War Memorial

The Memoriale is an itinerary of memory through the remembrance of the extermination of innocent lives.

The horror of the events that took place in late September and early October 1944 around Marzabotto is indefinable. In just a few days, the German SS perpetrated one of the most vicious massacres in Italian history, slaughtering hundreds of innocent people, mostly women and children. This brutal act was carried out to target alleged supporters of the Stella Rossa Partisan Brigade operating in the area.

In San Martino di Caprara, the Germans rounded up and massacred about fifty people in front of a farmhouse. Later, they set fire to the bodies, the house and even the church, destroying the altar.

In Caprara di Sopra, about forty people found their deaths in the kitchen of a tavern, victims of hand grenades and machine-gun fire. The house was undermined and collapsed on bodies already consumed by flames.

Also in Casaglia, ninety people, including women and children, were led to the nearby cemetery and massacred in front of crosses that still bear the marks of that savagery, with the sacrifice of Don Ubaldo Marchioni on the altar.

In Cerpiano, at least fifty inhabitants lost their lives, barricaded in the Church of the Guardian Angel, hit by the deadly hand grenades. These events testify to the brutality and unjustified violence that affected the civilian population, underscoring the importance of preserving the memory of these tragic events to honor the victims and promote historical awareness.