Between September 1943 and April 1945, an estimated 300,000 Italians joined the Resistenza. Communists, Catholics, monarchists, and liberals fought together against Nazi-Fascism.
Plan a history trip →After September 8, 1943, the Italian army dissolved. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers were captured by Germans. Those who escaped joined partisan bands in the mountains. Major actions: Via Rasella attack in Rome (March 1944, followed by the Ardeatine Caves massacre), liberation of Florence (August 1944, partisans fought house-to-house), liberation of Bologna and Milan (April 1945 — before Allied troops arrived). April 28, 1945: partisans capture and execute Mussolini near Lake Como. His body is hung upside down at a gas station in Milan (Piazzale Loreto).
Museo della Resistenza, Turin (free): the best Resistance museum. Monte Sole/Marzabotto: memorial park (free). Sant’Anna di Stazzema (Tuscany): massacre site (560 killed, 1944), now a Peace Park (free). Sacrario di Piazzale Loreto, Milan: where Mussolini’s body was displayed. Museo Cervi, Gattatico (Emilia): the Cervi brothers’ farmhouse (7 brothers, all partisans, all executed 1943).