©Gedenkstätte Buchenwald
The Salmoni family was separated forever in August 1944. They had been interned in the Fossoli police detention camp near Modena for months. Gilberto’s father was an Italian Jew, his mother of Greek origins; he himself was considered a “first-degree half-breed”. The family had suffered under the Italian race laws since 1938. When the Germans occupied Italy, they were threatened with deportation. After an attempt to flee to Switzerland, they were taken to Fossoli. From there, the SS sent the sixteen-year-old and his brother Renato to the Buchenwald concentration camp for forced labour; their parents and sister would be killed in Auschwitz. The brothers survived. Back home, Gilberto worked as an engineer and later as a psychologist.
