Switzerland commemorates Italian partisans who died escaping fascists

Ticino commemorates Italian partisans with stumbling blocks Keystone-SDA

Italian partisans tried to flee to Switzerland in October 1944. However, two died and a third was injured in a hail of bullets between their fascist pursuers and Swiss border guards in Ticino. They are now commemorated by so-called 'stumble stones'.

The ceremony was held on Tuesday morning in the Italian border region of the Onsernone Valley in Ticino and was attended by the mayor of Onsernone and family members of the Italian victims of that time, according to a press release from the Stolpersteine Schweiz association. This is the second time that so-called brass paving stones known as stumble stones (Stolpersteine in German) have been laid in Italian-speaking Swiss canton of Ticino.

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Domodossola and the surrounding Italian region were a zone liberated from Nazi-fascist rule for 40 days in autumn 1944. On October 10, however, Italian fascists, supported by German units, launched a major offensive to recapture the area. The partisan territory of the Repubblica d’Ossola had to be abandoned.

Tens of thousands of civilians and partisans then tried to flee to Switzerland. Many chose the route through Valle Vigezzo into the Onsernone Valley, including 250 partisans. They wanted to cross the border at the Italian Bagni di Craveggia, but were initially refused entry by the Swiss border authorities.

Deadly exchange of fire at the border

To prevent a bloodbath caused by pursuing gunmen, the border was opened in the end. Nevertheless, two people were killed and dozens injured in the exchange of fire.

The special paving stones that were laid on Tuesday are for Federico Marescotti and Renzo Coen, who both died as a result of gunfire at the border, and for Adriano Bianchi, who was seriously injured.

Stumble stones are a project by the German artist Gunter Demnig. The memorial stones, which the Berlin artist and his supporters have been laying since 1996, commemorate victims of National Socialism throughout Europe. To date, it is estimated that around 100,000 such Stolpersteine have been laid in 23 European countries. In Switzerland, there are Stolpersteine in Bern, Biel, Winterthur and Zurich, among others.

Adapted from German by DeepL/ac

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