THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE "FOSSE ARDEATINE"

24 March
written by Sergio Caggìa with Paul Gwynne for © Nerone the Insider's Guide to Rome

 

23 March 1944 a bomb exploded in Via Rasella killing 32 German troops. In retaliation the Germans decided to kill 10 Italians for each man who was killed. In the afternoon over 200 people were rounded up. At 2pm on the following day 335 people were crowded into lorries and taken away. Many were political prisoners from the Regina Coeli gaol, but also a lot of boys and old people.    For a few days nobody knew where they were and or what had happened to them, but the rumour was that they had been taken somewere on the Via Ardeatina. Those fearless enough to go there only found a cave with the access walled. Only after the Liberation was it possible to break down the wall and discover the horrible truth. 335 victims were counted, some killed with a single shot, others buried alive in a deliberately triggered landslide. In Italy a few months ago for the first time we were able to see on television images from that time.    The series was called Combat Film and is in three parts. The third and last series of documentaries will be screened in April for the 50th anniversary of the Liberation. Now the victims rest in a mausoleum built beside the cave, at the beginning of the Via Ardeatina (south of Porta S.Sebastiano). On 24 March many Romans make a pilgrimage to the spot to remember their sacrifice.