Ferramonti

In Southern Italy stood Ferramonti di Tarsia, the biggest internment site in the region by both area and number of detainees. Most of them were Jews from Germany, Poland and Yugoslavia. The camp's history is little remembered today, yet within its fences people of many nationalities, tongues, faiths and customs crossed paths in a brief and strange setting.

The camp functioned first under Fascist rule, from 1940 to 1943, and then as a displaced persons camp under British administration, from 1943 to 1945. This study draws on personal papers and official records to reconstruct the distinctive character of the musical life that flourished there. It also shows how musical activity and everyday cultural practices helped detainees endure and hold on to both their personal and shared identities.