Suggerimenti alla IOM di Ginevra

Dear Dr. Dirk De Winter
Director German Forced Labour Compensation Programme
17, Route des Morillons
c.p. 71 CH - 1211 Geneve

I am the Director of "Istituto di Storia Contemporanea" of Como which has collected 11.200 claim forms. We received the draft claim forms from Rome and were invited to make suggestions.

The suggestions are comprised in the letter written for You, dear Director, from our president that I send now by e-mail.

With my best regards
Yours faithfully
Prof. Valter Merazzi

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Dear Director,

in name of the Istituto di Storia Contemporanea "Pier Amato Perretta" of Como, of which I am the president, I express to You a cordial and friendly greeting for all what You do for the former italian internees and forced labours in the Germany of Hitler. I take the opportunity of this letter, to present some suggestions about our common work.

1. The claim form
We suggest a greater claim form, with more space for what the claimants must write in capital letters.
We suggest a claim form in Italian. The English language is not known by the survivors of 1943-45.
We suggest also an Italian text of the law of the Fondation. It makes difficulties to us in our contact with the people having only the English text.

2. The comunication with survivors
With the target to reach all the survivors, also abroad (Argentina, USA, Canada), the International IOM must employ all media: TV, radio, Internet, newspapers, periodicals, the net of the town cocencils. Can and will IOM do this?

3. Copies of the requested documents.
Why IOM request 2 copies? That formality complicates the work of the survivors with resindence in little countries (expecially in the South) and poor and also our work: we have 11.200 claim forms and a too little staff.

4. Fascicolo matricolare (the military document released by Distretti, recruiting offices).
It is necessary that IOM subscribe an agreement with Italian government. Italian government must give sudden the order to open all the archives of State (Ministero del Tesoro, Corte dei Conti, Archivi di Stato locali, Distretti militari, etc.). All these State-run organisations have still now not received instructions from Rome about the documents and oppose the release of the fascicoli matricolari.
The fascicoli matricolari are comprising often the German documents necessary to receive the compensation.
Concluding, the documents are not only at Bad Arolsen, but also in Italian archives. The agreement with Italian government is important and necessary. We are running against time.

5. It exists also German archives where are written all the names of Italian deportees, as the Wast of Berlin (400.000 names), and are existing also the archives of German government and German companies. It is immoral to pretend that the claimants go in Germany, at one's expense, to search the documents. That is a task of Germany.
Nazi-Germany was the nation which created the Lager and used the men as slaves. It is impossible to believe to solve the problem only only by letters and claim forms.

Our Institute is working gratis with volunteers. It's working with dignity, facing with difficulty the financial problems. The work is hard: computer, preparation of dossier, analisis and interpretation of documents, letters, answe to thelephone callings, contact with survivors.
More we can't do. We are not sure if we could photocopy all what You will within August 2001.
Nevertheless, dear Director, I will assure You that we will continue our work tenaciously, cooperating with all the people which defendes the rights of the slaves of Hitler.

With my personally regards and those of all the members of Institute, I wish to You a good and profitable work.

Yours faithfully
Ricciotti Lazzero