Evening star., 1929-09-01
BY FRANCISCO FAUSTO NIT

or prOcuratOr OF the King (laW Omcer
much as seeing me to five years on the
prison on foot along a rough and stony
road, and we were forced, manacled as
we were, to carry our luggage. Our
sufferingS may be imagined. We re-
manned In that prison seven days,
sleeping on the hard ground. We were
grossly overcrowded, and in my cell,
where hardly six people could find ac-
commodation, there had been crammed
16.
From Girgenti we went to Porto
Empedocle on the southern coast of
Sicily, wherl we embarked on a little
steamer. Twenty hours we lay in the
hold of that ship while she fought
through the rough sea. We were so
tired and broken by our brutal treat
ment that we scarcely felt anything
Finally we landed at Lampedusa.
The island is strip of few square
miles southwest of Sicily, near Cape
Bon, Africa. A few wretched huts in
which the free population Of about 600
fisher-folk live, represent all there is
of the local village. On the island we
found 400 exiles convicted of offenses
against the criminal law, the lowest
type of jailbird. With our arrival the
number of political deportees was
brought up to 120.
We slept in a stuffy barracks in
which we were locked at pm. every
day. At in the morning We were
allowed to walk about In the dirty lit
not permitted to cross the village
boundaries. We were not allowed to
go about in groups of more than five;
we were forbidden to bathe, and the
two miserable cafes of the village were
out of bounds.
Water Was Scarce.
Water was very scarce. All We had
was rainwater collected In cisterns and
kept during the many months OF dry
weather. The water was almost un-
drinkable and crawling with parasites.
We were guarded by 300 Fascist
militiamen under several officers. One,
a lieutenant, was for four months the
tormenter of the deporteeS. He ana
his men would beat and otherwise Ill
treat a lot of the political prisoners.
Never a day passed without some act
of violence committed for no apparent
reason. ~
This man used to threaten us with
death and express the wish that an
other attempt would be made in Italy
on the Duce so he might have an excuse
for massacreing the lot of us.
Our letters, coming and going, were
| censored, confiscated and often de-
stroyed. Two young brothers named
| Ticconi of Rome, each sentenced TO nve
years deportation, were beaten brutally
for having, refused to give the address res
| of a friend who had sent them post
card. A young workman, Pietro Rossl,
was stabbed by the lieutenant refer
| to because he did not shout Long 1--we
the King" as he had been ordered to
do Twenty deportees, heard to sing
old-time dialect songs OF the Roman
| district, were hogged and thrown into
prison.
Prisoners Scattered.
The methods were so brutal that the
| Italian government in view OF protests
| in some foreign papers, was obliged TO
order an inquiry, and shortly atterWard
Lampedusa was cleared OF political
prisoners, who were distributed among
the islands of Pantellaria, Ustica, Libari
and PonZa.
There are now altogether about 1000
political prisoners. Most are detained
in the islands I have just mentioned,
while the remainder are confined in va
rious places in the interior of Italy.
At Ustica, the worst OF these Islands,
the Italian government has confined
! Gen. Roberto Bencivenga, attached to
the supreme command during the war
and then president Of the Association
of Italian Journalists. His only offense
is that he is a Free Mason and demo-
crat.
At the Island Of Lipari. to which I
was transferred in 1927, the deportees
included Signor Domizio Torrigiani, well
known grand master OF italian Free
Masonry. Signor Torrigiani remained
year and half in the island, and then,
having become almost completely blind,
he was sent to a clinic in the Province
Of Rome, where he now remains,
watched day and night.
The Fascist government frequently
asserts that the political deportees are
all extremists, communists and anarch-
lists. This is not true. There are many
deportees in the islands who are ordi-
nary middle-class people whose only sin
is that they want to see liberal institu-
tions and civil freedom in their country.
Next and final article: The Escape.
(Copyright, 1929. by North American News
paper Aliance)