Guided Tours through Salento’s Places of Remembrance
Jewish Refugees in Salento: The ‘Sante’ Itinerary
Private tour or for organized groups
Tour Description
An itinerary through the Memory Sites of Salento, which from 1943 and after World War II welcomed thousands of Jewish refugees who survived the Nazi concentration camps.
The tour visits the most renowned Salento seaside towns, chosen since the 19th century as exclusive vacation destinations: from Santa Cesarea Terme to Tricase Porto, and from Santa Maria di Leuca to Santa Maria al Bagno.
In these towns, the Anglo-American Allied Forces organized and managed reception camps, requisitioning villas and seaside homes from locals. The UNRRA (United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration) provided food, clothing, and medical supplies to refugees from across Europe.
In a Salento already affected by war and poverty, the refugees rediscovered the will to live, and a new generation began to flourish.
The tour includes many moving testimonies and historic photos showing daily life in the camps: friendships with locals, schools teaching professions or the Hebrew language (the common language among refugees was Yiddish, closely related to German), political groups theorizing the creation of the State of Israel, theatrical performances, and leisure activities including sports and the sea.
This regained serenity in a near-paradisiacal land allowed young refugees, often arriving alone because their families had been destroyed in the Holocaust, to form new families.
Evidence of this can be seen in the many marriages celebrated in Salento’s reception camps (at least 340) and the birth of children in the hospital set up by the Allies at the ‘Ex Colonia Scarciglia’, at the foot of the Leuca Lighthouse.
The Museum of Memory and Reception in Santa Maria al Bagno preserves extraordinary photographic and artistic testimonies of the history of Jewish refugees in Salento.
WHAT WE WILL VISIT
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Santa Cesarea Terme
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Tricase Porto
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Santa Maria di Leuca
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Santa Maria al Bagno
ADDITIONAL INFO
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Optional entry to the Museum of Memory and Reception
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Skip the ticket line by booking your guided tour with us
MEETING POINT WITH THE GUIDE
Bar Porta d’Oriente, Via Roma, 73, 73020 Santa Cesarea Terme
DURATION
Full day or half day
INFORMATION & BOOKINGS
Call to +39 320 7610467
Email us to info@bestguidedtours.com