Fall 2025 Military & Collectibles Auction
Lot 87:
Description
Original hand signed US and Italian charging documents from the US Criminal Investigative Division of the 5th US Army, 1945, and signed translated confessions and interviews for former Italian partisans for the infamous Schio Prison Massacre. The Schio Massacre took place on the night of 6–7 July 1945 in the prison of Schio, in northern Italy, just weeks after the end of World War II in Europe. A group of former partisans from the Garibaldi Brigade “Ateo Garemi, ” together with members of the auxiliary partisan police, stormed the jail and opened fire on inmates who were accused of collaborating with the Fascist regime or Nazi occupiers. In total, 54 prisoners were killed and 17 wounded, including 14 women—some of them pregnant. Many of the victims had not been formally charged or tried, highlighting the atmosphere of revenge and lawlessness that persisted in the immediate postwar period. The massacre was partly fueled by anger over brutal reprisals carried out by Fascists during the war and the recent discovery of atrocities committed against resistance fighters. The Allied Military Government quickly intervened, arresting and trying those responsible. Several were sentenced to death or life imprisonment, though the executions were never carried out and most sentences were later reduced or commuted under postwar amnesty laws. The Schio Massacre remains one of the most controversial episodes of partisan violence in postwar Italy, symbolizing both the desire for retribution against Fascists and the difficulty of re-establishing justice and order after years of occupation and civil conflict.
Condition: See description for notes on condition. Please note that all items are sold as is without returns, so please ask questions in advance of bidding.
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