Passage of Remembrance

In the quarter of Don Bosco in Bolzano, a small passage branches off from the Via Resia road. The black arch, where the Passage of Remembrance - "Passage der Erinnerung" in German, "Passaggio della Memoria" in Italian - begins, tells with descriptions, picture panels and time tables about some of the darkest years in Europe, the Second World War. At that time, the "Bolzano Police Transit Camp" of the NS was located here. In 1944/1945, around 11,000 people were deported here. It was one of four Nazi camps established in Italy after the truce on September 8, 1944.

Many deported people were taken from Bolzano to other countries and concentration camps, from where there was usually no return. A few years ago, this place of remembrance came into being as a result of research on the topic by the Municipal Archives of Bolzano and with the cooperation of the Association of Former Deportees, the Association of Italian Partisans and the Jewish Religious Community. The Passage of Remembrance stretches along the former enclosure wall of the camp, the only part that has been preserved. The centrepiece is the 13-metre-long glass area consisting of 32 glass plates with the names of the women, men and children who verifiably lived through the camp. The LED wall behind it alternately lights up the names.

In addition, there are information boards with pictures of original objects and listening stations with stories of former deportees. The last extension is the walking and cycling path from the passage to the new district of Casanova. And how can it be reached? The passage branches off from Via Resia about in the middle - the best way to reach it is on foot, by bike or by taking the city bus lines No. 3 or 9, which stop nearby. There are few (free) parking spaces in the area. A 10-minute walk away there's the Semi-Rural House, which tells about the life of the town in the 1930s.