Laconia incident. Part 8

Laconia incident. Part 8

A lifeboat from the Laconia floats on rough seas with eleven figures on board, among them two Polish soldiers. The soldier on the left is standing over the others in the boat. He has a pistol in his right hand and is pointing it at the occupants of the boat. The soldier on the right has used an axe to hack off the right hand of an Italian survivor trying to clamber into the lifeboat. Blood is spurting out of the wound and the man is screaming in pain. A third man in the bow of the lifeboat is wielding a club.

Label reads “53”; signed by the author. Caption reads “(8)… fummo salvati dall’affondatore del Lakonia, l’UI56 e vi rimanemmo 3 giorni. Al 2o giorno incontrammo una scialuppa, carica di inglesi, il comandante del sommergibile cui fummo trasbordati,.. chiamò a bordo un soldato italiano, che le [sic] fece questo agghiacciante racconto: durante la notte del 12 due italiani, a bordo di una scialuppa inglese, si erano mescolati a loro senza che ne se accorgessero, scoperti, i due erano di troppo per i viveri di bordo, si era deciso di tenerne uno solo, l’altro doveva essere lasciato in mare. Ma questi non voleva sganciarsi dalla scialuppa, e si aggrappava ai bordi con la forza della diperazione. I 2 soldati polacchi con una scure gli recisero le mani. Il comandante del sottomarino, fatto sgomberare il ponte da tutti noi, rimase solo con i due polacchi, uccidendoli…”

Caption translates as: “(8)… We were saved from the sinking of the Laconia by the U156 and we stayed aboard for three days. On the second day we came across a lifeboat full of British [personnel]. The captain of the submarine on which we were trans-shipped spoke to one of the Italian soldiers on board, who told an appalling story: on the 12th, at night, two Italians jumped on board a British lifeboat, mixing with them without anyone noticing. When they got caught, the British soldiers realised they were surplus and the food was insufficient for everyone. Therefore, it was decided that only one was allowed to stay onboard and the other one had to be abandoned in the sea. However, the latter refused to disengage himself from the lifeboat and desperately held on to the gunwales. Two Polish soldiers severed his hands with a hatchet. The captain of the submarine, after ordering us to leave the deck, remained alone with the two Poles and killed them…”

One tempera on paper, pasted on mount board

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