The presidents of Italy and Germany,
Sergio Mattarella and Frank-Walter Steinmeier, on Sunday
attended an 80th anniversary service at the scene of the worst
Nazi atrocity in WWII at Marzabotto in the Bolognese Appenines
when Waffen SS troops killed at least 770 Italian civilians in
the small village from September 29 to October 5 1944.
It was the largest massacre of civilians committed by the
Waffen SS in western Europe during the war and the deadliest
mass shooting in the history of Italy.
The two presidents laid a wreath of flowers to commemorate the
fallen at the little San Martino Church at Monte Sole.
"Thanks for coming here today and for honouring our dear ones
who aren't here anymore", said Anna Rona Nannetti, one of the
survivors of the massacre, who welcomed Mattarella and
Steinmeier.
The German president responded thanking her and attendees for
"your generosity and your welcome".
The two presidents were accompanied to Monte Sole by Deputy
Premier and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.
The Italian head of State is visiting the location for the
second time: in 1992, after he had just been re-elected to the
Lower House, he was the official speaker during the
commemoration of the 48th anniversary of the massacre.
The last time an Italian president paid a visit to the location
together with a German president was in 2002, when then-German
head of State Johannes Rau went to Monte Sole with
then-president Carlo Azeglio Ciampi on the eve of Italy's
Liberation Day on April 25.
"From my grandfather Augusto Marchioni, who lost two children
and his wife here at Monte Sole, I have learned the value of
forgiveness", said Pietro Marchioni, who also lost another
relative in the massacre, Ubaldo Marchioni, one of the priests
killed by the SS troops at the age of 26, for whom a
canonization process is ongoing at the Vatican.
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