The Cimitero Staglieno in Genova contains a remarkable collection of funerary sculpture. But I will not write about this now. Instead, I am going to concentrate on only one memorial – something I was not expecting to see in this cemetery.
The monument is in part of the cemetery dedicated to those who were killed in WW2. The bodies of these unfortunate people are either in the graveyard or commemorated there because their remains were cremated, or otherwise disposed of, by the Germans in their various camps for prisoners, including concentration camps. The monument that attracted my attention has its inscription both in Italian and Russian. It is the grave of Fyodor Andrianovič Poletaev (1909-1945).
Fyodor’s biography is described in detail at https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%ABdor_Andrianovi%C4%8D_Poletaev, but I will summarise it here.
He was born in the Ryazan Oblast in Imperial Russia. At the outset of ww2, he was called up to join the Red Army.
In June 1942, Fyodor was captured by the Germans and became a prisoner of war. After being transferred from one POW camp to another, he arrived in July 1944 at a concentration camp at Tortona, near Genova. He escaped from this camp, and then joined a group of Italian partisans fighting in the Appenine Hills. He died fighting in a battle at Cantalupa. He was buried in the Staglieni Cemetery in Genova, where his monument can be seen.
Thus, a labourer from the Sovie Union ended up a hero in Italy.
