Santa-Beatrice internment camps

Santa-Beatrice internment camps

Montanaro men photographed at Campo Esultare
Location	Primarily Santa Beatrice, Aciria.
Prisoners	Unknown, estimated third of Montanaro population at the time

Santa-Beatrice internment camps were a series of internment camps located in the central highlands of Aciria during the Second Great War. The initial idea to use prisoners of war as labour to build up the infrastructure in the highlands was drafted by the then Marshal of Aciria Quilipio Montanardi. The plan was then authorised by Grand Emperor Giovanni II, with the addition of allowing the internment of Acirian citizens for national security purposes, mostly targeting the Montanaro population of Aciria.

It's thought that at least a third of the Montanaro population at the time went through the internment camps at one point or another during the war, with many Montanaro who had settled outside of the mountainous region forcibly relocated back to their ancestral homelands.

Background

The Imperial Seat had long worried over potential Montanaro insurrection during an armed conflict. In the years leading up to the Second Great War, Marshal of Aciria Quilipio Montanardi began drafting plans for using both prisoners of war and rogue elements of the population, such as minorities and political opposition, as free labour to develop the central highlands of Aciria that had been left behind the rest of the nation due to the terrain.

The first two camps, Campo Esultare and Campo Speranza, were constructed using prisoners prior to the breakout of the Second Great War. Following camps were constructed by labourers from internment camps.

Breakout of the Second Great War

Following the breakout of the Second Great War, PAI started massive campaigns across Montanaro settlements nation-wide to transport socialists, minorities and their families to the initial two internment camps. Montanaro populations outside of the Santa Beatrice region were the first to be relocated and interned, with on many occasions physically able men were drafted to the front lines instead. Initial projects the internment camps were tasked with was the construction of further internment camps, which was followed by construction of infrastructure and labour in the mines to provide raw materials for the war effort.

Conditions

The living conditions at the camps greatly varied during the war and from camp to camp. The first years of internment were described by survivors as "less living, more surviving", with little to no recreational activities offered and the diet consisting of food cut with things such as sawdust. Children younger than 16 were exempt from labour, but their life was mostly spent in the designated educational sections of the camp with their peers, spending most of their time on studies with lacking recreational time similar to their adult counterparts. Medical personnel in the country were prioritized to the front lines, but those unable to serve in the front lines for one reason or another were often sent to the internment camps as medical staff. Both the medical equipment provided and number of staff was lacking, resulting in disease being a part of everyday life in the camps.

As the war went on, however, the living conditions in the camps was improved, providing more recreational time with things such as books and national radio played throughout the camps.

Aftermath

Material loss

Many Montanaro faced financial devastation due to the internment, forcing them to close their businesses. The closing of Montanaro businesses was devastating particularly in the Montanaro communities outside Santa-Beatrice, in cities such as Trossera and Cantiere, where a notable Montanaro minority recided. Often employed by Montanaro business owners, they were left unemployed, and often forced to return home to Santa-Beatrice, resulting in even educated Montanaro taking occupations such as labourer or factory worker.

Reparations and recognition

As of 2028, the Imperial Seat hasn't acknowledged or apologised for the unfair internment of the Montanaro during the Second Great War, with a general apology issued by current emperor Ignazio I addressing all the unlawfully interned. The United Montanaro League demanded monetary reparations for the older generation and the off-spring of those who lost their businesses and livelihood due to internment, but no payment has been made to date.