Fermo displaced persons camp

The Fermo Camp (Italian: Campo Fermo, Croatian: Logor Fermo) was a post-World War II displaced person camp near Fermo, Italy whose inhabitants were Croats displaced from Yugoslavia.

The first Croats arrived in June 1945.[1] The majority arrived at the camp on August 15, 1945.[2] The inhabitants formed a theatre company at the camp to perform classic Croatian dramatic works.[3] A printing press was established by Dominik Mandić which printed magazines and books at the camp.[4]

Most of the about 2,000 inhabitants who were living inside the camp, which was situated on the premises of a former textile factory, were of Ustaša background.[5] In 1947 the camp was repeatedly raided by British military personnel in a search for war criminals hiding among the population.[6]

In late 1947 and early 1948, representatives from Argentina, the United States, Canada, and Australia came to the camp to offer the inhabitants a chance to immigrate to their perspective countries.[4] On one trip, the USS General W. M. Black (AP-135) transported 626 people from the camp to Peru.[1] The camp was closed in 1948.

Upon independence, the Republic of Croatia tried to entice its displaced persons to return through tax exemptions and monetary aid.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 "Kako biti Hrvat u dijsapori?". croatia.ch (in Croatian). 29 February 2008. Archived from the original on 9 August 2014.
  2. ↑ Hrvatski iseljenički zbornik: 2005. Hrvatska matica iseljenika. Zagreb, 2004. (pg. 92)
  3. ↑ Mark Wyman. DPs: Europe's Displaced Persons, 1945-1951. Cornell University Press, 1998. (pg. 163)
  4. 1 2 Hrvatski iseljenički zbornik: 2005. Hrvatska matica iseljenika. Zagreb, 2004. (pg. 93)
  5. ↑ See chapter "Homeland in Miniature: The Refugee Camp at Fermo" in Bernd Robionek: Croatian Political Refugees and the Western Allies. A Documented History. 2nd. ed. Berlin 2010, pp. 155-158.
  6. ↑ Bernd Robionek: Croatian Political Refugees and the Western Allies. A Documented History. 2nd. ed. Berlin 2010, pp.235-237.
  7. ↑ Mark Wyman. DPs: Europe's Displaced Persons, 1945-1951. Cornell University Press, 1998. (pg. 9)

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