[Italian male nurses called to arms in World War II: the letters of the years of imprisonment].

AIM: During the Second World War the male staff of assistance in the Italia hospitals was called to arms.This work concerns the letters sent by the male nurses who were captured by the Germans and put in prison. The aim is to know whether their profession had somehow affected their living condition in jail and had favoured their release or not.

METHOD: 88 personal files of nurses on duty in Ospedale Maggiore and sent to the front during the period between 1940 and 1945 have been studied. The documents are kept in the historical archive of the Ospedale Maggiore of Milan and the research covered the period from December to January 2013. The sources have been analyzed according to Chabod's method of historical research (2012). 4 prisoners have been found among the 88 files of soldiers and handwritten letter has been selected for each one.

RESULTS: These letters the attempt of the prisoners to reassure their loved ones emerges. Moreover, in the files of the prisoners' formal request for their release sent by hospital board were found. As a result one of the prisoners was released.

CONCLUSIONS: This paper suggests that the fact of being a nurse in a hospital influenced the conditions during tha period of captivity. Much is still to be found to shed light on a dramatic period of our country and to restore the memory of the contribution given by the profession.