Bagnoli is a western seaside district of Naples, Italy, well beyond the confines of the original city. It is beyond Cape Posillipo and, thus, looking on the coast of the Bay of Pozzuoli.
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Bagnoli was one of the sites of Naples' industrialization in the early 20th century, with the construction of a steel mill. During World War II Bagnoli was damaged as a result of the bombings of Naples.
After World War II, Bagnoli was overbuilt by virtually uncontrolled construction and then suffered urban decay. The first decade of the 21 century saw the removal of the steel mill and some improvement in the physical and visual landscape of the area, including the construction of a public educational facility and convention center called Città della Scienza ("Science City") as well as the conversion of the long ex-steel-mill industrial pier to a public promenade.
Between 1946 and 1951 Bagnoli was the site of a Displaced Persons camp run by the International Refugee Organization. The complex occupied by the camp was originally built to provide a home for young people in need. The facility, built in 1930's, was occupied by the Italian War Ministry until 1942 when it was turned over to a Fascist Youth Organization and, later, to the Germans for an OCS school until 1943.[1]
In 1944 it became an Italian orphanage - Collegio Constanzio Ciano. In mid-February 1944, the 765th US Squadron occupied the area and slept there on the marble floors.[2]
After World War II, it was used as a Displaced Persons camp, housing between 8,000 to 10,000 refugees, mainly from Eastern Europe, who were being processed for immigration to various countries including Argentina, Australia, Canada, and the USA. At one time there were complaints about disease and children dying.[3]
An appalling atrocity by the Western Allies was knowingly committed at the refugee camp after World War II as part of "Operation Keelhaul" which was the last forced repatriation from Bagnoli as well as other refugee camps at Aversa, Pisa, and Riccione, of about one thousand displaced people who were categorized correctly, or incorrectly, as ex-Soviet citizens. Their ultimate fate was execution or imprisonment in the Gulag of Soviet Russia.[4]
Relocation of Allied Forces Southern Europe (AFSOUTH) to the area previously occupied by the camp at Bagnoli started in January 1953, and the new complex was formally activated on 4 April 1954, the day of the 5th anniversary of the North Atlantic Treaty.[1]
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