Eyewitness Testimony Angelo Malini

to Malini, Angelo, questionnaire provided by Giuseppe Zanoni, Comune di Robecco sul Naviglio. Dear Sir ... My name is Marc Bartuschka. I am writing my doctoral thesis at the University of Jena and studying the REIHMAG arms factory and the circumstances of forced laborers detained in the camps at Kahla. For my work, the memories of the prisoners are very important, especially those of the Italian prisoners, because they were the largest group of forced laborers at REIHMAG. As I have observed, they (together with the Slovaks) suffered the most under the inhumane treatment by the Germans and their accomplices. As you well know, many Italians did not return and many of the dead remained anonymous. A large part of the German documents was destroyed at the end of the war or afterwards, and the remaining documents give a very imprecise picture of the daily life and sufferings of the detainees. To continue my project sincerely, I must therefore try every possible way to learn about the events in the camps from the prisoners' point of view. For this reason, I ask for your help. Unfortunately, the task is very complex and my means are rather limited, so I am not able to ask you my questions in person. I am very sorry. I would be very grateful if you could answer some of my questions. You would help me complete my research project and also contribute to making known what you and others experienced in the REIHMAG camps. This must not be forgotten, especially in Germany. I assure you that your answers will be correctly cited in my work, so that it is clear that I owe my information to you and the municipality of Robecco sul Naviglio. My address: Marc Bartuschka Theobald-Renner-Straße 36 07747 Jena Germany I thank you from the bottom of my heart and send you my best regards (Marc Bartuschka) Jena, 17.07.2008 INTERVIEW WITH MALINI ANGELO Year of birth 1926 Questionnaires 1. When were you arrested by the Germans and under what circumstances? I was caught during the Nazi-fascist mass arrests on July 20 and 21, 1944 in Robecco sul Naviglio. I was born on August 28, 1926 in Magenta, where I still live with my family. At that time I worked in Robecco in the metalworking company Tavolazzi; during the raid the Germans came to the factory and forced all the men to gather in the village square. Description of the events. On the afternoon of July 20, 1944, a group of soldiers, consisting of three Germans and a member of the Italian fascist army, came to seize fabrics that a Milanese merchant had hidden in a country house. This country house was guarded by some partisans. There was a shootout there, in which a German sergeant and the partisan Luigi Valenti were injured. The former was taken by his comrades to Abbiategrasso and died on the way. The other (Valenti, editor’s note) was treated by the village doctor Dr. de Bonis and his assistant don Magni, and then, already dying, was brought to a hut where the farmers kept their tools, near an estate called “Tangola.” On the way back, however, the doctor and his assistant were stopped by the Germans who had returned to the village. After don Magni... (see Q1) was put against the wall and threatened with death because he refused to give information about the wounded man, the doctor revealed the location where the partisan had been taken. Upon arrival at the place, the Germans proceeded to arrest some peasants from the “Tangola” farmstead and then took Luigi Valenti from the shed and led him (together with his brother, father, and sister who had previously come to help the relative) to where the firefight had occurred. After a brief discussion, the soldiers shot the father Enrico and the brother Angelo and threw their bodies, along with that of Luigi who was now dead, into the barn which had meanwhile been set on fire. However, the German reprisal was not yet over because the German command ordered the SS and the Muti Legion to carry out a new action in Robecco. The next day, at 10:30, Germans and fascists returned in force to the village, placed machine guns on the church steps and at the entrance of every street, then forced all the men to gather in the main square. Here they began to divide them into two groups: the elderly were placed in the first, and those considered fit for work in the second. After a few hours, during which numerous houses were set on fire, the German commander of the punitive expedition pronounced his sentence and five citizens (Castellari Giovanni, Locatelli Mario, Pellegatta Ermanno, Pellegatta Luigi, and Staurengo Angelo) were lined up before the firing squad and shot. Another sixty civilians were loaded onto a truck to be deported; first they were locked up in San Vittore, then, on August 9, they were sent to the concentration camp of Kala Waimar. There they were forced to work as diggers in the tunnels, enduring twelve-hour shifts in exchange for a bowl of broth and a piece of...of bread. Due to hardships and violence, nine of them never returned. Among the deportees, I was also there. 2. Could you describe the deportation from Italy to Kahla? Do you remember where you stopped during the journey and what the transport conditions were like? On the evening of July 21, they took us to Milan, to the San Vittore prison, to the 6th wing with the political deportees, then they moved us to the 4th floor, which was guarded by fascists, and we stayed there for 20 days. We were medically examined; some were released because they were old or sick or born in 1927 and therefore not of legal age. On August 9, we left Milan (Scalo Farini) on a freight train bound for Germany. There were 25 people in each wagon, guarded by an armed German soldier. On the wagons, there was only a little straw to sleep on. We had a bag with some food that our relatives had brought us at the Milan station on the day of departure. The first destination was Innsbruck, Austria. We arrived in Nuremberg at night, under bombings and locked in the dark inside the wagon. After three days and four nights, we arrived in Weimar. They offered us dinner for the first time: broth and bread; we slept on cots. The next day we were transferred to Kahla. (cf. Q1, without escape story) 3. Do you remember when you arrived in Kahla and in which REIHMAG camp you were initially placed? Were you transferred to another camp afterward? They transferred us three kilometers from Kahla, to the Reiseneck camp, in a building next to a brewery. (cf. Q1) 4. What was the condition of the accommodations in the camp? Were there blankets and wood or coal for the fire in the lodgings, and if so, was it enough? Our cots were made of four-tier wooden frames, there was a straw mattress to sleep on, and we had one blanket. I remember we were infested with lice. There was a stove in a corner of the barrack to warm us, (cf. Q1 up to the stove in the corner of the room). Because the temperature dropped to as low as -18 degrees in January. The toilet was on a nearby meadow: a hole with a board over it. In the mornings, we went to a stream to wash ourselves. At night the stream froze, we broke the ice and washed. 5. Were blankets, clothes, etc., distributed to the internees, and if so, what was their quality? Was it possible to wash your own clothes? The clothes were always the same. Occasionally, they carried out disinfection, and the clothes were disinfected as well. (cf. Q1) 6. Do you remember the type of food distributed in the camp? Do you recall approximately how much the daily ration was? Did the quantity of the daily ration change over time? At the beginning, and for several months, they gave us a loaf of black bread every day, which had to be shared among three people. We carefully cut the bread to make sure the pieces were equal in size. We ate once a day. They ladled us soup every day into a ceramic bowl, consisting of barley flour, cabbage pieces, and potatoes, sometimes also a bit of butter, or margarine, or a spoonful of jam or sugar, or a slice of sausage. However, the daily ration gradually became smaller; the loaf of bread had to be divided among eight. Only on Sundays did they give us a piece of white bread; for us, it was like the Eucharist. I eventually weighed only 35 kg! 7. When did work start and end? Were there roll calls in the morning and evening, and what happened during these roll calls? Roll calls took place every morning and evening in the courtyard. Sometimes in the morning someone was missing from the roll call, then it was realized that they were in their cot, dead. The wake-up call was at five in the morning. At six, we left on foot, in formation, and walked about four kilometers to reach the workplace. We dug a tunnel in the mountain and worked 12 hours a day, in shifts. The first shift started at 7:00 and ended at 18:00; the second shift started at 18:00 and ended at 7:00 the next morning. For 15 days, we did the first shift, then for the next 15 days the second shift. During work shifts, we did not eat. I remember that at noon and midnight the guards went to eat, and we took the opportunity to rest, and some took the chance to exchange small things. (cf. Q1) 8. When going to work, did you go in formation and under guard? Did the guards use force on these occasions? Yes, we were always supervised. We went to work in formation, aligned. They did not use force. (cf. Q1) 9. Were there rest days without work? Were holidays (Easter, Christmas, etc.) respected? At the beginning, yes, for the first three or four months, in fact, every three Sundays we had a day off. Christmas and Easter were days of rest. (cf. Q1 without report about the food) 10. To what extent was the work controlled? Was there someone encouraging the workers? Was there a work plan? And what happened if it was not achieved? The work was controlled by German guards. The prisoners were urged to meet the daily quota. My job was to make holes with the pneumatic drill and insert dynamite. At a certain point, the fuse was lit to blast the rock. 11. Did the workers receive protective clothing against accidents (helmets, gloves, boots, etc.)? Was the work safe? Were there accidents? We had no protection at all. Some were injured at work, some were buried under falling rocks. 12. Were the camp guards exclusively German, or were there also foreign guards (Flemish, Belgian, or others)? If yes, can you say what nationality they were? Did foreign guards behave differently from the Germans? The guards were only German. (cf. Q1) 13. Was it possible for prisoners to leave the camp? To what extent were there controls? What was the nationality of the guards and how did they behave towards the prisoners? One could leave the camp only with permission. At first, we had an ID that served as a pass; then it was taken away to forbid us from going out. The guards were German. Some old people living in the area asked the responsible Germans for helpers to assist them with chopping wood or harvesting potatoes or turnips. Some of us were selected for this work. On such days, one got good food, and so we gave our daily ration to the other prisoners, our friends. The work of such a day was not paid.Hunger grew ever greater, and so one had to help oneself. The farmers dug deep holes to store the potatoes. They put straw inside, then the potatoes, and then covered everything with earth. When we came home at six in the morning after the second shift, we dug into the earth and took out some potatoes. But when the snow melted, the earth mound sank, and it became obvious that we had stolen the potatoes. We cooked the stolen potatoes in the ashes. When they noticed the potato theft, they put up signs and threatened with the death penalty. 14. Were you in contact with internees of other nationalities, for example at work? What was your impression of them? There were Russian, French, Polish, Belgian, Dutch internees, etc. We worked together and there was solidarity among us. (Cf. Q1) 15. Did you have the impression that certain groups of internees were treated worse or better than others? The French were treated better because they worked in German civilian families, which mostly consisted of old people, women, and children. The French worked in the fields, ate, and slept with the families. The Russian women were treated the worst; they were made to work the fields day and night. 16. Did they pay a salary, and if so, was it enough to buy something? Every two weeks we received a wage that was enough to buy a piece of bread or some beer. 17. Was there an exchange of goods among the internees and between internees and the civilian population? If yes, what and how was exchanged? There was no exchange of goods between internees and the civilian population. There was a small market for exchange among the internees. The market took place during the second shift, at midnight, when the guards went to eat. Then we exchanged cigarettes, bread, some clothing. (Cf. Q1) 18. What was the general reaction of the German civilians to the presence of internees (rather indifference or hostility)? Some German civilians were not interested in us, were afraid, or kept a distant relationship with us; others tried to help us. One day, when I had leave with Felice Garavaglia, we stopped at a gate and looked inside because the yard reminded us of our own yards. An old man saw us and waved us in, invited us into the house, and gave us food. Since he spoke a little Italian, he explained that he had been a prisoner of war in Italy during the First World War and that the Italians had treated him well; he wanted to repay the kindness. He advised us to line up at the very back of the column when we went to work, and he would secretly slip us potatoes, turnips, and bread. Thanks to this man, my life was saved. He liked both of us and gave us food several times. I remember Easter; I wandered aimlessly, pale and exhausted. He saw me, invited me in, and gave me food. It was a proper Easter meal. Felice Garavaglia was not at the meal that day because he was in the hospital with appendicitis. 19. Did you see mistreatment or people killed? Who were the victims and who the perpetrators? Yes, a fellow prisoner, Lissandrin Gerardo, was killed because he was found in possession of a folding knife during a search. He had gotten the knife a few days earlier at the internees' market. He was killed with his own knife and left exposed for three days so that everyone could see what punishment they could face. (Cf. Q1) I remember that one day a prisoner, I think he was Russian, was beaten until he bled and could no longer walk. The guards brought him near our barracks and tied him up. A German guard jumped on his chest until the unfortunate man died. We felt miserable. When the Germans saw that we were upset, they forced us to drink beer with them to celebrate the prisoner's death. Nazis regularly came into the camps with pistols in hand and threatened us with death. They instilled fear to prevent conspiracies among the prisoners. 20. For what offenses and how were prisoners punished? Do you know anything about penal camps? (e.g., the "Lager 0") Can you describe this camp and what happened there? One was punished if found in possession of knives or any tool that could be used as a weapon, if one tried to steal potatoes from nearby fields, or if one disobeyed the guards' orders. (Cf. Q1, 1st paragraph) There was a punishment room where ropes of different lengths hung on the wall, used to whip the deportees. Filippo Alemanni took advantage of an opportunity to go out looking for food but was discovered, beaten bloody, and locked in a cage with dogs. To eat, he had to fight the dogs trying to steal their food. He was bitten repeatedly. When they brought him back to the dormitory, he already showed signs of mental imbalance. (Cf. Q1) 21. How did the German foremen and German workers behave towards the prisoners? The foremen were usually engineers, gave orders, and wanted them executed immediately. (Cf. Q1) 22. Were there Germans who treated the prisoners well and helped them? Towards the end of the war, there were some German foremen who encouraged us to hold on because liberation was near. 23. Did you have the impression that there was a feeling of solidarity among the internees? Was there a danger of being reported by other internees? Among internees, we helped each other as much as possible. When we managed to get something to eat, we shared it with the neighbors in the bunk. I don't think there was anyone among the internees who acted as a spy. We were all in the same conditions and tried to help each other. (Cf. OT) 24. Were there escape attempts by some internees? How were the refugees punished? Yes, some prisoners from Genoa once tried to escape. They were caught and punished with whip lashes, with a whip made of cowhide. 25. Were there attempts by the Germans to recruit internees for the Italian fascists, the guards, or other groups? No, not to my knowledge. (Cf. Q1) 26. Did you have contact with young Germans, perhaps in uniform (the so-called "Hitler Youth"), during work or outside work? And if so, how did these boys behave?No, the worst were the "police": They wore a helmet with a spike (Pickelhaube? I.S.), and carried a baton in their hand. They stopped us if anything was not in order, or if they caught us outside without a permit, they fined us 21 marks. Some young people spat when they saw us and said: "Badogliani." 27. Do you remember how medical assistance was? What do you know about the camp field hospitals? I don't know, because I was never admitted to the infirmary. 28. How high was the mortality rate in the camps? Do you know where the dead were buried? I don't know how high the death rate was. In the morning, a truck passed through all the camps collecting the dead. I don't know where they were buried. (Cf. QI) 29. Were you in the camp together with neighbors or acquaintances? If yes, how many of them survived this inhuman treatment? There were 35 of us, all arrested during the mass arrests on July 21 in Robecco. Most were from Robecco, others like me from Magenta, and others from the surrounding villages. Nine died in the camp. 30. What happened in your camp in the last weeks of the war? The controls were no longer so strict and for several days they did not take us to work. One day they had us clear out the supply depots, gave us blankets, and in the evening told us we should prepare to return home (on foot). 31. Do you remember that the Germans forcibly expelled some of the internees from the camp shortly before liberation? Were you among these internees? How did this action take place? I have no knowledge of that. (Cf. Q1) 32. Do you remember any particular events in the camp (visits by important people, bombings, an airplane taking off from the runway)? Can you describe them? Yes, once Hermann Goering came to visit. For this occasion, they had us level the top of a mountain because it was to be used to form an airfield for V1 and V2 rockets. (Cf. Q1, first half) We dug tunnels about 40 km long where machinery for manufacturing weapons was placed. 33. Did you have the possibility to stay in contact with your family through parcels and letters? Do you know if letters and parcels were inspected and possibly robbed? Letters were partly censored, parcels were inspected, and we did not always find what our relatives sent us from home. (Cf. Q1, sentences 1+2) 34. How did your liberation take place? What was your state of health at that point? One evening, towards the end of April 1945, the Germans lined us up and made us start marching. I lagged behind a bit because my legs no longer carried me; with me were two others from Casorate Primo, a village near Pavia, who told me to stay at the back of the column. When it got dark, we slipped into a small forest and each hid behind a tree. The Germans fired into the forest but then left. I saw none of my comrades from Robecco again. We stayed two days in the forest and fed on grass, roots, and herbs. One morning we saw Germans fleeing, leaving behind their uniforms and weapons. From afar, we saw some huts, went there, and entered one. An American soldier came, and we tried to say that we were Italians. Then we also saw a small truck with a white star, and we shouted: Italians! One of the soldiers on the truck answered, "Italians, Paisan" (Name? LS.) The Americans (the same who had landed in Normandy) gave us canned meat, chocolate, biscuits, cigarettes, etc. Then we could eat our fill. In the evening, we went to the village; the Americans took us to their supply station and we ate, then they brought us to our sleeping place in a farmhouse and ordered the owner to feed us and not let us work. In the morning, we woke up with the first rooster crow and found some chicken eggs in the straw; I remember drinking 6-7 of them. The owner came and brought us jam sandwiches. The Americans brought us to their supply station and gave us food, and in return, we washed the pots. German women also came to the supply station asking for something to eat, and we gave them meat, white bread, and various foods. After a week, the Americans told us they had to move on, and the three of us asked to come along. They took us to Czechoslovakia, where we stayed for a month. I ate well and gained weight again. Then they took us back to Germany, near Stuttgart, and we waited for the railway line to be repaired so we could return to Italy in one trip. There I met people from my village and from villages near Magenta. They took us by troop transport to Bolzano, and finally we arrived in Pescantina near Verona. The Americans loaded us onto trucks and took us to the main station in Milan. From there I took the first train to Turin and arrived at Magenta station around 4 a.m. on April 26, 1945. What were the conditions after liberation by the Americans and how did the German civilians behave? We were all completely emaciated. Another month in the camp and we would all have died. The American soldiers served us all kinds of food and we ate greedily. When I got home, I already weighed 65 kilos; I had gained 30 kg in three months. 35. Did you hear if any former guards or other people were arrested after the Americans arrived? No, I have not heard anything more. (Cf. Q1) 36. When did you return to Italy? I arrived in Magenta on July 26, 1945, at four in the morning. I passed by my aunt’s house and saw from the window that she was already up because she was preparing for work in the stable. I called her; she let out a joyful scream that woke the whole neighborhood, ran to me, and hugged me several times. My cousin took the bicycle and ran to notify my parents.