The late 1930’s were global times of darkness. Japan and China were involved in the notorious Marco Polo Bridge battle. The eastern part of the world was getting massacred with Hitler invading Poland and Britain and France announcing war to stop him from doing so. Another significant contribution to World war II was the foundation of Italian Fascism laid down by the dictator Mussolini in the year 1919.
With Hitler’s political Nazi coup and the aggressive policies they implemented, Benito Mussolini chose to ally Italian forces with those of German. On their eastern side, Rome was first invaded by Nazi Germany in 1943. Then in 1944, Britain decided on invading Italy. The Allied forces which included Britain, France, United States military in the majority, bombed Rome in multiple instances between 1943 and 1944 despite the significance of Catholics in the U.S military forces. The Sacred City was attacked from northern as well as the south-east side. The Vatican, which has already declared itself neutral was also attacked twice.
Following are the sites, where the horrendous events of World War ii were unfolded by The Allies as well as by the Axis.
Villa Torlonia:
After laying the foundation for the Italian fascism and forming Fasci Italiani di Combattimento in Milan, Benito Mussolini, in 1920 rented this lush green villa aligned with pine and palm-trees, in Rome as his accommodation. The dictator builds a royal bunker underneath for easy access to his wine cellar. The Mussolini family lived here until it was attacked by the Allied High Command in 1943 and Mussolini was deposed and executed. The village has been reopened as a museum in 2004, to take it’s visitor back into the times of dictatorship and war.
By Lalupa (Self-published work by Lalupa) [GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons
By Sergio de Ferra [GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0], from Wikimedia Commons
History Museum Of Liberation:
Called Museo Storico della Liberazione in Italian, this museum is located close to the Basilica of St John Lateran. This self-directing building in Via Tasso used to serve as the headquarters for the Nazi Schutzstaffel and Gestapo at the time of occupation of Rome. The museum has a prison wherein the Nazi supporters and military forces used to incarcerate, torture and execute the Italian Jewish citizens and the political opponents. A tour to the museum is essential to register into the senses, the physical as well as emotional pain inflicted on the Italians who didn’t bow down to Hitler and his belligerent system.
Abbey Of Monte Cassino:
What one used to be a splendid monastery, ever since its inception in 526 A.D by St. Benedict, is now mourned for being a cataclysmic ruin of a long bloody outbreak. The Battle of Monte Cassino was a result of a misapprehension on the part of an Italian soldier, as surfaced in the book of a glorified military officer, who was a confidential assistant to a leading British General in the liberation of Italy. The soldier mistook an Italian word for the abbot to battalion, which enraged the Allies since it was a breach of the agreement of the Vatican being a neutral city. What followed was a series of four horrific assaults in the area held by the Axis. The causality included some 250 men, women and children and a massive number of Allied soldiers lost their lives.
If you are planning a trip to Rome, whether or not you are inquisitive about the global war history, you must spare some time out of your trip to visit these World War II sites of the eternal city, Rome. Illuminate oneself about the radical transformation; the entire world went into after these horrendous acts against humanity.
All these monumental spots are within a taxi ride distance from the Rome International Airport, and you can easily pre-book or book-at-instant any reliable taxi transfer services available right outside the airport.