The Ardeatine massacre took place in Italy during World War II. In March 1944, 33 German soldiers were killed when a group of Italian Communist partisans set off a bomb close to a column of German soldiers who were marching on Via Rasella. Adolf Hitler is reported as having given an order that within 24 hours, ten Italians were to be shot for each dead German. Commander Herbert Kappler in Rome quickly compiled a list of 330 civilians who were to be killed, many of them prisoners arrested for petty offenses or anti-Fascism. Many Jews and some other people also were arrested. Combatants Allied Powers Axis Powers Commanders {{{commander1}}} {{{commander2}}} Strength {{{strength1}}} {{{strength2}}} Casualties 17 million military deaths 7 million military deaths {{{notes}}} World War II, also known as the Second World War (sometimes WW2 or WWII or World War Two), was a mid-20th century conflict that engulfed much of the... Partisans parading in Milan The Italian resistance movement was a partisan force during World War II. It became massive after the capitulation of the Italian Royal Army on September 8, 1943. ... (help· info) (April 20, 1889 – April 30, 1945) was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 and Führer (Leader) of Germany from 1934 until his death. ... Herbert Kappler (born 23 September 1907 in Stuttgart, Germany, died 9 February 1978 in Soltau near Lüneburg, Germany) was an SS-Obersturmbannführer of Nazi Germany, posted to Rome in 1939. ... City motto: Senatus Populusque Romanus – SPQR (The Senate and the People of Rome) Founded 21 April 753 BC mythical, 1st millennium BC Region Latium Mayor Walter Veltroni (Left-Wing Democrats) Area  - City Proper  1285 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 2. ...

The next day, led by German officers Erich Priebke and Karl Hass, the victims were transported to the Ardeatine caves in groups of five people. They were led into the caves with their hands tied behind their back and then shot in the neck. Many were forced to kneel down over the bodies of those who had been killed before them, because the caves were filled with dead bodies. During the killings, it was found that by a mistake five more people than were supposed to have been taken to the caves had been brought there, but they were killed anyway since they were already there. Erich Priebke during the war Erich Priebke during the trial Erich Priebke, born July 29, 1913 at Hennigsdorf, Brandenburg, Germany is a former S.S.-Hauptsturmführer of Nazi Germany. ... Karl Hass, born October 5, 1912, in Kiel, Germany – died April 21, 2004, in Geneva, Switzerland, was a Nazi war criminal and mass murderer. ...

Since there were 75 Jews among the victims, this massacre is the largest single episode of the Holocaust in Italy. This is the reason that many Jewish organizations have worked hard to bring those responsible to trial. Concentration camp inmates during the Holocaust The Holocaust was Nazi Germanys systematic genocide (ethnic cleansing) of various ethnic, religious, national, and secular groups during World War II. Early elements include the Kristallnacht pogrom and the T-4 Euthanasia Program established by Hitler that killed some 200,000 people. ...

External links

• Catholic League report into Vatican view of the massacre