Marzabotto, Italy – September/October 1944
It is said to be one the largest of the Nazi massacres during World War II. It took place in a mountainous village outside Bologna, Italy. Nearly 1,000 of those living in the rural farming area around the village of Marzabotto were murdered by Nazi troops. Historians have been unable to accurately calculate the number, and some have speculated it might have been as high as 2,000.
What is for certain is that the horrid massacre was widespread. It spanned across several small hamlets outside Marzabotto, including the villages of Grizzana Morandi and Monzuno, and the area of the massif of Monte Sole. The remarkable exercise that left so many civilians dead was in retaliation for supporting a resistance military group, The Partisans, meaning ‘war party.’ The war party in this case was against any foreign entity casting uninvited authority their way. They fought both German and Fascist rule.
A remarkable local priest and member of the resistance risked his life to help those he could to escape. He saved the lives of many of his parishioners. One day, he was diligently undergoing the arduous yet necessary task of burying the bodies of those who did not survive the massacre.
This was forbidden. The Nazis wanted evidence of their venom to linger over the land. An SS officer passing by saw what the priest was doing. The two squabbled over the incident. The officer shot and killed the priest.