At the beginning of the 20th century, several pioneers attempted to demonstrate that it was possible to travel through space. They were the founders of a new science: astrophysics. In the aftermath of the First World War, passionate scientists joined together to try and create the first rockets.In 1930, the German army launched a rocket research programme to circumvent the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles. They recruited scientists, including Werner Von Braun in 1932. Hitler's rise to power in 1933 boosted the army's budgets, and in 1936 they decided to build an ultra-modern research centre at Peenemünde (in the Baltic).Here, the army developed the A4-V2 rocket, achieving a technological feat. Capable of carrying 900kg of explosives over 300km, it was the first ballistic missile in history and the first object to fly above the stratosphere. The first successful flight took place on 3 October 1942, breaking records for altitude (a height of 90km) and speed (5,500km/h).At the same time, the Luftwaffe developed the Fi-103 V1 flying bomb, to be catapulted from a launch pad. Its pulse reactor made it a terrifying psychological weapon with its emblematic purr. It had a payload of 840kg of TNT and could travel a distance of 230 km.To launch these weapons, two solutions were chosen: mobile bases on launching ramps that were easy to move and conceal, and heavy bases called Sonderbauten (special constructions) used for storage and launch preparation. Five heavy bases were built in the Cotentin region, and as many in Nord-Pas-de-Calais: Lottinghem and Siracourt for the V1s, the Eperlecques blockhouse and La Coupole for the V2s, and Mimoyecques for the V3.The V weapons were manufactured in the Mittelwerk factory by deportees from the Mittelbau-Dora camp, 20,000 of whom died on the job.In retaliation for the Normandy landings, 9,250 V1s were fired from France between 13 June and the end of August 1944. Additionally, 3,200 V2s were fired from the Benelux countries and Germany between 8 September and March 1945. More than 15,000 people were killed, mainly in London and Antwerp.

France

​​V weapons and sites: the history of their development, production and launch​

​​The resistance fighters of the French Forces of the Interior (FFI) played an important role during the liberation of the French territory. From the time of the Normandy landings onwards, they distinguished themselves by carrying out the various actions decreed by the Allies, that aimed to paralyse the communication routes used by the German forces. On 27 August 1944, the FFI insurrection began: they gathered in the centres provided for this purpose and brought out the weapons that had been either hidden since 1940 or parachuted in by the Allies. The FFI played a role in the liberation of Lille and Tourcoing, which were bypassed by British troops in pursuit of the retreating German soldiers.On 30 August 1944, the departure of the occupying forces began.​All over the region, FFI groups gathered to take the last occupying troops prisoner, to guide the Allies and to ensure the surveillance of the infrastructures essential to the liberation. On 1 September, a number of local Resistance groups met in Fives and jointly prepared what needed to be done for the liberation of Lille, the capital of French Flanders. The next day, they succeeded in liberating the citadel, which allowed them to seize grenades, rifles and some heavy machine guns. As the Germans continued to withdraw, the resistance groups were ordered to take possession of the former headquarters of the German occupiers: first the town hall, then the chamber of commerce — the seat of the Kommandantur.Despite the progress of the Resistance fighters, several tanks were still stationed in the town centre. These were evacuated by the FFI. In the evening of 2 September Lille was almost entirely liberated. The next day, with the help of British troops, the last Germans were taken prisoner and by 17:00pm French flags were flying from all public buildings in the city.The actions carried out by the FFI were on their own initiative and despite the weakness of their weapons. The Resistance paid a high price for the liberation of the region: a hundred FFI were killed during the liberation of Lille.​Today, a plaque at Place Martin Luther-King commemorates the actions of the FFI during the liberation of Lille. It bears the words "Les Forces Françaises de l'Intérieur, les prisonniers, les combattants à leurs morts", in English "The French Forces of the Interior, the prisoners, the fighters to their death".​

​​The role of the FFI in the liberation of Lille​

​​​After advancing through Normandy in the summer of 1944, British troops began to pursue retreating German units into Belgium. The troops, whose objective was the capture of Lille and then Brussels, found themselves in the centre of the operation, supported by the Canadian and Polish forces on the left wing and the American forces on the right. The route followed by them was Amiens-Antwerp. The liberation of the mining basin and the two main towns of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region, Arras and Lille, fell to them. &nbsp;​Their progress was rapid, as the British troops were pursuing a routed army. Fighting was very limited: Amiens was recaptured on 31 August, Arras and Douai on 1 September, Lens on 2 September, Lille on 3 September and finally Bethune on 4 September.&nbsp;​The British forces chose to bypass the Lille conurbation, that was fought over by the French Forces of the Interior (FFI) and the remaining occupying troops. They moved on to Brussels, which was liberated on the same day as Lille. In just five days, the British troops liberated the territory of the Basin and the cities of Amiens, Arras, Bethune, Lens and Lille.​

​​The British at the centre of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais liberation effort​

​​The American troops distinguished themselves during the Normandy landings, where they suffered many losses. They then advanced towards the North, alongside the other Allied forces. The Americans were positioned on the right wing of the liberation force, along the Cambrai-Mons axis. The fact that they pursued a retreating German army that was often only a few kilometres ahead of them allowed for a rapid advance and the liberation of their objectives in the area in just two days. They captured Péronne on 1 September before succeeding in taking Cambrai, Avesnes and Valenciennes the following day.During the capture of Cambrai, fighting broke out as just when the Allies had liberated the town, the reappearance of a German column required the intervention of American armour. This resulted in the death of 30 SS soldiers. On 2 September, Maubeuge was captured by the 3rd Armoured Division, also known as "Spearhead". However, the American troops also encountered difficulties in obtaining petrol supplies, which gave the Germans time to outrun them. &nbsp;​The American forces then moved into Belgium and took Mons on 2 September.​

​​The American liberators of eastern Nord-Pas-de-Calais​

​​Robert Wilhelm was born on 9 December 1919. He was married and had one daughter. During the war he served as a non-commissioned officer in a grenadier regiment in France.Wilhelm's unit was stationed on Hill 112, a militarily important and heavily contested hill near Baron-sur-Odon. In his last letter to his wife, dated 6 August 1944, he told her that they had had to give up their position or, as he put it, "fled, better said". He described the retreat as "You run and the other shoots, like a hunter at a hare". Four days later, on 10 August 1944, he was killed in the fighting in Normandy. Today he rests in the La Cambe war cemetery in block 1, row 3, grave 91.​

Germany

​​Robert Wilhelm​

​​Karl Stein was born on 19 April 1922, and during the war was a Private in the Navy. It is know that he was last stationed in France, where he fell on 5 May 1942.A field post letter to Stein, dated just over a month before his death, has been preserved. Today, Karl Stein rests in the war cemetery at La Cambe. The final grave location is in block 34, grave 145.​

​​Karl Stein​

​​Horst Rimkus was born in Tilsit on 5 April 1926. In autumn 1943, he was drafted as a SS-tank-grenadier and sent to France. He was killed there during the Allied invasion.According to the senior field doctor in charge, Rimkus succumbed to severe chest wounds in the Bernay military hospital on 10 August 1944. The following day, he was buried in St. Desir de Lisieux. He was reburied in 1957, and since then rests in the war cemetery in La Cambe. The final grave location is in block 18 grave 58.​

​​Horst Rimkus​

​​Ludwig Lindenmayer was born in Hatzfeld on 24 November 1923. He completed a commercial vocational training, but was drafted soon afterwards. Lindenmayer wore the lowest rank of a rifleman, and was killed on 16 July 1944 after the Allied landings in Normandy at Clair-Tison.​According to a former comrade, the cause of death was a shell splinter which had injured his knee. Lindenmayer died during the subsequent operation. According to his goddaughter's account, he remained vividly in the family's memory. Today he rests in the war cemetery in La Cambe. The final grave is located in block 27, row 6, grave 208.​

​​Ludwig Lindenmayer​

​​Fritz Luck was born in Duisburg on 16 April 1913 and had three siblings. After finishing school, he completed training at the naval club. From there he applied to the Navy in Kiel, which he joined in October 1932. In 1933 he completed his training as a professional soldier in Swinemünde and was detached to Pillau in March. According to his relatives, he worked there as an instructor. On 6 August 1938, he married Else, née Busch, and they had two children together.During the war, Luck was commissioned as a 1st Company Naval Artillery Mate in the Marinestoßtrupp-Abteilung (Naval Shock Troop Detachment). On 17 June 1940, he was killed in a car accident during a troop transport at Brionne. News of her husband's death reached Else Luck when she was just under three months pregnant with their daughter, Friedlinde.​According to the family, Luck was first buried in Lisieux. Today, he rests in the war cemetery in La Cambe in block 36, grave 15. In 2011, his daughter was able to visit the grave for the first time, which was a moving moment for her. On behalf of his father, the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e.V. (German War Graves Commission) regularly decorates Luck's grave with flowers on his birthday and on Totensonntag. The latter is a Protestant holiday observed on the last Sunday of the church year on which to commemorate the dead.​

​​Fritz Luck​

​​Walter Ackermann was born in Magdeburg on 19 October 1911. He worked as a commercial clerk in his father's printing company. In 1938 he married Ruth Ackermann, née Balcke, and they had two sons, Manfred and Wilfried. In July 1940, Walter Ackermann was called up for military service. He was stationed in France on the Channel coast as a radio operator and had the rank of sergeant. Ackermann saw his family for the last time in December 1943. His eldest son was three years old at the time.​On 6 June 1944, he became an English prisoner of war. Sixteen days later, on 22 June 1944, the German air force bombed the St. Laurent POW camp where Walter Ackermann was interned. Ackermann was killed in this attack. His wife and children, who had to leave Magdeburg in the meantime due to an air raid, only learned of Ackermann's death two years later.Walter Ackermann now rests in the war cemetery in La Cambe. The final grave location is in block 9, row 6, grave 228. Ruth Ackermann was able to visit her husband's grave for the first time in 1967. According to the relatives, he remained in the family's vivid memory.​

​​Walter Ackermann​

​​Heinz Semmelbeck was born in Niederhochstadt on 27 August 1908, the son of Heinrich and Karoline Semmelbeck. Two months after passing his A levels at the Humanistisches Gymnasium in Ludwigshafen in March 1927, he began studying law. Semmelbeck studied at the universities in Königsberg, Munich, and Erlangen. In Erlangen he passed the first state law examination in February 1932. He then worked as a legal trainee in various local and state courts and in district offices. After passing the second state law examination, he worked as a court assessor in Frankenthal in early 1936. In the same year he joined the Sturmabteilung (SA). On 1 May 1937, Semmelbeck was finally admitted to the NSDAP after the general admission ban was lifted. His membership number was 4929292, and he belonged to the Frankenthal branch of the Saarpfalz district.​On 8 November 1937, he married Maria Martha Gehra and the couple had two sons. Less than a year after their marriage, Semmelbeck received his doctorate in law from the University of Erlangen.​In June 1940, he began his military service in the reserve of the Sanitätsersatzdienst (combat medic reserve organisation) in Frankfurt. He was then deployed with the 1st Grenadier Regiment 1021 of the Wehrmacht on the French Channel and Atlantic coasts. On 6 July 1944, Semmelbeck was killed at St. Germain when a shell fragment penetrated his helmet. Semmelbeck rests at the La Cambe War Cemetery in Block 49, Row 1, Grave 5.​

​​Heinz Semmelbeck​

​​Leo von Poblotzki was the sixth child of Anton Franz von Poblotzki and Rosalia Barbara Budnik. His family belonged to the Kashubian ethnic group. After Western Poland was divided into three parts as a result of the Versailles Treaty of 1919, his family moved to Wesel in the Rhineland. There he attended a Catholic elementary school until 1935, and then completed an apprenticeship as a baker. In one of his last jobs, he worked for the bakery R. ten Hompel in Wesel.&nbsp;​Through his membership in the German Red Cross and training as a paramedic, he tried to avoid membership in the Hitler Youth. In early February 1941, von Poblotzki was called up for military service as a medic in the Luftwaffe. After medical training in Bonn, he was assigned to an air force hospital in Amsterdam. A year and a half later, he was promoted to sergeant.&nbsp;​In the winter of 1943/44, von Poblotzki was finally transferred to the 16th Luftwaffe Field Division in Normandy. During an allied bombing raid on Caen, he was buried under the rubble of a collapsing building. His comrades managed to recover him, but he was severely wounded and died shortly after on 14 June 1944, in the military hospital. His family received no information about his death or his burial place in the Caen municipal cemetery. Von Poblotzki was considered missing in action, and inquiries by the family during the war remained without results.​It was not until 1956 that Leo von Poblotzki was recovered and identified by the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e.V. during reburial work. His mother received the news of his reburial in La Cambe cemetery in 1958. Here he rests in block 26, grave 299.​&nbsp;

​​Leo von Poblotzki​

​​Ottfried (​​Otto) Muthesius was born on 21 April 1925. As a non-commissioned officer, he was last stationed in the state of Hesse, where he became an American prisoner of war near Gießen on 27 March 1945. After temporary internment in various collective camps, including Zülpich, he was then transported to Rennes. Finally, he was interned in the Voves prisoner-of-war camp.Muthesius recorded his experiences in a diary, in entries that were mainly addressed to his mother, Erna Muthesius. On 20 April 1945, on the occasion of Hitler's birthday, he wrote that a conflict broke out among the camp inmates. This was because the internal German (Nazi)-led camp leadership organised celebrations for the event, but some officers had refused to take part. However, the camp leadership had won this fight.There were also conflicts over the use of labour. The internal German (Nazi)-led camp leadership had issued the slogan: "It is unworthy of a German officer to work for the enemy!". However, Muthesius volunteered to search for and clear mines. On 25 September 1945 he died in an accident in Trouville-sur-Mer. According to a comrade's report, Muthesius was buried the following day near Deauville. Today, Muthesius rests on the war cemetery in La Cambe. The final grave location is in block 34, grave 236.​

​​Otto Muthesius​

​​SS-Hauptsturmführer Wittmann was born in Vogelthal on 22 April 1914. In 1936 Wittmann joined the SS at the age of 22 and in 1938 became a member of the Leibstandarte SS 'Adolf Hitler'. From 1939 onwards, Wittmann took part in various campaigns throughout Europe. He was awarded the Knight's Cross for the destruction of 66 tanks on 14 January 1944. Later that same month on 30 January, he received the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross from Adolf Hitler. Wittmann was celebrated as a national hero by Nazi propaganda.&nbsp;​After the Allied landings, in mid-June 1944 Wittmann was transferred to Normandy as a Company Commander of the SS-Schwere-Panzer-Battalion 101. In the Battle of Villers-Bocage he commanded six Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger against British tank units and inflicted considerable losses on them. These were further embellished in Nazi propaganda. Wittmann was then promoted to SS-Hauptsturmführer and received the Swords to the Knight’s Cross.&nbsp;On 8 August 1944, ​Wittmann died together with the crew of his Tiger tank, in combat with Allied units around the Falaise pocket. His remains were not found until 1983 and were moved to La Cambe cemetery.​

​​Michael Wittmann​

​​Bernhard Frerking was born in Hanover on 1 December 1912 as the son of Bernhard and Marie Frerking. On 1 May 1933, he joined the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP) in the Gau Südhannover-Braunschweig. His membership number was 2313093.Between 1933 and 1935, Frerking attended Dortmund to study at the University for Teacher Education. He had also been a member of the local Sturmabteilung (SA) since 1934 at the latest. Frerking completed his studies as an Organist und Lehrer für den Musikunterricht an Volksschulen. He then worked as a teacher and organist in Latferde near Grohnde/Hameln-Pyrmont. From June 1936 he was also the part-time choirmaster of a choral society.​On 1 August 1936, he married Marlies Marckmann. They had three children (1937, 1939 and 1944). In the same month he was drafted into military service in the Field Artillery in Fallingbostel. During the war, Frerking was deployed in Artillery Regiment 216 from 1940, first on the Western Front, and later between 1942-1943 on the Eastern Front. Frerking was last deployed as a Lieutenant-Colonel and fire control officer at the Atlantic Wall in Widerstandsnest 62.​Frerking was the superior of Heinrich Severloh. Severloh gained notoriety as the 'Beast of Omaha': as the machine gunner of Widerstandsnest 62, he killed hundreds of American soldiers who landed on Omaha Beach as part of Operation Overlord. Severloh was convinced that Frerking saved his life with the order, "You jump next!" when their fighting position could no longer be held.​On 6 June 1944, Frerking was killed by a shot in the head while trying to retreat from the Widerstandsnest. He was initially buried in the St. Laurent-sur-Mer cemetery. Later he was transferred to the La Cambe war cemetery and today rests in block 7, row 3, grave 89. In the 1950s, his mother asked the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e.V. several times for a grant to visit her son's grave, which was finally allowed when she proved that her son had been a local group leader of the Volksbund.

​​Bernhard Frerking​

​​Catholic clergyman, Ludwig Heinen (1900 - 1996), took over the leadership of the parish of St. Hubertus in Roetgen in 1941. His transfer from Krefeld to the borderland parish was due to his rejection of the National Socialists. He had stuck to his basic Christian principles, especially in youth work, and had repeatedly come into conflict with the regime. As chaplain in Stolberg, Heinen had refused to dissolve the Catholic youth associations. As a result, the parish hall and his flat had been graffitied and windows had been smashed.​In Roetgen, Father Heinen viewed the invasion of the US troops as a liberation, and in 1946 he documented his experiences of opposing the Nazi regime for the occupation authorities. His resistance was an opposition from the perspective of the Catholic Church: he did not want to give up his position to the Nazi regime. During his time in Roetgen, he concentrated on the narrower circle of his church community. Nevertheless, his story represents all opponents of the regime who saw the advance of the Allied troops as a liberation from the dictatorship.​

​​Ludwig Heinen​

​​Franz Oppenhoff was one of the central figures in the city's history during the transition from Nazi dictatorship to post-war period. Today, one of the most beautiful streets in Aachen bears the name "Oppenhoff-Allee", although it's likely only a few of the city's inhabitants know its namesake. Oppenhoff was a lawyer who was active in Aachen from 1933 and, among other things, defended Catholic clergymen against the regime's attacks. He gained his vulnerable role as Mayor of Aachen immediately after the American invasion. The Bishop of Aachen, Johannes Joseph van der Velden, proposed him to the US occupation forces as the new head of the city. Oppenhoff was sworn in as early as 31 October 1944 and subsequently endeavoured to act as an intermediary between the new rulers and the German population. One of the central areas of conflict was his demand that the city's streets be opened for the delivery of the food that was urgently needed.Samuel Padover, an American history professor and member of the Department of Pyschological Warfare within the US Army, became Oppenhoff's greatest rival. Padover massively attacked Oppenhoff and the city administration, because for him the city authority seemed too conservative. The debates about this, known as the "Aachen scandal", even reached the US press.​Regardless of this, because of his cooperation with the American occupiers, Oppenhoff was hated by the Nazis. In the evening hours of 25 March 1945, a Werewolf-Kommando squad visited Oppenhoff's unguarded private home and murdered him there. The first city leader of the post-war period was buried at the East Cemetery. To this day, he is remembered on Oppenhoff-Allee, where an installation also commemorates his fate.​&nbsp;

Franz Oppenhoff

​​Following the Normandy landings, the Allied troops had been successfully moving towards Germany. In the autumn of 1944, they finally entered the core of Nazi Germany. In the run-up to the battle of Aachen, many soldiers were worried that heavy fighting lay ahead, but at first there appeared to be little resistance. In Roetgen, which was reached on 12 September 1944 and&nbsp;was the first place in Germany to be reached by US forces, German civilians welcomed them with roses and coffee.The battle for Aachen, about 30km away, was very symbolic and German war propaganda evoked a relentless defensive struggle for the city. From the beginning of October, the US troops made their first advances against the city. Although the priority was to advance to the Rhine, the city had to be captured. The battles lasted until 21 October 1944. The liberators' takeover was rather slow, as the German forces repeatedly put up a fierce resistance.The German soldiers had been forbidden to surrender to the enemy superiority, and there was massive destruction in the city. However, it was in this first major city of the entire German Reich, that the National Socialist dictatorship thus came to an end, and the period of occupation began.

​​US Army in Germany: The Road to Aachen​

Milena Bernabò was 15 years old on the day of the Sant'Anna di Stazzema massacre. She had gotten up early to fetch water from a nearby spring when she saw a column of Nazis approaching in the distance. Frightened, she returned home, to raise the alarm and to discuss what to do with her sister and three other young friends. In their plans they should have reached a place called Ponte Rosso to buy some commodities. Although they were very afraid, they all decided to leave together. Shortly afterwards they understood that it would have been better to go back to protect the houses because the Nazis were arriving and everyone knew that in the previous days in Farnocchia and Montornato they had burned the houses and stolen all the goods. When the Nazis arrived Milena and her sister Iole were grouped together with other people from the neighborhood and forced to walk towards Vaccareccia. Milena was locked up in a stable. The Nazis shot and burned everything, Milena was wounded, she had difficulty breathing, yet she managed to see some children still alive: Mauro Pieri who was 12 years old, Mario Ulivi who was 5 years old and Lina Antonucci who was 9 years old. Milena saw an escape route, she climbed onto a wooden plank, went to the upper floor of the stable and there, helped by Mauro, she took Mario and Lina and saved their lives. Once outside the stable they found another surviving child, Ennio Navari. They were found hours later. They were dirty, hurt, shocked.In the following months Milena lived with her father and with the few survivors in the caves in the woods. They were afraid the Nazis might come back. Only after the war did she return to her old home. On 12 October 2004, the Italian Republic recognized her courage by awarding her the Gold Medal for Civil Valor, as to Genny Bibolotti Marsili, as to Cesira Pardini. <pre><code>&nbsp;</code></pre>

Italy

Milena Bernabò

When Enio's father received the news of the arrival of the Nazis it was morning. Enio was six years old and still in bed. The father for fear of being captured ran away with the other men in the woods. Enio stayed at home with his mother and the whole family. Children, women and the elderly were convinced that they were in no danger. When the Nazis broke into the house they forced them to line up outside in front of a machine gun. They feared the worst and instead were joined by a soldier who ordered them to walk towards the village called Valdicastello. The people rounded up started walking in small groups, each group choosing a different destination. Enio's family passed their house and saw it burning. They decided to hide in the woods to wait for the Nazis to leave and try to save what was left and to free the remaining cow in the stable. They were found by another group of soldiers that forced them to line up along a path. On the way they were left with a single Nazi who took up the machine gun and ordered them to keep walking. Enio saw the soldier shoot in the air, heard the shots but no one fell. They had been pardoned. They decided to go back to get closer to the house. They hid again in the woods. They heard and saw the smoke without imagining what was happening across the village. Only in the afternoon did they come out of their hiding place, discovered the destroyed houses and the torn bodies. Like other survivors Enio and his family lived woods until the arrival of the allies. In the years following the massacre Enio left the village, started working and got married. Since the birth of the Martyrs Association of Sant'Anna di Stazzema in 1970 Enio has always contributed to transmitting the memory of the massacre. For this role he was recognized as Commander of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic in 2020 together with Enrico Pieri. <pre><code>&nbsp;</code></pre>

Enio Mancini 

On the night of 16 and 17 March 1942, German forces started the liquidation of the Lublin ghetto. They carried out the so-called ‘displacement action’ in a systematic way: street by street they drove Jews out of their homes and gathered them at assembly points. The main place of selection was the Great Synagogue. From there SS men marched people to the loading yard behind the municipal slaughterhouse, where freight trains headed to the Bełżec extermination camp awaited them. In less than a month, about 28,000 Lublin Jews were murdered in the gas chambers there. There were no deportation lists. None of the ‘displaced’ survived.Someone who was in the Lublin ghetto at that time described those tragic events in a letter from 24 March 1942. This dramatic account was written in Yiddish, the language spoken by the majority of Polish Jews. We do not know the name nor fate of its author: this partly illegible text is the only evidence of his existence. The emotions resounding in it — misery, pain, lack of hope — convey the personal nature of the message. […] I had to add a few words today about days that will be remembered as the darkest in the history of Jewish Lublin. Jews are standing in the middle of a bloody devil's dance. It […] Lublin, it is taking place in blood and tears. Jewish possessions without […]. Over 10,000 Jews already expelled […]. […] small streets. Hundreds of dead lay around […] abandoned apartments and without sufficient […] the orphanage and an old people’s home […] their [...] were sent […] not back. And [...] during [...] we are wandering about mistreated [...] tired, pained and broken. I can't do more [...] I can only shout to you: help. Add […] and the dead in shrouds. And […] go out […].&nbsp;The content of this unique document survived the Holocaust in the Underground Archive of the Warsaw Ghetto, created by members of the Jewish clandestine group Oneg Shabbat under the leadership of historian Emanuel Ringelblum.After the war, part of the Ringelblum Archive was found. This unique resource, consisting of several thousand documents, has been inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register. It is a testimony to the life, suffering, and death of individuals and entire Jewish communities doomed to extermination — created by themselves.

Poland

NN. Author of the letter from the Lublin ghetto

Leopolda Bartolucci was ten years old on the day of the Sant'Anna di Stazzema massacre. She was an only child of two elderly parents. As soon as she learned of the arrival of the Nazi soldiers, her mother Vittoria decided to take away her daughter and niece, who had been a guest for a few days. They went to Valdicastello. Leopolda’s invalid father stayed at home to protect goods and food. For fear that they would set fire to the house, he had hidden some grain. Arriving in Valdicastello, Leopolda and her mother understood that something serious had happened back in Sant'Anna di Stazzema. Several people watched the smoke and fire rise up the mountain. Vittoria and Leopolda found accommodation and waited before setting off to return to Sant'Anna. First they saw the returning Nazi soldiers go by, then the wounded. Among the latter was a woman who warned Vittoria of what had happened and who told her of the death of her husband, whose body had been identified through his prosthetic leg. Leopolda was hosted by an aunt, a sister of her father, while her mother returned to Sant'Anna. Only after several days was Leopolda allowed to visit the village. She saw the destroyed house and the large grave on the church square, where her father had been murdered. Many men were crying desperately. Since then, Leopolda’s mother Vittoria lost her mind. Like many survivors, she was never the same. In the years after 1944, Leopolda never left the country. She assisted in the transport of the corpses from the square in front of the church to the ossuary monument in 1948. She attended all the commemorations. While the town was depopulated due to the lack of infrastructure and emigration, Leopolda stayed and took care of the church and the tombs to commemorate the dead. She began to collect the testimonies of those who had survived, listened to them and wrote them down. She collected the objects that belonged to the victims, such as a doll, a watch, a dress and much more and tried to reconstruct the history of each object, to whom it had belonged, who had recovered it. Leopolda kept her archive at home in a small room until it was integrated into the newly renovated museum exhibition in 2007.

Leopolda Bartolucci 

Adolf Beckert voluntarily enlisted in the Waffen-SS in 1942. Trained in Prague, he was first stationed in France and finally in Italy. Settled in Tuscany, he joined the 16th Panzergrenadier Division Reichsführer-SS as a corporal. His division consisted of highly ideologically motivated soldiers called to act against the partisans. Beckert knew that his military objective was to round up men. However, upon his arrival in the town of Sant'Anna he found no men, but only a few women, both young and old. His searched the area around the church for partisans. Beckert did not find any; he only saw six corpses in the area in front of the church that likely belonged to Italian civilians forced to carry ammunition. The sight of the dead bodies did not upset him, and Beckert entered the building, where he found some elderly women intent on praying. He looked at the rectory, sensing that someone had escaped in a hurry. Beckert was then given the order to deploy at the perimeter together with a fellow soldier. On his way, he observed the events in the church square, which slowly filled up with women, the elderly and children. Among them, Beckert distinguished a priest by his clothing. The latter conversed with the commander and the telegrapher. The commander asked where the men were, but he received no answer. After a final conversation, the women, children and elderly began to pray. At that moment, the Nazis started shooting. Nobody was saved. During the proceeedings in La Spezia, Beckert recalled in front of the eyes of the surviving witnesses that no checks or coups de grâce were necessary — all had died at the first shots. He was the only one to testify, recounting what had happened in the church square, where approximately 130 people lost their lives. For the survivors present at the judicial hearing, Beckert's testimony was among the most intense moments of the entire process, as they were finally able to look one of the executioners in the eyes as he told about what had transpired on that tragic day.

Adolf Beckert

Enrico Pieri lived in the area called Franchi with his father, Natale, his mother, Irma Bartolucci, and two sisters, Alice and Luciana. Only a short time passed between the alarm announcing the arrival of the Nazi soldiers and the latter entering Enrico’s house. He saw about ten armed men dressed in camouflage and was rounded up together with other people as they were pushed towards the church square. Then, suddenly, the soldiers changed direction and led them to the home of the Pierotti family. They were standing in the kitchen, about thirteen or fourteen people, when the soldiers started shooting. Enrico hid under the stairs with a little girl, one of the Pierotti sisters. As soon as the shooting stopped, Enrico saw the Nazi soldiers throw burning grain into the room and understood that they had to flee. Only then did he realize that another little girl was also still alive. It was the second Pierotti sister. Enrico, Grazia and Gabriella escaped to a shed that kept beans, and in silence they waited for the evening to arrive. Grazia and Gabriella came out of hiding first. They went back to the house, where they found everyone dead. Enrico lost his father, mother, sisters and grandfather. Grazia and Gabriella Pierotti lost their father, mother, two brothers and an aunt. After a vain attempt to put out the fire, the three children ran away towards Valdicava, where they met other survivors. Enrico grew up in Sant'Anna di Stazzema with his uncle Duilio.Duilio Pieri was an important figure in the postwar reconstruction of the town. For example, the construction of a road at the end of the 1960s was due to his initiatives. Enrico, like many other surviving peers, decided to migrate in 1951, first to Valdicastello and then to Viareggio. In the same year, he went to work in Switzerland, where he lived for 32 years. Once retired, he returned to Sant'Anna Stazzema. Until his death, Enrico dedicated himself to transmitting the memory of the massacre, its victims and its survivors. Over the years, he became a bearer of thoughts of peace and forgiveness as he kept the memory of the historic event alive. For this role, he was recognized as Commendatore dell’ordine al merito della Repubblica italiana in 2020.

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Learn about WWII History

More history

​​V weapons and sites: the history of their development, production and launch​

​​The role of the FFI in the liberation of Lille​

​​The British at the centre of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais liberation effort​

​​The American liberators of eastern Nord-Pas-de-Calais​

​​Robert Wilhelm​

​​Karl Stein​

​​Horst Rimkus​

​​Ludwig Lindenmayer​

​​Fritz Luck​

​​Walter Ackermann​

​​Heinz Semmelbeck​

​​Leo von Poblotzki​

​​Otto Muthesius​

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Franz Oppenhoff

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Enrico Pieri

V weapons and sites: the history of their development, production and launch

The role of the FFI in the liberation of Lille

The British at the centre of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais liberation effort

The American liberators of eastern Nord-Pas-de-Calais

Robert Wilhelm

Karl Stein

Horst Rimkus

Ludwig Lindenmayer

Fritz Luck

Walter Ackermann

Heinz Semmelbeck

Leo von Poblotzki

Otto Muthesius

Michael Wittmann

Bernhard Frerking

Ludwig Heinen

US Army in Germany: The Road to Aachen