Exhibition

"BETWEEN TWO STOOLS. The history of the Italian military internees 1943 - 1945"

During the Second World War, Nazi Germany and fascist Italy were initially allies. On 8 September 1943 Italy withdrew from the alliance. The German Wehrmacht then captured the Italian soldiers and officers. About 650,000 Italians were transported to the German Reich and the occupied territories. With the founding of the Repubblica Sociale Italiana (RSI) in 1944, the prisoners were declared "military internees". Thus, despite the new fascist alliance and without regard to international law, they could be used as forced laborers in armaments.

The permanent exhibition tells the story of the Italian military internees. It spans the spectrum from the German-Italian alliance partnership in the Second World War to the present day treatment of the subject. The individual chapters deal with central aspects of imprisonment, transport, forced labour, the end of the war and memory.

Learn more     Why this exhibition?

Your Visit

The way to us

Dokumentationszentrum NS-Zwangsarbeit
Barrack 4

Britzer Straße 5
12439 Berlin

Tel.: +49 (0)30 6390 288 0
E-Mail: ns-zwangsarbeit(at)topographie.de

 

Opening Hours

Tue - Sun 10 am - 6 pm

 

Special Opening Days
Eastermonday
Witmonday

Closing Days
24 and 31 December

Admission is free.

Multilingual audio guides are available.
The exhibition is wheelchair accessible.

Education

Multimediaguides

Our multimedia guides will guide you in German, English, French, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Turkish, Russian and Easy German Language through the permanent exhibitions, through the camp grounds and into the surrounding area.

Groups

For school classes and groups of 8 persons or more, we offer free guided tours of the permanent exhibition and the grounds, as well as a workshop on the subject, upon registration.


Education and Guided Tours: Eva Kuby
Tel.: +49 (0)30 6390 288 27

Research

work commands

The online research tool (German) offers first results of current research activities on former work detachments with Italian military internees and their locations in Berlin. It also provides an overview of companies and businesses in which Italian military internees were deployed.

Interactive Map


Catalogue

The accompanying volume documents essential contents of the permanent exhibition with essays and a catalogue section. This includes many partly unknown photographs, documents and objects on the history of the Italian military internees, as well as numerous biographies.

Available at our Documentation Centre,
in German-Italian and German-English,
15 Euro, 301 pages


Further offers on the subject of military internees

We present search services, associations of victims, museums and memorials that deal with the topic of Italian military internees or can support you in your search for further information.

 


Leaflet

to the exhibition "Zwischen allen Stühlen. The history of the Italian military internees 1943-1945".
Available in German, Italian und English.