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Oto Luthar, Marta Verginella & Urška Strle: UŽALJENO MAŠČEVANJE: SPOMIN 
NA ITALIJANSKA FAŠISTIČNA TABORIŠČA [OFFENDED RETALIATION: 
THE MEMORY OF THE ITALIAN FASCIST CAMPS]
Ljubljana, Založba ZRC, 
2022, 378 strani
The current issue of the scientific journal Acta Histriae is dedicated to oral 
history at the intersection between Slovenian and Italian historiography. The 
contributions are the result of widespread study and productive discussions on 
methodology and “good practices” in the Italian area compared to Slovene his-
toriography, which is undoubtedly lagging behind with regards to oral history. 
Nevertheless, it is worth stressing, as this issue of the journal shows, that the 
positive impact of Italian oral history on Slovenian historiography is very evident 
– especially since the borderland region offers numerous laboratories for this type 
of research. And one of these laboratories is certainly fascist internment during 
the Second World War.
Although the issues of fascist camps and internment have been the subject 
of several studies in the past both by Slovenian and Italian historiography, we 
are presented with a work that certainly marks a new milestone in Slovenian 
and Slovene-Italian historiography. The study Užaljeno maščevanje: spomin na 
italijanska fašistična taborišča [Offended Retaliation: The Memory of the Italian 
Fascist Camps] was written by Oto Luthar, Marta Verginella and Urška Strle. As 
the authors highlight in the introduction, the overall fates of the fascist internees 
have remained virtually unexplored in historiography until the 21st century. We 
will not delve here into the reasons why this was the case, but it is precisely for 
this reason that this monograph should be particularly praised and highlighted as 
an important contribution. Namely, as the authors note, “there is still too little at-
tention paid to Italian fascism in current European discussions on totalitarianisms 
of the 20th century,” while they are also disturbed by the fact that “a large part of 
the European professional and general public has not yet heard of the internees in 
the Italian fascist internment camps.” (p. 27)
The present book is the result of intensive research carried out between 2012 
and 2015, which included the collection of memorial and archival sources and 
documentation and, above all, the collection and interpretation of oral testimo-
nies. A number of archival institutions were visited, and 54 testimonies were 
collected, as well as a number of objects brought back from the camp or held on 
to by the former internees and their relatives (i.e. letters, photographs, diaries and 
some very special objects, such as a silver spoon). The authors also took special 
care to collect testimonies from both women and men, while the vast majority of 
the respondents were under the age of 12 at the time of internment – hence, they 
had experienced the camp as children.
The monograph is systematically and thoughtfully divided into 7 chapters which 
effectively narrate the story of the fascist internment from the beginning of the 
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occupation to present-day memories and interpretations. In so doing, the (military) 
history of the occupation and the plans of the fascist authorities since the first 
internments of the Slovene population – Ljudmila Rutar was the first political 
internee, coming from the region of Venezia Giulia, and the youngest internee ever 
to be interned on the island of Ponza in 1930 – are more than effectively intertwined 
with the social and intimate histories and memories of the former internees. The 
bulk of the monograph is based on the testimonies and stories of former internees 
and their children. Narratives about the reasons for arrest, how arrests were carried 
out and fascist raids, transport to the camps and life and conditions in the camps are 
continuously interwoven with a skilful and in-depth interpretation of the collected 
testimonies. In doing so, the authors draw on previously published studies which 
are the result of past research and are based mainly on archival sources.
But the main voices in the study are, of course, that of the witnesses. As 
the authors themselves emphasise, only some of the most representative or out-
standing excerpts from the testimonies are published in the work, as the material 
collected was clearly far more abundant and thus impossible to include in its 
entirety. Through the words of the testimonies, we can understand the range of 
emotions that people experienced during internment; from the fear of an unknown 
fate during transport to the camps, to the humiliation of losing privacy on arrival 
at the camp when everyone, without exception, was stripped naked, inspected 
and their clothes were boiled. 
These memories were particularly 
traumatic for the women, since it is 
precisely “forced stripping [...] that 
is a theme in many women’s testi-
monies and memories” (p. 153). A 
significant part of the monograph is 
devoted to life and suffering in the 
camps. The testimonies are unani-
mous about the largely unbearable 
hygienic conditions that were re-
sponsible for most of the hardships 
that the male and female prisoners 
endured – from disease, epidemics 
and parasites (especially lice), to 
death. The lack of water – both for 
drinking and for basic hygiene – is 
probably the motive underlying 
every account – especially that of 
the internees on the island of Rab 
(today Croatia), where the summer 
heat was unbearable. Alongside this 
was the very poor and insufficient 
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food which drove the prisoners to the brink of despair, to previously unimagi-
nable acts, including theft, while the scarcity and hunger, among other factors, 
drove many to death.
The violence and indifference of the guards were perhaps the cruellest indica-
tors of the dehumanisation of the individual and of life, which had little value in the 
fascist camps. The deaths of children and the elderly are heart-breaking, as is the 
suffering of mothers and their helplessness – but also their courage and strength that, 
as the authors explain, not even many men could muster in those circumstances. In 
this context, the witnesses repeatedly blame the camp authorities for the fact that 
the conditions were often the result not only of cruelty, but above all of negligence 
and poor organisation. This led, among other things, to some of the deaths during 
the September 1942 storm in the camp on Rab, when a torrent passing through the 
camp engulfed some of the tents the internees were living in and practically carried 
them away. This storm, however, was only the precursor of the most severe period 
of deprivation and death during the winter between 1942 and 1943.
The narrative of the incomprehensible and the impossible to put into words is 
quite remarkable – it is read in a similar way as the narratives of Nazi concentra-
tion camps, although the authors repeatedly stress that they are not to be entirely 
equated. What is particularly striking for the reader is that most of the testimonies 
gathered here are also often stories of kindness, of small gestures and little things 
that, in the midst of everyday suffering, sometimes restored hope, at least for a 
moment; the (albeit rare) attempts of the locals to help, the kindness of the guards, 
the solidarity between people even in moments when this was not to be expected. 
Thus, in addition to the unbearable living conditions, the authors also focus on 
other aspects of captivity. We can, for instance, understand from the words of the 
prisoners how important it was for them to have a little social life – whether it was 
(hidden) singing, recreation or religious services and silent evening prayers.
We rarely encounter a study as methodologically and scientifically com-
prehensive as this one. Particularly noteworthy is the detailed and synthesised 
presentation of the methodology of the work and the way the interviews were 
conducted. In the light of the initial observations that there is certainly a lack of 
debate and dialogue around “good practices” in oral history in Slovenia, we can 
doubtlessly add that we finally have in front of us a work which is referential for 
every oral historian. The second chapter effectively presents the procedures and 
guidelines that each oral historian would like to and should read when taking his 
or her first steps in research.
However, it would be an injustice to emphasise “only” the great importance 
of the comprehensive scientific apparatus of the methodology of the work, col-
lection, and interpretation of the different typologies of sources. Indeed, every 
chapter in the study is very well and carefully conceived; from the decision to 
give the witnesses the first word in the monograph (p. 12–13), to the decision to 
first highlight the positive aspects of captivity – i.e. the help and compassion of 
the guards and the locals (p. 83–92) – and, of course, numerous other, “small”, 
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thoughtful entries. The attentive reader has the impression, which is certainly not 
misleading, that nothing in the study is a coincidence. It is also worth highlighting 
the very fluid language, which draws the reader in and keeps them from putting the 
book down.
It is therefore no coincidence that the authors conclude with a self-critical 
examination of Slovenian historiography and the “mistakes” it has made, not only 
when it comes to the question of the historicization of the Italian fascist camps, 
but also when it comes to the understanding and interpretation of memories, and 
the generally (poorly) understood methodology of working with oral testimonies. 
Alongside this critical self-reflection, there is a critical look at the Italian context 
and, above all, at the politics of the past in Italy, which successfully avoided hand-
ing over war criminals and thus, at the same time, prevented a confrontation with 
Mussolini’s fascist regime. While referring to places of memory and understanding 
current events in Slovenian-Italian diplomacy, especially the symbolic “reconcilia-
tion” meeting between the former Slovenian President Borut Pahor and the Italian 
President Sergio Mattarella in July 2020 at the foiba memorial in Bazovica and the 
monument to the Slovenian victims of the First Trial of Trieste in the immediate 
vicinity, the authors conclude that a great deal of work remains to be done to break 
the myth of “Italians, good people” in Italy.
Among the many findings and conclusions of the present monograph, one should 
not overlook the perhaps marginal, but for historiography in the borderlands not so 
insignificant, conclusion that Slovenian historiography, precisely as far as the sub-
ject of fascist camps is concerned, was also the one that held up a mirror to Italian 
historiography in the 1990s. The authors observe that during that period the results 
of research by Slovenian and Croatian colleagues (e.g. Tonet Ferenc) stimulated 
research in the Italian community (e.g. the works of Teodoro Sala, Enzo Collotti, 
Marco Cuzza, and others that followed) (p. 72–73). Thus, as the present issue of 
Acta Histriae suggests, and as the International Slovenian-Italian Conference on 
Learning from Mistakes, held in Treviso and Venice in October 2022, has proven, 
only the exchange of opinions, points of view, experiences, research practices and 
the circulation of information and topics can stimulate the overcoming of barriers 
in research (and beyond) in the Slovene-Italian (borderland) region.
We have in front of us a work that is rich in content, detailed and precise, and 
that deepens our understanding of the fascist internment and its long-term conse-
quences – both for individuals and for communities. It is, of course, another black 
mark on the Slovene-Italian past that has finally been given a place in a study that 
is so comprehensive that it can provide a model for many future studies. It gives us 
hope that a moment in history is finally coming when the Slovenian-Italian society 
and the borderland will finally be able to face and overcome its (traumatic) past, 
also with the help of such studies. I am already looking forward to the moment 
when the study will be available in Italian.
Urška Lampe