Shelter for former British prisoners

One of the many places used to hide British soldiers was Antonetta Capobianco's cellar, at number 4 Vicolo Marozzi. During the months of German occupation, Antonetta with some friends from Cannesse Street (Donata, Loreta, Nunziata and Rosaria) managed to hide in the cellar about a dozen Allied soldiers to whom they provided, daily, food and basic necessities. From the end of September 1943 to the end of May 1944, more than a hundred Sandonatese families rescued and hid foreign Jews, interned Yugoslavs and more than a thousand straggling soldiers who had escaped from prison camps in Avezzano, Sulmona and central Italy. Fugitive Allied soldiers sought to cross the Comino Valley, permanently garrisoned by Wehrmacht units, to rejoin fellow soldiers stationed beyond Cassino.

Who were the former allied prisoners

The straggling soldiers, referred to in documents of the time as "former Allied prisoners," were from the United Kingdom, Nepal and some Commonwealth states, such as South Africa, India and Australia. They were in prison camps in Central Italy because they had been captured by the Italian army or the German army during the North African military campaign (1940-1943). Sandonatesi provided help by supplying them with food and winter clothing: fleeing in the summer, they possessed only light clothing. During their stay in San Donato, many were captured by the Germans and deported to concentration camps in Germany; others preferred to wait for the arrival of the Allied contingents because, with the destruction of Montecassino, crossing the front meant crossing a highly garrisoned portion of the Gustav Line.

Placement of hiding places

With Winter just around the corner, Sandonatesi had the former Allied prisoners hidden in mountain cottages, cellars, rooms in the historic center and even in the palombara tower beside the Sanctuary. In the countryside they were housed in cottages in the Grottelle, San Fedele and Pedicone districts. From the latter locality they reached Tre Ponti, climbed the mountain and, through some paths, passed over the town. Arriving near the Lake district, they would take the path leading to Vorga, in the direction of Settefrati. In this locality were the cave and some cottages in which interned Jews and other former Allied prisoners were refugees.

The courage of Sandonatese women

In San Donato, relief to former Allied prisoners was mainly given by women, who often risked their lives and even ended up being arrested by the Germans. The women of San Donato provided the Allies with protection in safe hiding places, food sustenance and help in escaping. In two lists, compiled by the City of San Donato in 1945 and delivered to the Allied military command, as many as forty female names appear. To each woman the Allied Command issued a certificate as a "certificate of gratitude and recognition for the help given to members of the Allied Armed Forces which enabled them to escape or avoid capture by the enemy." The certificate was signed by General Alexander, as Supreme Commanding Marshal of the Allied Forces Mediterranean.