A border between poverty and persecution

“Refugee control”

The Caprino register (September 1943 to April 1945)

1 The “Controllo fuggiaschi” ("Refugee control") register is a unique document. It lists the refugees accepted and rejected in Cantine di Gandria. Here you can discover some of their stories, at times happy, at times tragic.

2 The force of destiny

Countess Wally Castelbarco Toscanini fled Italy with her daughter Emanuela and arrived here at Caprino on 11 November 1943. She was the daughter of the famous and outstanding conductor, Arturo Toscanini, a tenacious opponent of Fascism who had gone into exile in the United States.

The music that is playing in this room, La Forza del Destino by Giuseppe Verdi, is conducted by the great maestro himself.

  • Wally Toscanini (1900-1991) in 1931
  • Maestro Arturo Toscanini with his daughter Wally (left) and granddaughter Emanuela (right) in 1953

3 The Caprino register

During the war, the Federal Department of Justice and Police was responsible for issuing immigration regulations. However, it is one thing to dictate instructions on paper in an office in faraway Bern, but quite another to deal with real people at the border. For the guards, this was a difficult, sometimes thankless, task, especially when it came to Jewish refugees.

The only register held by a border post on refugees accepted and rejected during the Second World War in Switzerland is that of “Caprino”, the former name of the customs post which was located here, where the museum is now located. On the walls are the names of those who fled from Italy and arrived in this building: in dark grey those who were accepted, in light grey those who were rejected.

Here you can discover the dramatic, adventurous and moving stories of some of them.

  • The picture shows the Customs Museum when it was called “Posto Guardie Caprino”

4 Asylum figures

  • 51 000
  • Total number of civilian refugees accepted during the Second World War - 14,000 Italians, 10,400 French, 8,000 Poles, 3,250 Soviets, 2,600 Germans, 2,200 stateless persons - 25,000 men, 15,000 women, 10,000 children
  • 21 300
  • Jews or persons of Jewish origin accepted
  • 20 000
  • Civilian refugees rejected
  • 104 000
  • Interned soldiers
  • Source: Switzerland, National Socialism and the Second World War, final report of the Berger Commission, Zurich 2002
  • 250
  • Refugees accepted at Caprino - 97 Jews, 27 escaped Allied prisoners of war, 26 deserters, 29 politicians, 70 civilians, 1 partisan
  • 173
  • Refugees rejected at Caprino - 53 Jews, 71 deserters, 49 civilians
  • Juifs
  • At Caprino, 97 out of 150 Jews (65%) were accepted. Of the 53 rejected Jews, 21 were accepted elsewhere in subsequent attempts, giving a total acceptance rate of 79% - 11 rejected Jews are subsequently arrested and deported to Auschwitz, from which only two returned.
  • Source: “Refugee control” register, Swiss Federal Archives, Bern

5 Rosa Jakubowski (1899-1962), Berlin

A Ticino soldier disobeys orders and helps Rosa and her son Hans to safety.

5 Silvia Liuzzi (1938), Florence

“I had a sister, Elvezia, who was named after the country that took us in”.

5 Leonardo De Benedetti (1898-1983), Turin

A dramatic destiny, which leads Leonardo to forge an intense friendship with Primo Levi.

5 Ornella Ottolenghi (1929), Milan

“I only remember the terror of walking, of tumbling, because it was obviously very steep”.

6 Légendes des objets

  • Register of the Caprino border post
  • Original German passport with the “J” stamp for Jew (Jude) of Rosa Jakubowski
  • Interrogation report of Emma Liuzzi, Silvia Liuzzi's grandmother. It recounts the circumstances of her escape to Switzerland