Adriano Tardelli (1896 - 1 February 1945) was an Italian resistance activist during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Tardelli was born in

Capanne di Careggine Careggine is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Lucca, in northern Tuscany (Italy). It is the birthplace of Italian football player Marco Tardelli and of Adriano Tardelli Adriano Tardelli (1896 - 1 February 1945) was an Italian resistance a ...

. During the Second World War he led dozens of people to safety (

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

Slavs Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

, homosexuals,

deserters Desertion is the abandonment of a military duty or post without permission (a pass, liberty or leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. This contrasts with unauthorized absence (UA) or absence without leave (AWOL ), which ar ...

, partisans, members of

resistance Resistance may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Comics * Either of two similarly named but otherwise unrelated comic book series, both published by Wildstorm: ** ''Resistance'' (comics), based on the video game of the same title ** ''T ...

groups) crossing with a small group at a time over the

Gothic Line The Gothic Line (german: Gotenstellung; it, Linea Gotica) was a German Defense line, defensive line of the Italian Campaign (World War II), Italian Campaign of World War II. It formed Generalfeldmarschall, Field Marshal Albert Kesselring's la ...

. While roped together in the darkness, they crossed the well-known

Apennine Mountains The Apennines or Apennine Mountains (; grc-gre, links=no, Ἀπέννινα ὄρη or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; la, Appenninus or – a singular with plural meaning;''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which wou ...

, where he had been born and later lived with his wife and their nine children. On 1 February 1945, Tardelli was executed in reprisal by the

Fascist Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...

Army in Cogna,

Piazza al Serchio Piazza al Serchio is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Lucca in the Italian region Tuscany, located about northwest of Florence and about northwest of Lucca. Piazza al Serchio borders the following municipalities: Camporgiano, Minuc ...

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...

. He was being held in the jail of

Camporgiano Camporgiano is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Lucca in the Italian region Tuscany, located about northwest of Florence and about northwest of Lucca. Camporgiano borders the following municipalities: Careggine, Castelnuovo di Garf ...

when he was singled out for

retaliation Revenge is committing a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. Francis Bacon described revenge as a kind of "wild justice" that "does... offend the law ndputteth the law out of office." Pr ...

with five other people, also held for political reasons, under the order of General

Mario Carloni General Mario Carloni (27 December 1894 – 30 January 1962) was an Italian soldier who fought in World War I and World War II. He started his career in 1912 joining as a volunteer in the 5th Reg. of Bersaglieri in Senigallia. In 1940 he reached t ...

of the

4th Italian "Monte Rosa" Alpine Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

. Before being executed, Tardelli took his shoes off and asked them to be given to the poor.

Sources

* Gabrielli Rosi Carlo, Mariani Sergio (a cura di), ''Cuore 1944. 100 episodi della resistenza europea'', Edizioni Il Centro di Educazione Democratica, Lucca 1975, 422 pp. * ''La Resistenza in Lucchesia: racconti e cronache della lotta antifascista e partigiana'', La Nuova Italia, Firenze 1965, 225 pp. * Bertolini Renzo, ''La Resistenza in Garfagnana'', Eurograf, Lucca 1975, 135 pp. * Zerbini Bruno, ''Un partigiano isolato'', Lalli, Poggibonsi 1984, 187 pp. * Pinagli Palmiro, ''La guerra in Garfagnana. Diario: 30 aprile 1944-22 aprile 1945'', Edizioni della Rocca, Castelnuovo Garfagnana 1987, 118 pp. * Guidi Oscar, (a cura di) ''Con la guerra negli occhi. Donne e uomini di Garfagnana raccontano 1943-45'', Pacini Fazzi Editore, Lucca 2005, 191 pp. * Guidi Oscar, ''Documenti di guerra. Garfagnana 1943-1945'', Pacini Fazzi Editore, Lucca 1995, 198 pp. * Federigi Fabrizio, ''Soldato Hans! A Sant'Anna! Dramma in due tempi e quattro quadri''. n. 2, Mauro Baroni editore, Lucca 2000, pp. n.n. {{DEFAULTSORT:Tardelli, Adriano 1896 births 1945 deaths People from the Province of Lucca Italian activists Italian resistance movement members