Italian politicians expressed
outrage on Friday over news that the German town of Englesbrand
had awarded a medal to its resident Wilhelm Kusterer, a former
Nazi SS member who participated in the 1944 Marzabotto massacre.
The massacre, which took place in the small village of
Marzabotto near Bologna, was the worst mass murder of civilians
that took place in Western Europe during World War II.
The massacre was carried out in reprisal for local support
given to the partisans and the Resistance and also took in the
adjacent Grizzana Morandi and Monzuno areas of tthe Monte Sole
massif, which is part of the Apennine range in the province of
Bologna.
Among the victims, 45 were less than two years old, 110
were less than 10 years old, 95 were less than 16 years old, 142
were over 60 years old, 316 were females and five were Catholic
priests.
"That medal is an insult not only to the 1,150 people
barbarically killed by the ex-SS soldier and to their families,
but to all of us who have been continuously involved in
imparting the horror of Nazi-Fascist history in order to build a
democratic and peaceful future," said Massimo Mezzetti, Emilia
Romagna regional councillor for culture.
Mezzetti said he contacted Emilia Romagna Governor Stefano
Bonaccini and they would be requesting that the German town
revoke the medal.
The head of the Democratic Party (PD) in the region,
Stefano Caliandro, said he would present a resolution in the
regional legislative assembly in the coming days "to invite the
regional government to convey to the Italian government and the
local German institutions our community's opposition to and
disappointment over the news" of the medal.
"It fills us with anger," Caliandro said.
"We certainly owe it to the memory of the victims and their
families but we also have a responsibility to the younger
generations to make sure these acts don't go unnoticed".
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