RESISTANCE IN ROME

Places and people

The partisan attack in Via Rasella• It was an action undertaken

by Italian partisan groups against the German police regiment “Bozen” right in the centre of Rome.

• An Italian student, Rosario Bentivoglia, triggered a bomb when the regiment was approaching.

• 42 German soldiers and two Italian civilians died.

The consequences• The German reprisal consisted in

the Ardeatine Massacre.• 335 people were gathered. 10

hostages for every dead German soldier.

• The hostages were brought to some pozzolana Caves.

• There they were shot.• Their bodies were hidden by the

Germans, who blasted the caves. • Now the place is a shrine-national

monument.

Forte BravettaForte Bravetta is one of the 15 forts of Rome built between 1877 and 1891. It was used as a place for death penalties executions by the state defense court. There is a monument next to the entrance that remembers the shooting of 77 people done during the German occupation.

The Victims

GIOGIO LABO’He partecipated in numerous sabotages. He was caught by the German forces, arrested and brought in via Tasso prison. He was brought to Forte Bravetta and he was shot without a trial.

FORTUNATO CACCAMOHe partecipeted inthe difense of Rome exspecially in Monti Albani and Palestrina. In 1944 he was caught in Bologna square and he was brought to via Tasso prison. He was brutally tortured. After his trial he was shot in Forte Bravetta

‘ROMA CITTA’ APERTA’ It wa a movie directed byRoberto Rossellini in 1945.The most famous actor andactress were Aldo Fabrizi inDon Morosini and AldaMagnani in Pina, a workingclass woman . (

He was a priest and an italian partisan. He was accused of giving weapons and food to partisans .He was brutally tortured by th German forces because they want he declared the names of his partners.He tried to accuse himself for everything. He was shot in Forte Bravetta in 1944.

The MovieThese are two scenes of themovie Roma Città Aperta: the firstwhen Morosini was killed Pina’s run to wards his husbandwho his caught by the Germansoldiers and her shooting. It isOne of the most famous scenes of theItalian movies

Salvo D’Acquisto

On 22 September some German soldiers were

inspecting boxes of munitions at Palidoro when there was an explosion. One died and two others were wounded. The

commander blamed the death on "unnamed locals" and

demanded the cooperation of the Carabinieri. D'Acquisto ,

the commander of Carabinieri , declared he alone

was responsible for the "murder". He was shot on the spot. He was 22. For his heroic

behavior Salvo D’Acquisto received a gold medal

Resistance in Quadraro• Quadraro was the area where a search

was carried out in 1944 in which 947 men were brought to concentration camps in Germany and in Poland.

• On 17 April, around 4 a.m., ranks surrounded the neighborhood, blocking any way out.

• They searched every house, taking away about 2000 men between nineteen and fifty.

• After a few days the selected men were moved to their final destinations.

• Only half of them survived after the Liberation

Quadraro• The “Operation Whale” was held

after the killing of three soldiers by the Quarticciolo Hunchbacked’s troop to eliminate as many opponents to the regime as they could.

• It was disguised as an act aimed to the enrolment of manpower for the Wehrmacht.

• On 17th April 2004 the neighborhood was honored with the Gold Civilian Merit Badge.A park in that area was named “Park 17th April 1944” and enriched with a monument, in memory of the event.

Fernando Montelli’s Story• Fernando was born in Rome in 1922 and he lived at the Quadraro

district• He got engaged to Graziella, who wrote to him as a war

godmother• On 17 April 1944 he was at home at Quadraro district when the

roundup started. 1500 men were taken to the Cinema Quadraro.They were redirected to other places in Italy

• Fernando managed to escape and got on a train that was hijacked to Germany by the the Nazi the train

• When he arrived he was taken to a labour camp where he worked in ammunition manufactoring

• Fernando was young and good-looking . A young German woman, Evelyn, helped him and they started a relationship

• In 1945 the Allies freed the camp. Fernando escaped

Happy ending• He arranged to meet Evelyn to escape together• When he arrived the Allies had just bombed the place and Evelyn

was not there• Fernando believed she had died during the attack• He went on foot to Italy, walking for a month. When he arrived in

Rome he looked for Graziella and told her everything about his imprisonment

• Graziella understood and after some months they got married and went back at the Quadraro

• In the ’80s a letter written in German arrived. • They discovered that Evelyn was not dead and Fernando had a 40

yea-old daughter in Germany• Fernando’s family understood and welcomed the “German

daughter”• They keept in touch even after Fernando’s death, in 1999• In May 2013 Graziella turned 90 and Evelyn’s daughter came in

Rome to celebrate

Resistance• While the Second World War

was ending lots of people fought against fascism.

• They belonged to every social class and to every political party.

• They were called Partisans.• They were not a legal army,

and they were divided into lots of groups.

• Most of them were in the North of Italy.

• Partisans were supported by common people, who helped them in many ways.

Women in the resistance• There were not only men. Partisans were also women. • Women were an important part in the resistance.• They left their role as mothers and wives, and they started

fighting for freedom and justice. • They passed from inside jobs, helping hill people, to working

as partisan's relay.• They worked instead of men, sometimes in war or in the

resistance itself.• They also collected money in order to help relatives of

arrested people. • Relays were young women between sixteen and eighteen

years old.• They had no weapons and they sometimes escorted rebels.

Role of women• Partisans women were important even if they were not

allowed to use weapon. • Their job was extremely dangerous because if they were

caught with the partisan's messages they could be killed. • Women often used double-bottom bags in order not to be

discovered. • An important relay was Calrla Capponi, that received the gold

medal of honor. • Carla Capponi was one of the organizers of the attack in "Via

Rasella".

Insitutional role of women• Women also had institutional roles, • Gisella Floreanini was the first woman that

was a politician in the partisan republic of Osella.

• At the end she became a member of Consulta nazionale, and then was elected in the camera dei deputati.

• Another important woman was Nilde Iotti, a member of the PCI (Italian Communist Party).

• After the referendum of 2 June 1946 Nilde Iotti was elected in the Italian Parliament.

• She helped creating the third article of the Italian constitution, that is about citizens equality.

• •

Teresa Gullace• One of the resistance symbol was Teresa

Gullace. • She was a Italian partisan whose husband

was arrested by SS. • Teresa tried to stand near him but a soldier

shot her with a gun. • She died taking with her their sixth son,

who was in her womb. • Teresa Gullace’s story was the inspiration of

Roberto Rossellini for the movie "Roma città aperta".

• In that film Anna Magnani plays the role of Pina, that died in the same way as Teresa.

• "Roma città aperta" is a film of 1945.