Italy on Monday marked the 81th
anniversary of the Ardeatine Caves massacre by the Nazis during
World War II.
On March 24, 1944, 335 Italians were executed by Nazi officers
in a reprisal for a Partisan attack that killed 33 German
soldiers in central Rome.
In retaliation, for every one German killed, the army seized 10
Italians, including civilians as well as numerous political
prisoners and Jews who were in custody, plus five more who were
also executed.
Both men and boys were executed and their bodies dumped in the
caves where the memorial to the massacre is now located.
President Sergio Mattarella laid a wreath at the memorial in a
ceremony that Defence Minister Guido Crosetto, Lazio Governor
Francesco Rocca, Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri, Rome Chief Rabbi
Riccardo Di Segni, and Noemi Di Segni, the president of the
union of Italian Jewish communities, also took party in, among
others.
Premier Giorgia Meloni on Monday described the massacre as "one
of the most piercing wounds inflicted to Rome and to all of
Italy.
"The massacre of Fosse Ardeatine, perpetrated by Nazi occupying
troops in reprisal against the partisan attack of Via Rasella,
is one of the most painful pages of national history and it is
the primary task of Institutions, at every level, to talk about
what happened and in particular to pass on to younger
generations the memory of those facts", said a note from
Meloni's office at Palazzo Chigi.
"On this day, we pay homage to the 335 victims of the
indescribable massacre and we renew the commitment to preserve
and protect the values of freedom and democracy on which our
Republic is founded", it concluded.
The President of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities Noemi
Di Segni said commemorating the anniversary of the massacre was
necessary "to understand a fact of the past of which we must be
aware and conscious".
"The presence of students here is important so they can
understand exactly what a massacre means and what a Nazi
slaughter is", she added, noting that "this term should never be
abused for those situations which we are unfortunately and
tragically experiencing today".
Rome Mayor Robert Gualtieri also described the massacre as an
"enduring wound" for the city.
"Remembering is a duty.
"Because only through memory we can remain united as a community
and progress based on the values on which constitutional
democracy was born: anti-Fascism, resistance, the rejection of
those crimes, of that concept of politics and violence that made
us change" and "become a better society", he said.
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