The Museo e Centro di Documentazione della Deportazione e Resistenza ("Museum and Centre of Documentation of Deportation and Italian Resistance") is a museum in

Prato Prato ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Italy, the capital of the Province of Prato. The city lies in the north east of Tuscany, at the foot of Monte Retaia, elevation , the last peak in the Calvana chain. With more than 200,000 i ...

, central

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, dedicated to the history of

Fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...

's occurrence and rise to power in Italy. The director of the foundation is Camilla Brunelli. It records the political, racial, and religious persecution and

deportation Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. The term ''expulsion'' is often used as a synonym for deportation, though expulsion is more often used in the context of international law, while deportation ...

of people in concentration and

extermination camps Nazi Germany used six extermination camps (german: Vernichtungslager), also called death camps (), or killing centers (), in Central Europe during World War II to systematically murder over 2.7 million peoplemostly Jewsin the Holocaust. The v ...

and with

resistance during World War II Resistance movements during World War II occurred in every occupied country by a variety of means, ranging from non-cooperation to propaganda, hiding crashed pilots and even to outright warfare and the recapturing of towns. In many countries, r ...

History

The institution is located in

Figline di Prato Prato ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Italy, the capital of the Province of Prato. The city lies in the north east of Tuscany, at the foot of Monte Retaia, elevation , the last peak in the Calvana chain. With more than 200,000 ...

, where on 6 September 1944, 29

partisan Partisan may refer to: Military * Partisan (weapon), a pole weapon * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line Films * ''Partisan'' (film), a 2015 Australian film * ''Hell River'', a 1974 Yugoslavian film also know ...

s were killed by

German armed Forces The ''Bundeswehr'' (, meaning literally: ''Federal Defence'') is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The ''Bundeswehr'' is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part con ...

. It was one of hundreds of mass murders committed by German troops in the Tuscany Region. Today's museum and documentation centre are only a stone's throw away from the site of the massacre. However, the content of the exhibition is marked by another historical event: In March 1944, following a

general strike A general strike refers to a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large co ...

in occupied northern and central Italy, hundreds of Tuscans and over one hundred Prateser were

deported Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. The term ''expulsion'' is often used as a synonym for deportation, though expulsion is more often used in the context of international law, while deportation ...

to the

Mauthausen concentration camp Mauthausen was a Nazi concentration camp on a hill above the market town of Mauthausen, Upper Austria, Mauthausen (roughly east of Linz), Upper Austria. It was the main camp of a group with List of subcamps of Mauthausen, nearly 100 further ...

and the majority then further to the Ebensee neighbouring camp. When choosing the location of the museum, a factory hall in the centre of the city was therefore also in consideration. In the end, however, Figline was chosen as an "authentic site of a Nazi

massacre A massacre is the killing of a large number of people or animals, especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves. A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable, especially when per ...

". The initiative to build a museum in memory of the events of that time came from a few survivors in Prates, including Roberto Castellani. The financing was provided by the municipality of Prato and the museum and the documentation centre were opened on 10 April 2002 in a solemn ceremony attended by the then Italian President

Carlo Azeglio Ciampi Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (; 9 December 1920 – 16 September 2016) was an Italian politician and banker who was the prime minister of Italy from 1993 to 1994 and the president of Italy from 1999 to 2006. Biography Education Ciampi was born i ...

. Initially under the administration of the Municipality, since February 2008 it has been a foundation created by the Municipalities of the

Province of Prato The province of Prato ( it, provincia di Prato) is a province in the Tuscany region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Prato. It was formed from part of the province of Florence in 1992. The province has an area of and a total population of a ...

, the ANED (National Association of Former Political Deportees in Nazi Camps), the Associazione Nazionale Partigiani d'Italia (National Association of Italian Partisans) and the

Jewish Community Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

. Since 2008, the museum has also been the place of action for the Austrian Memorial Service.

Exhibition

After a thematic introduction to the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

camp system, the Mauthausen concentration camp with its neighbouring camp Ebensee and an overview of the deportation from the Tuscany region, the main part of the exhibition, which extends over about 70 square metres, consists of objects from the tunnels of the Ebensee concentration camp. These were collected in the 1970s by Prateser survivors together with fellow citizens and finally donated to the Museum. The museum also houses the former bell of the Ebensee camp roll call square, on loan from the municipality of Ebensee and an expression of the Prato-Ebensee town partner agreement made in 1987. The contents of the museum are particularly aimed at pupils from the 8th grade onwards, but also at interested citizens of the region and from abroad. Admission is free of charge.

The Documentation Center

The Documentation Centre is located on the first floor of the building. It has a conference hall with 70 seats, a

library A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

with about 3000 media items and three computer terminals. The research work is carried out not only in cooperation with local institutions and experts, but also within the framework of international projects and in cooperation with the partner institution, the Ebensee Museum of Contemporary History.

Gallery

File:Museo della Deportazione 4.JPG, Prisoner jacket of an Italian deportee on display File:Museo della Deportazione 5.JPG, Exhibited piece of barbed wire from the Ebensee concentration camp File:Museo della Deportazione 6.JPG, Exhibited syringe - syringes like these were used to murder prisoners

References

External links