The Fiorentina
Area preserves numerous artifacts that tell the story of World War II, the
Nazi-Fascist occupation and the Resistance.
Stumbling Stones, war cemeteries, trails
and monuments keep alive the memory of the people and the events that have
profoundly shaped this region.
These are painful yet precious memories, a
history that becomes a scar on a people,
a memory to be kept alive since, “Those
who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” as the
philosopher George Santayana said.
Contents
1.
Stumbling Stones
2.
Valibona Memorial
3.
The Einstein family in Rignano sull’Arno
4.
The Falciani and Girone War Cemeteries
5.
In memory of Radio Co.Ra
Stumbling Stones
Stumbling Stones - Credit: Comune di Firenze
As you walk through Florence,
both in the historic center and in the outlying neighborhoods, you can find
them. They are the Stumbling Stones
(Stolpersteine in German), which are meant to “trip the memories” of passersby,
like small memorials, to remind everyone of one of the darkest periods in our
nation’s history during the Nazi-Fascist occupation.
Brass squares the size of a cobblestone
(10×10 centimeters or 4×4 inches) are embedded in the pavement in front of the
homes of those who were deported to concentration camps. Engraved on the top
are their first and last names, the dates of their capture and, when known, the
date of their death.
These memorial works were devised by German artist Gunter Demnig, who conceived
and created them in the early 1990s.
Valibona Memorial
View of the Valibona Memorial barn - Credit: Comune di Calenzano
In the heights of Calvana, in the
municipality of Calenzano, stands the Valibona
Memorial. A simple stone farmhouse with great significance.
In fact, it was in Valibona that the 1ˢᵗ
battle of the Resistance in Tuscany took place. Here, 3 Partisans were
killed, 5 were captured and tortured, while the civilians who lived
nearby—whose only “crime” was having sheltered them—were persecuted.
Valibona is thus an investment in memory that
the municipalities of Calenzano
and Campi
Bisenzio, together with the Province of Florence, have pursued with
conviction by restoring and transforming
the barn into a place of remembrance, rich as it is in content, an
educational journey that guides visitors through the story of a group of young
people who took up arms, foregoing their private lives, to give Italy hope.
The Einstein family in Rignano sull’Arno
Robert Einstein’s Memorial Plaque - Credit: Ambito Firenze e Area Fiorentina
The Path of Remembranceis a looping trail that connects sites
where the events surrounding the massacre of the family of Robert
Einstein—cousin of Nobel Prize winner Albert Einstein—took place.
On the evening of August 3, 1944,
retreating German SS soldiers killed Robert’s wife, Nina Mazzetti, and his
daughters, Luce and Anna Maria, for no apparent reason.
Robert Einstein had purchased Villa il Focardo in the countryside
near Rignano, which had become his
family’s residence in 1937. A year after the massacre, Robert Einstein
committed suicide. The entire family is now buried in the Badiuzza Cemetery.
The trail passes through places that evoke the
life and tragic end of the Einstein-Mazzetti family, set against the backdrop
of an area of particular historical, artistic and environmental
interest. In the early 2020s, the Rignano sull’Arno City Council
unanimously voted to designate this small rural cemetery as a “Place of
Remembrance.”
The Falciani and Girone War Cemeteries
American War Cemetery - Credit: Comune di Firenze
The American War Cemetery in Tavarnuzze, in the municipality of Impruneta,
was inaugurated in 1960 and is the final resting place for 4,402 soldiers to
have fallen during the Italian campaign of World War II. It is not the largest
in Italy—that distinction belongs to the one in Nettuno, in the province of
Rome. On the lawns—which, like wings, form the most important part of the
cemetery—simple white marble crosses are lined up in rows. They are perfectly
symmetrical, yet create touching plays of perspective simply by shifting one’s
gaze.
In Al Girone, in the municipality of Fiesole,
there is the Commonwealth War Cemetery.
Situated in a beautiful location on the banks of the Arno, it is the final
resting place of British, Australian, Canadian, Indian, New Zealand and South
African soldiers, all British Commonwealth troops who arrived in Italy in
September 1943, coinciding with the Armistice. There is a total of 1,632
graves.
Most of the soldiers were killed in the fighting
in the Apennines during the winter of 1944–1945.
In memory of Radio Co.Ra
The Cippo Caduti di Radio Co.Ra - Credit: Giovanni Baldini
In Florence, which was occupied by the
Germans from January through June 1944, it was the clandestine radio station Radio Co.Ra to have maintained contact
between the Resistance clusters in occupied Italy and the Allied command. The
role it played was crucial but an informant revealed to the German command
where the transmissions were coming from: an apartment in Piazza D’Azeglio in
Florence.
On the morning of June 12, 1944, Captain
Piccagli, 4 paratroopers, a Czechoslovak partisan and Anna Maria Enriques
Agnoletti were shot in a forest near Cercina.
Enrico Bocci, a lawyer and the
organizer of Radio Co.Ra, was shot to death after days of torture, likely on
June 18 and in the same general area. His body was never recovered.
In the Cercina woods, there is a memorial
stone commemorating the vital role played by Radio Co.Ra and its courageous
collaborators in the Resistance.
