Patiently waiting to cross the road, I happen to glance upwards and notice a plaque.
Mounted well above head height on a busy street corner, it's easy to miss.
I read the text and, despite the heat, a shiver runs down my spine.
Mounted well above head height on a busy street corner, it's easy to miss.
I read the text and, despite the heat, a shiver runs down my spine.
My curiosity piqued, I circumnavigate the building.
Palazzo dell'INA is a bustling office block and residence on Corso Porto Nuova, not far from Piazza Bra.
Aside from the plaque, there are few clues to the building's dark past.
Palazzo dell'INA is a bustling office block and residence on Corso Porto Nuova, not far from Piazza Bra.
Aside from the plaque, there are few clues to the building's dark past.
As I enter the shady portico, I'm immediately struck by the fascist era artwork.
Darting past the concierge, I venture inside.
The building was constructed in 1937, the height of Italian fascism. Mussolini, by now, has been in power for 15 years.
The interior exudes conformity and order. Symmetry, straight lines and simplicity are the order of the day.
The building was constructed in 1937, the height of Italian fascism. Mussolini, by now, has been in power for 15 years.
The interior exudes conformity and order. Symmetry, straight lines and simplicity are the order of the day.
Between September 1943 and April 1945, the period of the German occupation of Italy, Verona was the headquarters of the German military administration for occupied Italy and the operations centre of the Italian Gestapo and SS.
(image credit: US Holocaust Memorial Museum)
(image credit: US Holocaust Memorial Museum)
The upper floors housed various commands and offices.
Prominent Nazis, including a number of so-called schreibtischtäter – the ‘desk murderers’, lived and worked in this building.
(image credit: IVSREC)
Prominent Nazis, including a number of so-called schreibtischtäter – the ‘desk murderers’, lived and worked in this building.
(image credit: IVSREC)
September 1943 marked the beginning of arrests and systematic deportations of Italian Jews to the concentration and extermination camps in central and Eastern Europe.
In Verona, this process was overseen from the Palazzo dell'INA.
In Verona, this process was overseen from the Palazzo dell'INA.
One occupant of the building was Martin Sandberger, a former Einsatzgruppen commander in Russia.
At Nuremberg he was found guilty of crimes against humanity.
He was released in 1951.
For decades he lived undisturbed in Germany. He died in a Stuttgart on 30 March 2010.
At Nuremberg he was found guilty of crimes against humanity.
He was released in 1951.
For decades he lived undisturbed in Germany. He died in a Stuttgart on 30 March 2010.
I venture downstairs and discover some ominous looking signs of the building's past use. During the Nazi occupation, this basement was a feared interrogation and torture centre.
Natale Mihel, was held in these cells for a month.
He was part of a resistance group distributing anti-fascist leaflets.
He was transferred to a concentration camp at Bolzano where he was held as a political prisoner. He was just 17 years old.
[image credit: Cierre edizioni)
He was part of a resistance group distributing anti-fascist leaflets.
He was transferred to a concentration camp at Bolzano where he was held as a political prisoner. He was just 17 years old.
[image credit: Cierre edizioni)
Though his comrades perished at Maulthausen, Mihel survived.
When the camp was liberated, an emaciated Mihel began the long walk south. After five days he encountered a group of American soldiers who offered him chewing gum and cigarettes. And a lift back to Verona.
When the camp was liberated, an emaciated Mihel began the long walk south. After five days he encountered a group of American soldiers who offered him chewing gum and cigarettes. And a lift back to Verona.
In 2013 he was awarded the Cavaliere Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana.
[image credit: Cierre edizioni)
[image credit: Cierre edizioni)
After an hour or so wandering about the Palazzo dell'INA, I emerge back on to the busy street, turn right and join the throngs of people passing by on their way to Piazza Bra, completely oblivious to the dark secrets that lie within.
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