Vincenzo Salcito 1921 - 1945

Born 16.11.1921 in Pisa
Died 30.4.1945 in Mauthausen

Biography

On 16 Februar 1944 Antonia Salcito, father of seven children, captain of the Brigata Garibaldi of Foligno, was arrested in Roviglieto (Perugia) together with his son Vincenzo; his son Franco was also with them but was immediately released because of his young age. First incarcerated in Perugia prison, then taken to the Fossoli transit camp on 3 May 1944, he was deported to Mauthausen on 24 June 1944 and assigned prisoner number 76559. After his transfer to the Großraming subcamp he was transported back to the main camp. He died in Mauthausen on 27 April 1945.

The medical student Vincenzo Salcito was arrested together with his father Antonio on 16 February 1944 in Roviglieto (Perugia) and imprisoned in Perugia jail, where he was locked in a cell with Don Pietro Arcangeli on 16 February. In his unpublished diary, Arcangeli remembers him as: ‘[P]roud and confident, ready to be beaten to a pulp in order not to contradict his father, who was more worried about his student son and the others at home than about himself. The next day the Germans’ malice went so far as to lead his father past our cell in chains. The young man uttered a cry … and then fainted! No one spoke. The pain had turned our hearts to stone and silenced us. Young Vincenzo was tortured over several interrogations until his nose was broken, but he did not betray his father, who was being held in isolation elsewhere.’

Vincenzo was taken to the Fossoli transit camp on 3 May 1944 and deported to Mauthausen (prisoner number 76560) on 21 June 1944. He was subsequently transferred to the Großraming and ‘Schlier’ subcamps. He finally died on 30 April 1945 in Mauthausen.

Maria Pizzoni

 

ANED, Foligno section

Translation into English: Joanna White

Location In room