Did You Know?
During the Second World War, the Union of South Africa (then a British Dominion) interned Italian prisoners of war captured in North Africa at various camps across the country. One such camp was located near the town of Excelsior in the Free State, where Italian POWs were housed on a farm and required to perform construction and agricultural labour. The practice of using POW labour on farms was common in South Africa during the war, as internees were often employed to build roads, dams, and other infrastructure, or to assist with harvests, under the supervision of the military authorities. The specific camp at Excelsior operated from around 1942, and records indicate that the Italian prisoners were required to report or 'sign in' monthly to the camp authorities, as part of the administrative control over their movement and work assignments. The prisoners were generally treated according to the Geneva Convention of 1929, which allowed for the use of POW labour but prohibited work directly related to military operations. The Excelsior camp was one of several such sites in the Free State and other provinces, including larger camps at Zonderwater near Cullinan (Transvaal) and at Pietermaritzburg (Natal). After the Italian armistice with the Allies in September 1943, many Italian POWs in South Africa were offered the option to become 'co-operators' or 'Italian Military Internees' who worked voluntarily, while others remained in camps until repatriation after the war ended in 1945. The Excelsior camp was eventually closed, and today little physical trace remains, but the site is remembered as part of the broader history of Italian POW labour in South Africa during World War II. The town of Excelsior itself, established in the late 19th century, is a small farming community in the eastern Free State, known for its maize and livestock production.
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