Rab (Arbe) Concentration Camp

In order to crush partisan resistance in Ljubljana, Fascist Italy carried out raids beginning in February 1942 and the majority of arrested civilians were sent to Rab (or Arbe in Italian), the largest concentration camp in Italian-occupied territory. Established in July 1942, the camp held 10,000-15,000 people until it was disbanded in September 1943. Rab was notorious for having the worst sanitary and living conditions of all the Fascist camps. At its peak, Rab held as many as 15,000 internees. As early as 1953, a memorial was set up at the camp’s former site/cemetery. The memorial site is located in Kampor Bay on the island of Rab – reachable by ferries from the mainland (Jablanac) as well as from the larger and even more popular island of Krk. Over 70 years later, all that remains of Rab camp is an empty field with a single commemorative plaque (placed on the 50th anniversary of the camp’s creation) with the names of 1,033 victims that could be identified, roughly a third of the actual number of victims of the camp which is estimated to be over 3,500.