
at the town's cemetery. Remains of 453 Slovenian and Croatian victims were transferred into its two underground crypt
Crypt
In architecture, a crypt is a stone chamber or vault beneath the floor of a burial vault possibly containing sarcophagi, coffins or relics....
s. It is believed that at least 50 additional persons died in the camp due to starvation
Starvation
Starvation is a severe deficiency in caloric energy, nutrient and vitamin intake. It is the most extreme form of malnutrition. In humans, prolonged starvation can cause permanent organ damage and eventually, death...
and torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
. Apart from the sacrarium no other evidence of the camp remains and even many locals are unaware of it.
Famous inmates
- France BalantičFrance BalanticFrance Balantič was a Slovene poet. His works were banished from schools and libraries during the Titoist regime in Slovenia, but since the late 1980s, he has been re-considered as one of the foremost Slovene poets of the 20th century.- Life :Balantič was born in a working class family in Kamnik,...
, Slovenian poet - France BučarFrance BucarFrance Bučar is a Slovenian politician, legal expert and author. Between 1990 and 1992, he served as the first chairman of the freely elected Slovenian Parliament. He was the one to formally declare the independence of Slovenia on June 25, 1991. He is considered as one of the founding fathers of...
, Slovenian politician - Alojz GradnikAlojz GradnikAlojz Gradnik was a Slovenian poet and translator.-Life:Gradnik was born in the village of Medana in the Goriška Brda region, in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire and is today in the Goriška province of Slovenia. His father was a Slovene from Trieste who came from a poor working family...
, Slovenian poet - Bogo GrafenauerBogo GrafenauerBogo Grafenauer was a Slovenian historian, who mostly wrote about medieval history in the Slovene Lands. Together with Milko Kos, Fran Zwitter, and Vasilij Melik, he was one of the founders of the so-called Ljubljana school of historiography.- Early life :He was born in Ljubljana in a well...
, Slovenian historian - Boris Kraigher, Slovenian Communist politician
- Vasilij MelikVasilij MelikVasilij Melik was a Slovenian historian, who mostly worked on political history of the Slovene Lands in the 19th century.He was born in Ljubljana as the only son of the renowned geographer Anton Melik...
, Slovenian historian - Vitomil ZupanVitomil ZupanVitomil Zupan , who also wrote under the pseudonym Langus, was a Slovenian writer, poet, playwright, essayist and screenwriter. He is considered one of the most important authors in the Slovene language of the second half of the 20th century.-Biography:Vitomil Zupan was born in Ljubljana, then part...
, Slovenian writer - Jakob SavinšekJakob SavinšekJakob Savinšek, was a Slovene sculptor, illustrator and poet.- Life :Savinšek was born in the Upper Carniolan town of Kamnik, then part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes , where he spent his youth. After finishing secondary school in Ljubljana, he studied medicine at the University of...
, Slovenian sculptor and poet - Bojan ŠtihBojan ŠtihBojan Štih , was a Slovene literary critic, stage director, and essayist. He was one of the most influential figures in modern Slovene theatre after 1945....
, Slovenian literary critic, essayist, and stage director - Anton VratušaAnton VratušaAnton Vratuša is a former politician and diplomat, who was Prime Minister of Slovenia and Yugoslavia's ambassador to the United Nations....
, Slovenian Communist politician - Aleš Strojnik. Slovenian scientist and educator
