The island of Rab housed a Nazi concentration camp during WWII, where thousands suffered. The memorial preserves the memory of this atrocity.
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The island of Rab, in the Adriatic Sea, once housed a major Italian fascist concentration camp where thousands of Slovenians, Croats, Jews, and anti-fascists suffered and died during World War II. The camp operated from July 27, 1942, to September 11, 1943, and nearly 15,000 people were interned under inhumane conditions marked by famine, dehydration, disease, and violence. While official records list 1,488 deaths, the true toll is believed to be much higher. A memorial site, designed in 1953, commemorates the victims with plaques, including one listing 1,488 names, and features sections dedicated to the Jewish community and the local partisan brigade. Despite the site’s solemnity, the memory of the tragedy is fading among younger generations, though Slovenian and Croatian authorities annually commemorate the camp’s closure, urging people to be the guardians of memory. The article notes the silence of the Italian political class regarding this history, contrasting it with past dismissive statements about the camps.
