The peripheral geographical position of Trieste has not spared it from the great tragedies that crossed society, including those of the last century. There are two places in particular in Trieste that are a strong echo of the most ferocious and saddest crimes against humanity that characterised the history of Europe in the 20th century: the Risiera di San Sabba, a Nazis deportation centre for Jews, and the Foiba di Basovizza, a site of the hasty execution of soldiers and civilians by Yugoslav occupation troops.

The Risiera di San Sabba
Via Giovanni Palatucci, 5

A rice mill built in 1913, transformed into a concentration camp by the Nazis after 8th September, 1943 and known as Stalag 339. Confiscated personal belongings, prisoners and deportees were gathered here. From June 1944 to April 1945 it was an active crematorium. In an attempt to destroy the proof of the killings which took place in the only extermination camp in Italy, the fleeing Germans blew up most of the buildings. After restoration, it became a city museum in 1975 and a has been a National monument since 1965. The three-floor building contains the death cells where the prisoners destined to be killed within a few hours were massed together, and the tailoring and shoe-making laboratories where the inmates worked. Visits also include the prison cells. It is estimated that between three and five thousand people were killed there.

The Foiba di Basovizza

This is not the only mass grave but certainly the best-known and sadly evocative. It is situated on the road from the village of Basovizza to San Lorenzo. The hollow is an artificial well dug at the beginning of the 20th century to exploit a coal seam and subsequently abandoned. In the Spring of 1945, it became a execution site for prisoners, soldiers and civilians by the Yugoslav occupation troops. Thousands of bodies were thrown into what was, at that time, a 200-metre deep chasm. Sometimes, the prisoners were tied to each other and thrown into the well still alive. In face of the impossibility of recovering the bodies, in 1959 the entrance to the grave was closed and the site declared a National monument in 1992.