List of massacres in the Italian Social Republic

This is a list of notable massacres in the Italian Social Republic. German troops in Italy often massacred civilians in retaliation for partisan activity.[1]

To a lesser extent, war crimes were committed by the National Republican Army (fascist Italian army), usually against Italian partisans, such as at the Salussola massacre, where 20 partisans were executed. Partisans, in retaliation, sometimes also massacred captured Fascist soldiers, like at the Rovetta massacre.

List of massacres

A list of massacres of either more than 100 victims or international notability:

Name Date Location Deaths Perpetrators Notes
Lake Maggiore massacres September & October 1943 Lago Maggiore 56 1st SS Panzer Division Murder of 56 predominantly Italian Jews despite strict German orders not to carry out any violence against civilians, also noted for the controversial court case in West Germany in the late 1960s.[2][3]
Boves massacre 19 September 1943 Boves 23 1st SS Panzer Division Massacre of 23 civilians in retaliation of the capture of two German soldiers despite the two having been freed in exchange for the promise that no reprisal against civilians would be carried out. Sometimes incorrectly referred to as the first German massacre in Italy during the war.[4]
Caiazzo massacre 13 October 1943 Caiazzo 22 3rd Panzergrenadier Division Massacre of 22 civilians, noted for its brutality and the controversial court case involving the main perpetrator 50 years later.[5]
Pisino massacre 14 October 1943 Pazin (now part of Croatia) 157 1st SS Panzer Division Anti-partisan operations with aircraft, tanks and ground forces.[6]
Pietransieri massacre [it] 21 November 1943 Pietransieri 125 1st Parachute Division Mass killing of civilians with explosives after the inhabitants of Pietransieri had refused the order to leave the area and remained in the vicinity of the village.[7]
Monchio, Susano and Costrignano massacre [it] 18 March 1944 Palagano 130 1st Fallschirm-Panzer Division Hermann Göring Anti-partisan operation in response to increased partisan activity in the area. German troops and their Fascist Italian allies burn villages and indiscriminately execute the male population.[8]
Ardeatine massacre 24 March 1944 Rome 335 Schutzstaffel Reprisal for a partisan attack conducted on the previous day in central Rome against the SS Police Regiment Bozen (SD-Gestapo led by Herbert Kappler).[9]
Operation Ginny II massacre 26 March 1944 Ameglia 15 135th (Fortress) Brigade of the Wehrmacht Execution of 15 captured American saboteurs under Hitler's Commando Order. The Americans were in proper uniform and their execution was in violation of established international law. The execution was carried out on the order of General Anton Dostler. His adjutant Alexander zu Dohna-Schlobitten refused to sign the execution order and was dismissed for insubordination. After the war, Dostler was tried at Nuremberg for war crimes, found guilty, and executed.[10]
Fragheto massacre 7–8 April 1944 near Casteldelci 53 Sturmbattaillon OB Sudwest of the 356th Infantry Division and the Venezia-Giulia Battalion of the National Republican Guard After partisans belonging to the Eighth Garibaldi Brigade ambushed troops approaching the hamlet of Fragheto on 7 April,[11] soldiers of the Sturmbattaillon OB Sudwest conducted house-to-house searches and summarily killed 30 civilians and 15 partisans.[11][12] Many of the civilians were elderly people, women, or children.[11][13] A further seven partisans and one civilian were shot the next day.[14]
Vallucciole massacre 13 April 1944 Stia 107 1st Fallschirm-Panzer Division Hermann Göring In response to increased partisan activity in the area German troops and their Fascist Italian allies execute a policy of scorched earth by burning villages, raping women and indiscriminately executing civilians to discourage resistance.[15]
Lipa massacre 30 April 1944 Matulji (now part of Croatia) 269 SS Volunteer Karstwehr Battalion Mass killing of civilians by German occupation troops[16]
Civitella in Val di Chiana massacre [it] 29 June 1944 Civitella in Val di Chiana 146 1st Fallschirm-Panzer Division Hermann Göring Anti-partisan operation in retaliation to the killing of German soldiers, where all men in the affected villages were indiscriminately rounded up and executed while the women and children were allowed to leave, except in the village of Cornia, where the original partisan attack took place and women and children are executed as well.[17]
Cavriglia massacre [it] 4 July 1944 Cavriglia 173 1st Fallschirm-Panzer Division Hermann Göring Anti-partisan operation where all men in the affected villages were indiscriminately rounded up and executed while the women and children were allowed to leave.[18]
Sant'Anna di Stazzema massacre 12 August 1944 Sant'Anna di Stazzema 560 16th SS Panzergrenadier Division
36th Brigata Nera 		Mass killing of civilians by German occupation troops and Italian collaborators (16th Brigade)[19]
San Terenzo Monti massacre 17–19 August 1944 Fivizzano 159 16th SS Panzergrenadier Division Anti-partisan operation in retaliation to the killing of 16 German soldiers. Execution of captured partisans and destruction of local villages and execution of the inhabitants.[20]
Padule di Fucecchio massacre 23 August 1944 Padule di Fucecchio 184 26th Panzer Division Up to 184 Italian civilians as a reprisal for a partisan attack on two German soldiers[21]
Vinca massacre 24–27 August 1944 Fivizzano 162 16th SS Panzergrenadier Division Anti-partisan operation in retaliation to the killing of a German officer. Destruction of local villages and execution of the inhabitants, mostly women, children and elderly who had been unable to escape.[22]
San Leonardo al Frigido massacre 16 September 1944 Massa 149 16th SS Panzergrenadier Division Unprovoked mass execution of prison inmates, most of them serving time for minor offences.[23]
Marzabotto massacre 29 September 1944 Marzabotto 770 16th SS Panzergrenadier Division Mass killing of civilians by German occupation troops[24]
San Martino di Lupari massacre 29 April 1945 San Martino di Lupari 125 29th Panzergrenadier Division Retreating north in the Province of Padua, under attack by the US Army and Italian partisans, the division randomly executed civilians, took hostages and used them as human shields.[25]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Massacres with more than 100 victims". Atlas of Nazi and Fascist Massacres in Italy (in Italian). Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  2. ^ Kellerhoff, Sven Felix (7 January 2008). "Fünf SS-Verbrecher werden angeklagt" [Five SS criminals put on trial]. Die Welt (in German). Retrieved 27 September 2018.
  3. ^ "Bundesgerichtshof Urt. v. 17.03.1970, Az.: 5 StR 218/69" [German High Court verdict from 17 March 1970] (in German). 17 March 1970. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
  4. ^ "BOVES, 19.09.1943" (in Italian). Atlas of Nazi and Fascist Massacres in Italy. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  5. ^ "Monte Carmignano, Caiazzo, 13.10.1943" (in Italian). Atlas of Nazi and Fascist Massacres in Italy. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  6. ^ "Pazin (Pisino), 04.10.1943". Atlas of Nazi and Fascist Massacres in Italy (in Italian). Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  7. ^ "PIETRANSIERI ROCCARASO 21.11.1943". Atlas of Nazi and Fascist Massacres in Italy (in Italian). Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  8. ^ "MONCHIO SUSANO E COSTRIGNANO PALAGANO 18.03.1944". Atlas of Nazi and Fascist Massacres in Italy (in Italian). Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  9. ^ "FOSSE ARDEATINE ROMA 24.03.1944". Atlas of Nazi and Fascist Massacres in Italy (in Italian). Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  10. ^ Brennan, J. G.; Green, L. C. (1997). ""The Case of General Dostler"". Naval War College Review. 50 (4): 115–117. ISSN 0028-1484. JSTOR 44638781.
  11. ^ a b c "7 aprile 1944 – 80 anni fa la strage di Fragheto" [7 April 1944 – 80 years ago, the Fragheto massacre]. Chiamami Città (in Italian). 6 April 2024. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  12. ^ "Eccidio di Fragheto: Rimini presente alla commemorazione a 74 anni dalla strage" [Fragheto massacre: Rimini present at the commemoration 74 years after the massacre]. Comune di Rimini. 7 April 2024. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  13. ^ "Strage di Fragheto" [Fragheto massacre]. Paesaggi della memoria (in Italian). Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  14. ^ Susini, Daniele. "Episodio di Ponte 8 Martiri (Ponte Carrattoni), Rimini, 08.04.1944" [Case of the Eight Martyrs Bridge (Carrattoni Bridge), Rimini, 08.04.1944] (PDF). straginazifasciste.it (in Italian). Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  15. ^ "VALLUCCIOLE PRATOVECCHIO STIA 13.04.1944". Atlas of Nazi and Fascist Massacres in Italy (in Italian). Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  16. ^ "Lipa (Lipa), Elsane, Bistrica (Bisterza) 30.04.1944". Atlas of Nazi and Fascist Massacres in Italy (in Italian). Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  17. ^ "CIVITELLA IN VAL DI CHIANA 29.06.1944". Atlas of Nazi and Fascist Massacres in Italy (in Italian). Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  18. ^ "CAVRIGLIA 04.07.1944". Atlas of Nazi and Fascist Massacres in Italy (in Italian). Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  19. ^ "SANT'ANNA DI STAZZEMA 12.08.1944". Atlas of Nazi and Fascist Massacres in Italy (in Italian). Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  20. ^ "SAN TERENZO MONTI FIVIZZANO 17-19.08.1944". Atlas of Nazi and Fascist Massacres in Italy (in Italian). Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  21. ^ "The responsible". L'Eccidio del Padule di Fucecchio. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  22. ^ "VINCA FIVIZZANO 24-27.08.1944". Atlas of Nazi and Fascist Massacres in Italy (in Italian). Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  23. ^ "SAN LEONARDO AL FRIGIDO MASSA 16.09.1944". Atlas of Nazi and Fascist Massacres in Italy (in Italian). Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  24. ^ "Monte Sole (scheda generale)". Atlas of Nazi and Fascist Massacres in Italy (in Italian). Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  25. ^ "San Martino di Lupari, 29.4.1945". Atlas of Nazi and Fascist Massacres in Italy (in Italian). Retrieved 21 August 2018.