Heinrich Himmler would be most proud: another undercover reportage in Italy, after the one on the appalling health conditions of many hospitals, has unmasked what goes on in funeral parlours and morgues, especially in southern Italy.
So what pray tell does the former head of the dreaded SS have to do with funeral parlours? The bodies of the dearly beloved in Italy have been known to be completely stripped, including gold chains and even gold teeth, by less-than honest funeral parlour and morgue employees. Morbid as the whole thing sounds but it’s reminiscent of what I once saw in the morgue in Mauthausen, one of the most dreaded concentration camps under the Nazis, located in Linz, Austria (Simon Weisenthal came out alive from that camp, the last of the 11 he had been to. Adolf Eichmann had also visited Mauthausen during his “illustrious” career as head of the Gestapo). Before being thrown into the ovens the bodies would also have their tattoos removed (!!).
The Italian reporter pretended to be a funeral parlour employee. Kick-backs are the norm, even amongst ambulance drivers who tip off, for a nice “coffee” (the code word for the kick-back one receives) the news of a freshly deceased person, as a result say of a car accident. If the poor bloke has on gold chains or rings, voom, they immediately disappear!
Everyone seems to be in on the game, including very-well paid doctors (who already earn between 4 and 5,000 euros a month for their professions) as well as nurses. And it’s not terribly surprising that some funeral parlours are also controlled by the local mafia. The relatives of the dearly departed have little choice but to pay big bucks in order to bury their beloved, otherwise they may fall prey to the “pressure” from local mobsters.
And to think that Italy is a predominantly Catholic country home also to the Vatican!
No comments:
Post a Comment