The Risiera di San Sabba: A Place of Memory That Cries Out History and Culture

In the heart of Trieste, a building once used for rice milling now stands as a silent yet powerful reminder of the atrocities of the Second World War. The Civic Museum of the Risiera di San Sabba is the only Nazi extermination camp in Italy — a place where history and memory merge into a moving and unforgettable experience.

From Rice Mill to Horror: The Story of a Transformation

Built in 1898 as a rice processing plant, the Risiera di San Sabba underwent a chilling transformation beginning in the autumn of 1943. With the Nazi occupation and the creation of the Operationszone Adriatisches Küstenland (OZAK), the Venezia Giulia region became a territory under direct German control. The Risiera was converted into a Polizeihaftlager (police detention camp), a center for internment, sorting, and, tragically, extermination.

From December 1943, it became both a concentration and transit camp for prisoners, and from early 1944 it was transformed into a Vernichtungslager — a site of systematic extermination. Slovenians, Croatians, partisans, anti-fascists, political prisoners, and Jews were detained and killed here. The Risiera was not only a site of execution, equipped with a crematorium in operation from April 4, 1944, but also a key transit point for deportations.

It is estimated that between 3,000 and 5,000 people were murdered within these walls, while 69 of the 123 deportation trains that left Italy for Nazi death camps such as Dachau, Auschwitz, and Mauthausen originated in Trieste. An additional 30 convoys were sent to forced labor camps. Prisoners were often tortured to extract information about the Resistance; those deemed useless were executed or deported to the German concentration camps.

The camp was also infamous for the so-called “Banda Collotti,” a group of Italian police collaborators who, familiar with the local territory, assisted the Nazis in capturing anti-fascists and Jews. The Risiera stands as a stark testament to the Nazi-Fascist persecution, which targeted individuals not only for political resistance but also for their faith and race. Jewish families — men, women, and children — were rounded up, imprisoned in the Risiera, and later killed or deported to extermination camps.

The “death cell” and the 17 small prison cells, including two used for torture and the storage of confiscated goods, bear witness to the cruelty of the system. In the four-story building, large dormitories held Jews and civilians awaiting deportation. The destruction of the crematorium and documentation by the Nazis in the final days of the war makes it impossible to determine the exact number of victims, but the scale of the religious and political persecution remains undeniable — a fundamental part of this site’s memory.

After the war, the Risiera briefly served as a refugee center for Italians fleeing from Istria and Dalmatia. Its historical significance was officially recognized on April 15, 1965, when President Giuseppe Saragat declared it a National Monument.

In 1975, the complex was restored by architect Romano Boico and opened to the public as the Civic Museum of the Risiera di San Sabba. Today, it stands as a place of reflection and education, visited by more than 130,000 people each year, many of them students. The museum’s exhibition, located beside the remains of the crematorium, leads visitors through the painful stages of its history.

The Risiera di San Sabba is an essential site for understanding the barbarity of the Nazi occupation in Italy and for remembering the thousands of lives destroyed by hatred and violence — including those persecuted for their faith. It is a silent yet powerful cry, reminding us of the importance of defending human dignity and remaining vigilant against all forms of discrimination.

Address: Via Giovanni Palatucci, 5, 34148 Trieste TS

Opening hours:

• Every day (Monday – Sunday): 09:00 – 19:00
  Admission: Free

Contacts:

• Phone: +39 040 826202
  Website: www.risierasansabba.it

Cover photo credits: Official Website