The San Terenzo Monti massacre ( it, L’eccidio di San Terenzo Monti), sometimes also referred to as the Bardine massacre or Bardine San Terenzo massacre, was a massacre carried out near
Fivizzano
Fivizzano is a ''comune'' in the province of Massa and Carrara, Tuscany, central Italy.
History
It became part of the Republic of Florence in the 15th century thus gaining the Tuscan republic an important foothold in Lunigiana, a key region whi ...
,
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 ...
, by the German
16th SS Panzergrenadier Division from 17 to 19 August 1944 in which 159 Italian civilians were killed.
It was one of numerous war crimes the division was involved in while stationed in Italy during the war.
Massacre
In August 1944 partisan activity in the rear of the German front line, 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 ...
, increased. On the morning of 17 August, a detachment consisting of German troops on trucks arrived in the hamlet of Bardine, about two kilometres from San Terenzo Monti to confiscate livestock. On their return trip the German troops were attacked by partisans, at the request of the inhabitants of Bardine. In the ensuring fight with the partisans, 16 German soldiers were killed.
German troops soon returned to the area to recover their dead and destroy local villages as well as kill a number of civilians, while beginning to plan a larger operation in the area. On 19 August German troops, commanded by
Walter Reder
Walter Reder (4 February 1915 – 26 April 1991) was an Austrian SS commander and war criminal during World War II. He served with the SS Division Totenkopf and the 16th SS Panzergrenadier Division Reichsführer-SS, SS Division Reichsführer-SS. H ...
, returned with 53 civilian prisoners captured a week earlier and executed them at the location of the previous partisan attack. They then proceeded to round up the local population, mostly women, children and elderly, and executed them as well. A total of 159 civilians were killed in the operation, regardless of whether they had any involvement with the partisan movement.
Aftermath
In 1951 Walter Reder (1915–1991) was sentenced to life imprisonment by a military court in
Bologna
Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...
for the massacres of
Vinca
''Vinca'' (; Latin: ''vincire'' "to bind, fetter") is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae, native to Europe, northwest Africa and southwest Asia. The English name periwinkle is shared with the related genus ''Catharanthus'' (an ...
and
Marzabotto
Marzabotto ( Medial Mountain Bolognese: ) is a small town and ''comune'' in Italian region Emilia-Romagna, part of the Metropolitan City of Bologna. It is located south-southwest of Bologna by rail, and lies in the valley of the Reno. The area inc ...
. In 1985 Reder was granted amnesty and was released.
In popular culture
In 2018 the joint Italian-German documentary ''The name of the father'' ( it, Il nome del padre) was produced. It tells the story of the son of Josef Maier, Udo Surer, a German lawyer from Bavaria, who discovered in 2004 that his father was involved in the San Terenzo Monti and
Vinca massacre
The Vinca massacre ( it, Eccidio di Vinca) was a massacre carried out near Fivizzano, Tuscany, by the German 16th SS Panzergrenadier Division from 24 to 27 August 1944 in which 162 Italian civilians were killed.
It was one of many war crimes the ...
s.
References
Further reading
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External links
*
Regione Toscana – The Vinca massacre
{{Nazi war crimes in Italy
Tuscany
Murder in Italy
1944 crimes in Italy
Massacres in 1944
Massacres in the Italian Social Republic
Mass murder in 1944
World War II crimes
August 1944 events