In this sombre week recalling the entry of the Red Army into the Auschwitz death camp 75 years ago I came across this article written by journalist Emanuela Ambrogi and have translated it as it also fits very aptly with the article I too have written about Bagni Di Lucca’s own concentration camp once housed in the now ruinous edifice opposite the Grande Albergo delle Terme.

Daniela Pieri, witness of those dark days of 1944, tells of the departure, destination Auschwitz, of the Jews detained in the temporary camp set up at the Grande Albergo delle Terme.
Hidden in the garden of her house, at eight years of age, by the hotel, Daniela saw the Jews pass by who had been imprisoned in the camp. Escorted by soldiers from the Republic of Salò and the SS they were loaded onto the trucks that brought them to Florence, and from here to Milan to then be transferred to Auschwitz and its gas chambers. (Visited by Francis Pettitt in 2001).

The memory of that January 23, 1944 is vivid in the mind of Daniela Pieri, who witnessed the deportation with her 11-year-old sister MariaTeresa: «I remember that those poor people, a hundred people, despite the cold and snow, walked in a resigned line and practically in silence, even if someone moaned a sad lullaby that I will never forget ».

Daniela recollects the time when the Jews, especially Slavic ethnic Jews, were gathered in Bagni in its Grande Albergo delle Terme, which became the property of the Italian Youth of the Littorio: «I remember that this huge complex had quickly been transformed from a place that welcomed noble and wealthy people who arrived in luxurious carriages into a dismal barracks which couldn’t even be mentioned. There was a friend of mine, younger than me, who said she heard the cries of children, but adults told us to keep silent saying that we had dreamed everything. There was so much fear, the weather was very cold and oppressive. Just by chance, my brother Piero, 14, did not end up among the deportees. To bring something to eat at home he helped the concentration camp cook in the kitchen, but once he was surprised by a German officer and only the intervention of the cook allowed him to return home. The same cook made him get off the truck where my brother had been put together with the Jews destined for martyrdom. My mother also found it really bad: one morning she was walking with my brother in Ponte a Serraglio when she was seized by a German soldier. In the square, a bit of fuss was also created because they started throwing objects from a house onto the street. The soldier tried to kick the door and then asked for a hand grenade. In the chaos my mother and brother slipped away. Given the dangerous situation from home, we moved to Pieve di Monti di Villa where we lived as displaced people in a hut ».

«Everything was missing – Daniela recalls – even if for the kids it was almost an adventure. Herbs in the fields were collected and then cooked to try to make the pork lard edible. I really didn’t like it, but I got away with eating berries, hazelnuts, figs, chestnuts and everything that could be found walking around the fields. Almost eighty years have passed; maybe I cannot remember some recent events, but in my mind I see those sad scenes as if it were now. And that sad lullaby will never abandon me ».

I myself have written various posts on this terrible chapter of Bagni Di Lucca’s past. Only a few years ago a plaque was finally placed on a building which, once clothed in opulence and glory (Puccini was a guest, for example, and wrote act two of his opera ‘the girl of the golden west’ there), now stands in its gothick horror as a symbol of man’s inhumanity to man.

May it never be rebuilt!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider clicking the Like button or leaving a comment. It lets me know that my writing is reaching people.