(April 5, 2017) On the evening of April 21, 1945, the arrival of Soviet troops and the guards escape marked the opening of the Labor Camps of Treuenbrietzen area, a town located 70 kilometers southwest of Berlin, intended for prisoners of war and forced laborers of different nationalities, employed in companies Kopp & Co and Dr. Kroeber & Sohn. On April 23, however, after the Soviet troops continued their advance, a German military unit separated Italians interned soldiers from the rest of the prisoners, and slaughtered them in a quarry near the village of Weinbergen. Of the 127 confirmed dead, 111 could be identified. This year to preserve the memory of the massacre, the Italian Embassy in Berlin in cooperation with the City of Treuenbrietzen promotes the commemoration ceremony: the date is Sunday, April 23 (coinciding with the Liberation Day) from 11, meeting point: Rathausplatz Treuenbrietzen (Brandenburg). (Red)
