Mauthausen

Marcello Martini - Italy

“I have never seen anybody who committed suicide.... It was their aim to kill us, why should we have helped them?“

1930 born in Prato, Tuscany (Italy); grows up in family of teachers in Pistoia

from 1943after the downfall of Mussolini his father, a partisan commander, transmits military information to the Allies by a secret radio station

June 1944 after discovery of the radio station, the whole family is arrested and Marcello is transferred to the transit camp Fossoli and from there deported to Mauthausen

August 1944 transport to the branch camp Wiener Neustadt, where he is compelled to forced labour in the factory “Rax-Werke”; after injuring his feet he spends two months in the camp hospital

December 1944 transfer to the branch camp Hinterbrühl near Mödling, there forced labour for the war industry in an underground grotto 

April 1945 evacuation of the camp; he is sent on the death march to Mauthausen 

Mai 1945 liberation in Mauthausen

July 1945 returns to his family in Italy, afterwards leaving certificate and university studies in chemistry, he marries, has two daughters and works as a chemist in the metal and engineering industry he is living in Castellamonte near Torino (Italy)

At the time of the interview, he lived in Castellamonte near Turin (Italy)


He died on 14 August 2019