**Fugitive partisans from the Ossola region arriving in Bern in autumn 1944. They were then sent to various internment camps.** State Archives of Canton Bern, StABE FN Nydegger L 139

Ossola’s partisans in Swiss internment camps

In 1944, many partisans from the Ossola region fled to Switzerland, where they were detained in remote internment camps.

Raphael Rues

Raphael Rues is a historian and specialises in Ticino and the German-fascist presence in Northern Italy.

Most of the resistance fighters active in the Ossola region fled to nearby Switzerland in the autumn of 1944. Following the collapse of the Partisan Republic, a liberated zone in existence from 10 September to 23 October of that year, and the recapture of the territory by German and Italian fascist troops, this was the only option left open to the partisans. These were men who had desperately fought for freedom and taken part in the last bitter and hopeless attempts to prevent the German and Italian fascist forces from regaining control of the Ossola region. That struggle had begun on 10 October 1944, ending just four days later in Domodossola and on 23 October in the rest of the territory when the last of the partisans made their way to Switzerland. After sweeping to victory, the fascists claimed that some 50,000 people had fled to Switzerland. Given that the entire population of the region at that time numbered 80,000, this was clearly a gross overexaggeration intended to make their triumph appear more impressive than it actually was. Current estimates put the figure at no more than 10,000 refugees, including roughly 3,000 partisans.

**Partisans from Ossola in German-speaking Switzerland, spring 1945.** Casa della Resistenza / Fondo Azzoni

The deliverance of these fugitive partisans was primarily made possible by the determination and actions of a few cantonal politicians: National Councillor Karl Dellberg of Valais, Guglielmo Canevascini, member of the cantonal government of Ticino and Giovan Battista Rusca, Mayor of Locarno. All three men put themselves out on a limb: the act of taking in combatants, which is what the partisans de facto were, would have called Switzerland’s neutrality into question and could have caused serious problems with the Germans. That is why Karl Dellberg, for example, argued before the federal authorities in Bern that the refugees were fleeing from political persecution and a humanitarian emergency. This straightforward approach to offering assistance bordered on the illegal but saved the lives of thousands of people. Without this intervention, the civilians who had been rounded up would have been deported and the captured partisans executed. The local and cantonal politicians were almost certainly swayed into taking decisions that otherwise lay outside their remit by the fact that the people living close to the border in Valais and Ticino were affected most by what was happening and knew all too well what the German occupation and fascist presence south of the border really meant. For their part, the churches, the Red Cross and various other organisations swung into action to help the Partisan Republic, for example. But if the exhausted partisans were expecting to find a warm welcome awaiting them in Switzerland, they would be disappointed.

**Karl Dellberg, National Councillor for Valais, helped the partisans, often straying into legal grey areas.** Treize Etoiles, Médiathèque Valais – Martigny

The refugees, who had often been living in squalid conditions, were prone to infestations of lice. They were disinfected, along with their clothing, as soon as they crossed the border. They were then subjected to lengthy interrogations in which they were asked to reveal military information and to name any contacts they might have in Switzerland. Any assets (i.e. money) they held were also inspected. Everything was recorded in a ‘record of questioning’ so that the military information could be passed on to Major Max Waibel. Waibel’s office analysed the value of the military information in best secret service tradition. The reason for this spartan treatment: the Swiss refugee system had been run directly by the armed forces since 1939. Its primary concern was not those who had fled, but geopolitical and strategic considerations, which were partly coloured by a vague fear of the spread of Communism.

Max Husmann, Max Waibel and Baron Luigi Parilli (from left) at a meeting in 1945. — **Max Waibel (centre) assessed the records of questioning of those who had fled.** Keystone

Record of questioning of a partisan from Ossola, dated 16 October 1944. — *Record of questioning* of a partisan from Ossola, dated 16 October 1944. Swiss Federal Archives

Internment in Switzerland

Since the start of the war, Switzerland had established a network of different internment camps to cope with the large number of refugees. There were four main types of camp: selection camps where internees were registered, quarantine camps where they were medically examined, reception camps for unclear cases and ‘final camps’, also known as labour camps, where they were ultimately detained under military supervision. Following interrogation, each partisan would be transferred to one of the many labour camps in Switzerland. If they had entered the country via Ticino or Valais they would generally be sent to the other side of the Alps to put as much distance as possible between them and the border. Consequently, almost all of Ossola’s partisans ended up in internment camps in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, many of them in canton Bern: outside Thun, in Mürren, Finsterhennen, Gurnigel, Büren an der Aare or Langenthal. Some were sent to canton Zurich (Wetzikon, Girenbad and Wald bei Hinwil, Adliswil, Nänikon) or to canton Aargau (Bremgarten). The camps were usually set up in out-of-the-way locations to prevent the inmates from coming into contact with the civilian population.

**The internment camp in Büren an der Aare, pictured around 1940.** State Archives of Canton Bern, StABE N Gribi 2.38

Conditions in the Swiss internment camps were generally harsh. The accommodation was rudimentary, consisting of poorly insulated barracks, which proved particularly inadequate during the extreme winter of 1944/45. Few camps had any form of heating, making life even more difficult. Food was in short supply, and many partisans had to perform forced labour despite being exhausted and undernourished. Communist resistance fighters, the ‘Garibaldini’, were specifically sent to especially remote and inhospitable locations, such as the camp at Schwarzsee in canton Fribourg, to further isolate them from the outside world.

Return to Italy

The situation changed somewhat at the start of spring 1945, when the camps gradually began to empty, with hundreds of partisans especially eager to get back to Italy and resume fighting. The Swiss authorities were frequently willing to turn a blind eye to what were technically escapees from internment camps. Just so long as the partisans left Switzerland never to return. For those who stayed on, opportunities for work remained very limited. The military, which was in charge of assigning labour, was extremely slow in dealing with job offers from Swiss companies. There would have been enough work to go round, primarily in agriculture and forestry, as most Swiss men were away on active service at the time. However, applications and requests for work were not processed expeditiously, and an analysis of hundreds of files on the internees creates the impression that the bureaucratic machinery was exceptionally slow, especially towards the end of the war. However, this is a stroke of luck for today’s historical researchers, as it allows them to reconstruct in some detail where individual refugees were detained.

**Three partisans from the Ossola region, photographed in autumn 1944 in Bern. Luigi Fumagalli (centre) escaped from the Schwarzsee camp in January 1945 and made his way back to Val Cannobina.** State Archives of Canton Bern, StABE FN Nydegger L 139

The ‘hospitality’ extended to Ossola’s interned partisans came to an end with the defeat of Germany. Hostilities officially ceased in Italy on 2 May 1945, partly thanks to secret negotiations held in Ascona that March, and in Germany on 8 May. The partisans’ subsequent return home became something of an odyssey. Switzerland, glad to be rid of these people, was very quick to organise convoy after convoy of trains. Almost all of the Italian internees were taken to Como in the first few weeks of May. From there, they were left to make their own way home. This was no easy task, given that the road network had been largely destroyed. For some of them, it took days or even weeks to reach home.

More of: 20th / 21st century War/battle Ossola

Further posts

Allied assistance for Ossola’s partisans

Raphael Rues 26.09.2024 Without the help of the British and Americans, resistance against the German and fascist occupation of Ossola would have come to nothing. However, the region’s partisans had hoped for more in the way of support.

British supplies for northern Italian partisans being dropped from a Dakota C-47, spring 1945.

War crimes on Switzerland’s doorstep

Raphael Rues 23.07.2024 The Ossola region at Switzerland’s southern border experienced escalating violence between 1943 and 1945. Many war crimes were committed resulting in hundreds of casualties. A look back at what caused this horror.

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A story of resistance and escape

Raphael Rues 23.01.2024 During the Second World War, numerous people attempted to flee persecution across the Italian-Swiss border into Ticino. This included Egone Gruenberger, who only managed to escape to freedom on his second attempt and after a long ordeal.

The Valmara – Madonna di Ponte customs office around 1940.