San Cassiano Connections

Through the Gates of Dachau Concentration Camp: The Survival of a young man from Bagni di Lucca.  

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While tracing young men from Bagni di Lucca through WWI and WWII, I came across a name I didn’t expect: Davide Talenti, born in 1921 in San Cassiano di Controne[1]. In 1944, his name appeared on a list of priests, Communists, politicians, and Jewish civilians imprisoned in Dachau concentration camp. But Davide wasn’t a public figure, a dissident, or a soldier—he was a civil baker who had emigrated to Germany just a few years earlier.

So how did a young man from Bagni di Lucca end up in one of Nazi Germany’s most notorious camps? That question sent me digging through archives and across borders, uncovering the hidden stories of civilians caught in the web of Nazi persecution.

This is the story of Davide Talenti: A man from San Cassiano di Controne who endured and survived one of the darkest chapters of the 20th century.

A Tuscan Beginning

Davide Talenti was born in Vizzata 25, San Cassiano di Controne[1]. While his birthdate varies slightly across different records, and online access to Bagni di Lucca’s civil registry ends in 1910, Davide consistently reported his birth as November 25, 1921[1,2]. Alternative dates, such as November 25, 1920, and January 25, 1921, also appear in his documents, likely clerical errors accumulated over the years and typos caused by the stress of war.

From Civilian to Captive

By the time the Second World War erupted, Davide was living in Mannheim, Germany, where he worked as a baker[2]. It’s unclear exactly when he moved there, but by late 1944, Davide had been detained in the Strafgefängnis Mannheim – a penal prison used by the Nazi regime to hold political prisoners, forced laborers, and suspected dissenters[3].

Although Mannheim was not formally part of the SS-run concentration camp system, it was deeply embedded in the broader infrastructure of Nazi repression. To be an Italian in Germany in 1944 was to exist in a dangerous limbo: Germany’s former allies were now seen as potential traitors. Civilians like Davide, once welcomed as workers, were increasingly vulnerable to suspicion, denunciation, and imprisonment[3].

Photo caption

A list of prisoners at Dachau concentration camp in 1944, with Davide listed as #4 from the top. From: https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/de/document/130432851

Archival records from this period suggest Davide may have initially been through the concentration camp at Sachsenhausen[2] and potentially one of its satellite labour brigades in Leonberg, near Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp[4,5]. His name appears on multiple undated transport lists naming prisoners assigned to those sites, though there is no evidence he was ever sent there. These lists were likely planning documents, not records of actual movement.

On December 13, 1944, Davide was among a group of prisoners transferred to Dachau. A few days later, on December 16, Dachau concentration camp records confirm his arrival[7], with a Nazi accounting document recorded the personal funds of each transferee, including Davide’s personal funds of 36 Reichmarks (ca. €5 in 1944, or €150 adjusted for inflation and price levels, see photo to the right) [6]. This coldly bureaucratic record is more than just administrative: it suggests Davide may have been imprisoned with the possibility of future release—if he survived.

Davide Talenti, pictured here in Dachau, likely in December 1944. The context of the photo is unknown, but has been archived with an envelope also containing his name and prisoner number. From https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/en/search/person/126535057?s=davide%20talenti&t=0&p=0

In Dachau

Established in 1933 near Munich, Dachau was the first concentration camp created by the Nazi regime – and served as a prototype for the rest[8]. Over its twelve years of operation, more than 200,000 people were imprisoned there. At least 40,000 died from execution, disease, malnutrition, or medical experimentation[9].

Conditions by late 1944 were catastrophic. The camp was overcrowded, starved of supplies, and suffering from a devastating typhus outbreak. Medical care had all but collapsed. The winter of 1944–45 brought bitter cold, gradually smaller food rations, and a relentless spread of diseases[9].

Photo caption

The administration of typhus tests by American medical personnel in Dachau in 1945. At the time this photo was taken, Davide Talenti was already in quarantine/isolation for typhus treatment. From: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Copyright: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Provenance: Francis Robert Arzt. URL: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/pa1059223

Typhus Hits

On April 8, 1945 – just three weeks before the camp’s liberation by American troops – Davide was recorded at Dachau’s medical facilities suffering from typhus[11]. In many ways, his situation went from bad to worse. The disease, spread by lice and worsened by starvation and filth, brought fever, delirium, rash, and a high mortality rate in camp conditions[7,8]. 

He remained in the typhus ward until May 26, 1945—over a month after the end of the war in Europe[11, 12]. That he survived both the disease and the brutal conditions that caused it is remarkable. In fact, the outbreak was so severe that American forces, upon liberating Dachau on April 29, 1945, had to place the camp under strict quarantine[13]. Medical teams were brought in; barracks were deloused, with contaminated bedding burned. Yet even after liberation, hundreds of former prisoners continued to die.

Photographs from that time, of emaciated survivors on hospital beds, offer a glimpse into what Davide must have endured[9,13]. His survival was not just unlikely. It was extraordinary.

Photo caption

The typhus ward at Dachau concentration camp at the time of American liberation. Records show Davide Talenti was admitted to the ward from April to May 1945. From: https://www.ww2online.org/image/us-soldiers-caring-ill-patients-typhus-ward-dachau-1945

Survivors in Dachau distribute bread to their comrades after liberation. Credit: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Frank Manucci Merle Spiegel
Copyright: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
[Photograph #07974] USHMM Photo Archives
Survivors congregate next to the barbed wire fence surrounding the Dachau concentration camp. Credit: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of William and Dorothy McLaughlin
Copyright: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
[Photograph #75039] USHMM Photo Archives

After the War

Details about Davide’s life after 1945 are limited, but a few scattered records offer glimpses into his later movements.

In March 1956, a “Statement of Changes in Crew” from the Liberian ship S.S. Tini noted that Davide Talenti, a crewman, deserted the ship in New York on March 31[14]. At the time, he was listed as an “oiler”, with four years of maritime service[15]. Davide was in the United States and, in 1960, applied for naturalization from San Francisco, California [1]. 

Interestingly, over the years, Davide seems to have travelled regularly across the Atlantic, appearing on ship manifests from Monrovia, Liberia to New Jersey, New York, and Venezuela[17], and even joining a Norwegian vessel bound for Keelung, Taiwan[18]. Fittingly, after a life so deeply tied to the sea, Davide Talenti’s ashes were scattered over the water following his death in 1988[19].

Sources
  1. The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Petitions For Naturalization, 8/6/1903 – 12/29/1911; NAI Number: 605504; Record Group Title: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009; Record Group Number: Records of District Courts of the United States, 1685-2009. Record for: Davide Talenti. Available from: https://www.ancestry.ca/search/collections/3998/records/3643345
  2. Aarolsen Archives. 1. Inhaftierungsdokumente/ 1.1 Lager und Ghettos / 1.1.6 Konzentrationslager Dachau. Dokumente mit Namen ab TADEUSZ, Sigismund (01010607 325). Available from: https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/de/search/person/10771284?s=davide%20talenti&t=2114627&p=0
  3. Guerrini, I. & Pluviano, M. (2020). 1943-1945: Italian enforced laborers in Germany. Men and women forced to support German military efforts. Science. Society. Defence, 2020, 8(4), p. 40. DOI: 10.24411/2311-1763-2020-10264. Available from: https://journals.indexcopernicus.com/api/file/viewByFileId/1127704
  4. Arolsen Archives. 1. Inhaftierungsdokumente/ 1.1 Lager und Ghettos / 1.1.6 Konzentrationslager Dachau. Transportliste nacn KL. Sachsenhausen (XIII. Baubrigade) + Ersatz Transportliste nach dem KL Natzweiler (Leonberg) (3712793136). Available from: https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/de/search/person/128451896?s=davide%20talenti&t=248331&p=0
  5. Arolsen Archives. 1. Inhaftierungsdokumente/ 1.1 Lager und Ghettos / 1.1.6 Konzentrationslager Dachau. Transportliste nach KL. Sachsenhausen (XIII. Baubrigade. Available from: https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/de/search/person/128452057?s=davide%20talenti&t=248348&p=0
  6. Arolsen Archives. 1. Detention documents/1.1 Camps and ghettos/1.1.6. Dachau concentration camp: “Reason for payment: Confiscated funds, own funds of prisoners, income from brothel operation, also anteen residual credit, package control, raids, etc.”, 1945-01 – 1945-02. M.1.D/34, Yad Vashem Archives. Available from: https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/de/search/person/128458040?s=davide%20talenti&t=239833&p=0
  7. JewishGen volunteers, comp. Germany, Dachau Concentration Camp Records, 1945 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008. Available from: https://www.jewishgen.org/databases/jgdetail_2.php
  8. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (2024) “Dachau”. Accessed May 21, 2025. Available from: https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/dachau
  9. Voisich, R. (2020) “Surviving Typhus at Dachau”, Museum of Jewish Heritage: A Living Memorial to the Holocaust. Accessed May 21, 2025. Available from: https://mjhnyc.org/blog/post-liberation-battles-surviving-typhus/
  10. Cleveland Clinic. “Typhus”. Accessed May 21, 2025. Available from:https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/typhus
  11. Ancestry.com. Free Access: Europe, Registration of Foreigners and German Persecutees, 1939-1947 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2019. Available from: https://www.ancestry.ca/search/collections/61758/records/10311383
  12. Aarolson Archives. 2 Registrierungen von Ausländern und deutschen Verfolgten durch öffentliche Einrichtungen, Versicherungen und Firmen (1939 – 1947)/2.1 Durchführung der Alliiertenbefehle zur Erfassung von Ausländern und deutschen Verfolgten sowie verwandte Dokumente / 2.1.3 Französische Besatzungszone in Deutschland (DE ITS 2.1.3.1 RP 027 9 ITA ZM). Available from: https://collections.arolsen-archives.org/de/search/person/70816357?s=davide%20talenti&t=699959&p=0
  13. National WWII Museum and USHMM (2022) “Liberation of Dachau”. Accessed May 21, 2025. Available from: https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/last-days-dachau-concentration-camp
  14. The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1897-1957; Microfilm Serial or NAID: T715; RG Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; RG: 85. Available from: https://www.ancestry.ca/search/collections/7488/records/3035255960
  15. Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1897-1957 (National Archives Microfilm Publication T715, roll 8768); Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, Record Group 85. Available from: https://www.myheritage.no/research/collection-10512/ellis-island-og-andre-new-york-passasjerlister-1820-1957?itemId=43056849-&action=showRecord&recordTitle=Davide+Talenti
  16. The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1897-1957; Microfilm Serial or NAID: T715; RG Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; RG: 85. Available from: https://www.ancestry.ca/search/collections/7488/records/3040729864
  17. The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington, DC, USA; Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1897-1957; Microfilm Serial or NAID: T715; RG Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; RG: 85. Available from: https://www.ancestry.ca/search/collections/7488/records/3010150785?tid=&pid=&queryId=6a11e983-e5d1-4ba7-aebb-24281ea23ecd&_phsrc=VDS3&_phstart=successSource
  18. Maryland, Baltimore, Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels and Airplanes, 1954-1957, database with images,FamilySearch (033 – Mar, 1957-Apr 3, 1957 > image 1003 of 1185; citing NARA microfilm publication M1477 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.). Available from: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G977-M79S
  19. Find A Grave. “Davide Talenti”. Accessed: May 21, 2025. Available from: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/256097748/davide-talenti

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