It's understandable for those living in the Bologna area in particular.
The
Marzabotto massacre was a
World War II war crime consisting in a
mass murder of at least 770 civilians by
Nazis, which took place in the territory around the small village of
Marzabotto, in the mountainous area south of
Bologna. It was the worst
massacre of
civilians committed by the
Waffen SS in
Western Europe during the war
In reprisal for the local support given to the
partisans and the
Resistance between 29 September and 5 October 1944, SS-
Sturmbannführer Walter Reder led soldiers of the
SS-Panzer-Aufklärungsabteilung 16 to systematically kill hundreds of people in Marzabotto. They also killed numerous residents of the adjacent
Grizzana Morandi and
Monzuno, the area of the massif of Monte Sole (part of the
Apennine range in the
province of Bologna).
Historians have struggled to document the number of victims: some sources report up to 1,830 victims; others estimate 955 people killed. Today, the Peace School Foundation of Monte Sole reports 770 victims. This number is close to the official report by
Sturmbannführer Reder, who reported the "execution of 728 bandits". Among the victims, 155 were less than 10 years old, 95 were aged 10 to 16, 142 were over 60 years old, 454 were male, 316 were female and five were
Catholic priests.
