There were also the crews of two Italian ships, the Sistiana and the Timavo, which had been intercepted by the English navy. We remained in this camp till the end of 1943 when we were brought back to Kenya to the internment camp of Kabete. We were allowed to go back to our Missions only at the end of August 1944.
The treatment we received in South Africa was not the best, but was not bad either.
Tiresome were the frequent searches for a non existent radio-transmitter and the routine morning roll-calls which would keep us standing in military formation for at least one hour and, if somebody was missing, because he had remained asleep in the tent, then we had to be standing there for two hours or more till the missing person was found.
At the beginning we missionaries were intermingled with the other Italian detainees, but later we organized ourselves, so that we could have some barracks for ourselves and one was converted into a chapel where we would reserve the Eucharist and celebrate Holy Mass. The Bishop of Aliwal North would provide us with altar bread and wine for mass. Once so organized, we had the possibility to do a bit of apostolate: to hear confessions and teach catechism. On Sunday we would organize a public Mass which was attended by everybody except very few non-believers.
The medical assistance was poor: in fact even we missionaries have left in South Africa a confrère, Fr. Efisio Riva, who died following an easy operation of appendicitis and is now buried in Pretoria.
I myself have lost a kidney for the failure of the doctor to diagnose nephritis.
In spite of all these, I am the only survivor of all our missionaries who were interned in South Africa.
