Identification card from Stalag IVB 255227
The identification card was purchased by the memorial in 2017. It was offered as an alleged archaeological find. Unauthorised digs are a common problem for memorials and monument authorities. The card belonged to the young Italian soldier Vincenzo Lampugnani. He died of tuberculosis in Zeithain on 1 May 1945.
Padre Luca Airoldi was one of the Italian clergymen in Zeithain. He gave the soldiers last rites and conducted the burials. Padre Airoldi wrote in his report about Vincenzo Lampugnani: ‘Ill since May 1944. He had served in a work crew in Leipzig and suffered from hunger.’
