Eyewitness Testimony Aneto Caluzzi

• Caluzzi, Aneto, Questionnaire received through the mediation of Dr. Cleonice Pignedoli. Questionnaire with the help of Dr. Pignedoli, letter apparently dated 11.02. Written interview with Aneto Caluzzi Translation: Philipp Knüpffer, March 2008 Dear Mr. Bartuschka, I wish you success in your work. I thank you for contacting me. I am proud that at my 80 years of age I am still called upon as an eyewitness to these disgusting events. I hope that such things will never happen again! I would like to ask you one thing: Please let me know when you have finished your work and the results are available, and if possible, send me a copy of your work so that I can read it. Best regards, Yours, Aneto Caluzzi Aneto Caluzzi Via Dietro il Rio 25 42014 Castellarano (R.E.) Italy 1. I was arrested during a raid in our area on August 7, 1944. 2. I was deported in a cattle car. The first stop was Erfurt, where we stayed for two days. It was hot and they did not open the windows. After two days, we were taken to the REIMAHG camp. 3. When we arrived in Kahla, we were housed in several camps. Yes, I was also transferred to "Camp VII." 4. We lived in wooden barracks. We could not wash ourselves and at night we slept naked because the lice under the blankets almost ate us up. There was one blanket per person and one stove, but they gave us neither wood nor coal. 5. Yes, we each had a poor blanket. No, we could neither wash our clothes nor ourselves because everything was frozen and we had no water of our own. 6. They gave us a piece of bread and a cup of broth to eat, which we Italians called "Sbrudiglia." When we had to work at night, they gave us the same amount of food as always. The next meal was then the following night. So for 24 hours we had only bread, water, and hunger. 7. We worked in day and night shifts. Before we left for work, there was always a roll call. On the way to and from work, we were always accompanied by a German soldier. 8. Yes, we went to work in a line, six kilometers there and six kilometers back, always accompanied by a German soldier. Yes, the guards beat us with sticks if we did not meet the required work quota. 9. No, the only day off was Christmas. The food was the usual ration: bread and water. 10. We were constantly monitored. There was no opportunity for short breaks because they hit immediately. The work instructions were often changed, so we changed workplaces about once a week. We carried cement sacks on our shoulders, etc. 11. No, they took no safety measures. Personally, nothing ever happened to me (question about work safety). 12. In "Camp VII" there was a Belgian SS guard. I want to tell you what happened to me. When we came back from work, I briefly escaped to a field where potatoes were grown. I took two armfuls and hid them in my pants. In the barracks, I put them on my bed. The SS man discovered this, and in revenge, he let two dogs bite me. And the harder the dogs bit me, the more vigorously the guard hit them so they would hurt me even more. After that, they threw me into the yard, where I lay unconscious for a day and a night. 13. No, we were prisoners and constantly locked up, always under observation. Our guard was a Belgian SS man. 14. Yes, there were also Russians and Italians. They were just as badly off as we were. 15. No, we were all treated the same. 16. No [there was no pay, translator’s note]. 17. No, we owned absolutely nothing! We were only rich in lice. 18. Unfortunately, both happened. [To be checked again by a native speaker, translator’s note.] 19. I witnessed many abuses, people who starved to death. People died from their hardships and hunger. The camp commanders were to blame. 20. There were no offenses in that sense. You just had to do what they ordered. And if you had no strength left, they punished you with stick beatings. They treated us like animals!!! 21. [The German construction supervisors and workers behaved] badly [towards the prisoners, translator’s note]. 22. No, I was not lucky [to meet Germans who treated us prisoners well or helped us, translator’s note]. 23. We did not even have time to cry. When we came back exhausted from work, we ate our small piece of bread and went to sleep. And no, there were no informers. 24. Yes, I once went out to look for a piece of bread, but the <German> inhabitants caught me and locked me in a COLD room without food. 25. Yes, some Italians were drafted into the SS. 26. They did not give you medicine if you got sick. You were allowed to rest for one day with half the food ration. I never saw any kind of lazaretto etc. in my camp. 27. In spring '45, many of us died. One day, for example, we had to bury 30 people in several pits. 28. Yes, I was there with a friend of mine and with other people from my area. Three out of five died. 29. They took us more than 50 km away – on foot. I fainted and do not remember what happened that night. When I woke up in the morning, none of my companions were there anymore. 30. I remember that they took us away from these camps by force. I also heard gunshots. 31. No, everything was "normal," if one can say that. 32. Never [did we have contact with our relatives by letters or packages, translator’s note], we were isolated from the whole world. 33. I can only say that I came out alive as if by a miracle. 34. We finally ended up in a place whose name I have forgotten. We were completely starved. At noon and in the evening, a table was set for us. We got along well with the Americans. 35. No, I never heard anything about whether former guards from the camps were arrested after the arrival of the Americans. 36. In 1945 I returned to Italy. One thing I want to tell you: When I arrived in my hometown, I met my father on the street. He asked me: "Tell me, whose son are you actually?" Then I hugged him and said: "Dad, it’s me, your son!"