248275 Primo Boccaleoni Royal Italian Army Battalion Val Chiese 6th Regiment Alpini from:Serramazzoni (Modena), Italy My great-grandfather, Primo Boccaleoni, was a simple soldier during WW2. He was sent to Russia with the Italian mountain troops (called Alpini), from July 1942 to February 1943. His battalion Val Chiese received, after the war, the Gold medal of military valor the highest military decoration in Italy.
When he returned from Russia he spent some time in a military hospital then he was captured by the Nazis in Vipiteno (Bolzano, Italy) 9 September 1943 (the day after the Armistice of Cassibile). He remained in Hoheinstein Stalag IB from 17 September 1943 to 10 September 1944, then he was sent to another stalag, whose name I don't know. He was released on May 1945 and he returned back to Italy.
When I was a child he told me about Russia... but not a word about the lager. Only after his death in 2009 I discovered documents concerning his internment.
I would like to talk with children or grandchildren of other ex-internees about Hohenstein.
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