A new phase is opening up in the partnership between MSMT and the Milan-based Istituto Nazionale Ferruccio Parri, which has already created a bilingual website mapping 70 Italian PoW camps and describing a number of escape stories, www.alleatiinitalia.it.
The relationship was deepened by the attendance of Parri’s chairman, Paolo Pezzino, director Sara Zanisi, and the researchers who had worked on the website, at the festivities at Servigliano last September celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Armistice. It was apparent that the research had opened a new perspective on this seldom investigated chapter of Italian history and thrown light on the so-called “humanitarian resistance” undertaken by the thousands of civilians who hid escaped PoWs.
The project has also been boosted by the publication in Italy of an authoritative study of the topic, La prigionia alleata in Italia 1940-1943, written by Isabella Insolvibile, one of the researchers on the online portal. The book was launched at Servigliano, opening the weekend of events and talks.
Given the prospect of further fruitful research, MSMT and Parri have embarked on a second phase, starting in September 2024 and running for 18 months. As with the first phase, Parri will do the research and MSMT will contribute funding and will monitor translations into English. Trustees have approved a recommendation to fund 90 per cent of the projected total cost of 82,000 euros.
The focus on the online portal will shift to the Italian helpers such as the contadini, the peasant farmers, who risked their lives in rescuing escapees. The intention is to include a section listing and describing helpers by location.
More escape stories will also be added. The content of these and of helper stories will be drawn from various sources, including UK and Parri archives and the recently more accessible NARA archive in Washington DC. Quantitative research will help give an understanding about the geographical dimension of the PoW story, both in a physical sense and a human one.
As part of phase two, Insolvibile’s book will be translated into English and published by Palgrave. The institute is also planning a series of events for 2025, in the UK and Italy, to promote the website and the publication of the book.
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