Italian Military Internees

Prison camp for Italian military after the armistice of September 8, 1943, German propaganda photo

"Italian Military Internees" (German: Italienische Militärinternierte, Italian: Internati Militari Italiani, abbreviated as IMI) was the official name given by Germany to the Italian soldiers captured, rounded up and deported in the territories of Nazi Germany and German-occupied Europe in Operation Achse in the days immediately following the World War II armistice between Italy and Allied armed forces (September 8, 1943).

After disarmament by the Germans, the Italian soldiers and officers were confronted with the choice to continue fighting as allies of the German army (either in the armed forces of the Italian Social Republic, the German puppet regime in northern Italy led by Mussolini, or in Italian "volunteer" units in the German armed forces) or, otherwise, be sent to detention camps in Germany. Those soldiers and officials who refused to recognize the "republic" led by Mussolini were taken as civilian prisoners too. Only 10 percent agreed to enroll.[1] The others were considered prisoners of war. Later they were re-designated "military internees" by the Germans (so as to not recognize the rights granted prisoners of war by the Third Geneva Convention), and finally, in the autumn of 1944 until the end of the war, "civilian workers",[2] so they could be subjected to hard labor without protection of the Red Cross.

The Nazis considered the Italians as traitors[3] and not as prisoners of war. The former Italian soldiers were sent into forced labor in war industries (35.6%), heavy industry (7.1%), mining (28.5%), construction (5.9%) and agriculture (14.3%). The working conditions were very poor. The Italians were inadequately fed or clothed for the winter in Germany, Poland,[4][5] etc. Many became sick and died.

There were cases of harassment and beatings of Italians who refused to fight on the side of Germany.[5][6] Some Italians were sent not to POW camps, but to Nazi concentration camps, including Flossenbürg, Gross-Rosen, Mittelbau-Dora and their subcamps.[7]

Italians were also victims of mass executions and massacres, perpetrated by the Germans.[4][5][8]

The death rate of the military internees at 6-7% was second only to that of Soviet prisoners of war although much lower.[9]

  1. ^ "The Forgotten Italian Military Internees of WWII | the Stillman Exchange". Archived from the original on June 17, 2018. Retrieved April 14, 2018.
  2. ^ Zimmermann, Elisabeth (July 17, 2008). "Italian court to allow claims by Nazi victims". www.wsws.org.
  3. ^ "Home".
  4. ^ a b Megargee, Overmans & Vogt 2022, pp. 311, 323.
  5. ^ a b c Borek, Paweł (2004). "Obóz jeńców włoskich w Białej Podlaskiej wrzesień 1943 – czerwiec 1944". Podlaski Kwartalnik Kulturalny (in Polish). No. 2. Biała Podlaska. pp. 14–17. ISSN 1234-6160.
  6. ^ Megargee, Overmans & Vogt 2022, p. 228.
  7. ^ Sula 2010, pp. 69–72.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference im was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Gerlach, Christian (2016). The Extermination of the European Jews. Cambridge University Press. pp. 235–236. ISBN 978-0-521-70689-6.