About
This rice mill served as a Nazi concentration camp during World War II.
Once just a local rice mill or risiera, in September 1943, the Risiera di San Sabba took a dark turn. The complex became a Nazi concentration camp, used for the detention and killing of political prisoners and Jews. The factory at the Risiera di San Sabba, located in the northern Italian town of Trieste, began production in 1898, its main buildings going up in 1913. The place enjoyed 45 peaceful years until German occupation forces in Trieste decided to repurpose it as a concentration camp. Many of the occupants kept at Risiera di San Sabba later went on to the concentration camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Historians estimate that over 3,000 people were killed at Risiera itself, often by cremation and gassing.
