Homosexual confinement colony on the Tremiti Islands

On several occasions during the 20^th century, the Tremiti islands were used as a penal colony. Between 1927 and 1943 in particular, the Fascist regime used the islands to imprison political opponents sentenced by the Special Court.

During the war, the penal colony was used as a concentration camp for ‘enemy subjects’, including dangerous Italians, Jews, Yugoslavs from the border regions, Albanians, and non-Catholics. The former Municipal House on the island of San Domino was used for this purpose. Among others, Ferruccio Parri, the first Prime Minister after Liberation, and Sandro Pertini, President of the Republic from 1978 to 1985, were held at the Tremiti islands for a short period.

Less well known is the story of the imprisonment of homosexuals at San Domino. Denounced as ‘pederasts’, guilty of unseemly or immoral behaviour, they could be imprisoned for up to five years. In May 1940, due to a growing number of political prisoners to be exiled to the island, the punishment was changed to ‘admonition’, which brought important restrictions on freedom.

In recent years, thanks to the publications of scholars and activists who have collected the testimonies of those imprisoned, the memory of this area of Fascist repression in the Apulian archipelago has been recovered. In June 2013, a commemorative plaque was placed by associations committed to defending the rights of homosexuals.