Volume IV: Camps and Other Detention Facilities under the German Armed Forces
Encyclopedia

KRIEGSGEFANGENENLAGER (KGL) CESENA

Alexander Kruglov
Translated by Kathleen Luft

KGL Cesena existed in September and October 1943 and was deployed in Cesena, a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, about 82 kilometers (51 miles) southeast of Bologna (map 6).1 The camp was subordinate to the Military Commander of Upper Italy (Militärbefehlshaber Oberitalien)/General Commander (Generalkommando) Witthöft, under Army Group (Heeresgruppe) B.

The Germans intended to use the camp to confine Italian military prisoners temporarily. No details regarding conditions in the camp are available, but the Germans generally treated Italian military prisoners harshly.

SOURCES

Primary source material about KGL Cesena is located in BA-MA (Heeresgruppe B; Militärbefehlshaber Oberitalien; RH 24-73).

Additional information about KGL Cesena can be found in the following publication: Gerhard Schreiber, Die italienischen Militärinternierten im deutschen Machtbereich 1943–1945: Verraten, Verachtet, Vergessen (Munich: R. Oldenbourg, 1990).

NOTES

1. Schreiber, Die italienischen Militärinternierten, p. 240; Militärbefehlshaber Oberitalien (Generalkommando Witthöft) Qu/Qu 1 No. 41/43 g.Kdos., H.Qu., 5.10.1943, Betr.: Sicherstellung von Auffanglagern (BA-MA, RH 24-73/14).

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