"With this initiative, the Chamber of Deputies pays tribute to the Italian military internees, who paid with immense suffering and often with their lives for their refusal to collaborate with Nazi Germany and the Italian Social Republic." This was stated by the Speaker of the Chamber, Lorenzo Fontana, in his welcoming address at the event "The Courage and Awareness of Refusal: the Example of Italian Military Internees between Memory, Dignity and Freedom," held at Palazzo Montecitorio. "This is a significant opportunity to remember their sacrifice and restore dignity to a story that has for too long been relegated to the margins of historiography. Also through the documents and artifacts on display here at Montecitorio, we retrace the drama of the more than 600,000 Italian soldiers swept up by the events of 8 September 1943. With no orders left to follow, they were disarmed and captured by German troops, then deported to the concentration camps. There they were reduced to forced labor after being stripped of prisoner-of-war status and thus of every right and international protection. Forced to endure grueling shifts and subjected to violence and constant abuse, they lived for long months behind barbed wire, exposed to hunger, cold and disease.
They could have escaped the harsh conditions of the prison camps by complying with the demands of Nazi and Fascist officials, but they did not. Instead, they chose to honor the uniform they wore and to remain faithful to their own values and ideals, offering a great example of courage and integrity. It was not an obvious choice. For over twenty years, Italians had been educated in blind obedience and absolute loyalty to the regime. For this very reason, the refusal they opposed to those who thought they could bend the will of these men takes on a high moral and civic value. Moral, because that decision was born from an impulse of conscience and from the firm conviction that dignity and freedom were not negotiable."
The Italian military internees' "unarmed Resistance," "contributed to the defeat of Nazi-Fascism. For those who survived, liberation did not coincide with an immediate return to normality. The return to Italy was often accompanied by indifference, sometimes even hostility." "They had to rebuild their lives and find a new balance in a context of great uncertainty and hardship. Many chose not to speak of the horrors they had experienced, out of a sense of modesty, to protect their families, or in a desperate attempt to erase the marks of a wound never fully healed. But they kept intact their awareness of having loyally served their country. That experience became an integral part of their identity and at the same time a living testimony to be handed down to future generations. It is also thanks to the tireless commitment of the associations of veterans of imprisonment that these memories today constitute a shared heritage to be preserved and passed on. It is in this spirit that the establishment, in 2025, of the Day of Italian Internees in German Concentration Camps during the Second World War takes place. To all of them goes our most sincere gratitude and our heartfelt remembrance. Even in their 'nos' lie the roots of our Republic."
Mattarella at the Chamber for the Day of Italian Military Internees in the Concentration Camps
President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella attended the ceremony for the second "Day of Italian Military Internees in German Concentration Camps during the Second World War" in the Sala della Regina at Montecitorio. The ceremony was opened with a welcome address by the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Lorenzo Fontana.
A brief exchange took place between President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella and Lieutenant Colonel Gianfranco Paglia, Gold Medal for Military Valour, at the end of the ceremony. Upon leaving, Mattarella exchanged a greeting with Paglia, who was in uniform, in the front rows. "He spoke to me about an exercise he had observed," Paglia recounted afterwards. "As usual, our military personnel prove their worth, as their history demonstrates. They prove their worth in concentration camps, just as in everyday life, for what we do for the Country. This is what makes us different." Then, when asked to comment on what is happening in Lithuania, Paglia replied: "We must be careful, we must not fall into provocations."
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