A new museum opened on Wednesday dedicated to thousands of concentration camp survivors who travelled through Italy on their way to Israel after WWII.

The Museum of Memory and Welcome has been created in the small town of Nardo', near Lecce in Puglia, through which some 150,000 Jews passed between 1943 and 1947.

The museum houses all the material relating to the time from the town council archives, including witness reports, photographs and videos, as well as a multimedia room and a library.

Culture Minister Sandro Bondi was unable to attend the inauguration.