Massacre of civilians during rounding-up operation
The municipality of Montemignaio was also affected by the rounding-up operations on Pratomagno. A troop of German and Italian soldiers in transit from the Consuma Pass spotted 3 men and 2 women just outside the caves of Liconia, where they were trying to hide, still terrified by the events of June 20th. Baldovina Galletti died first, shot in the back of her head by a machine-gun; Antonio Ferrara, Raffaele Mugnaini and Vigno Vignoli were shot near where a ditch flows into the Scheggia stream; Gabriello Magni, managed at first to survive, despite his body being riddled with bullets, but died the next day at his home in Liconia. Some testimonies say the prisoners were subjected to torture before being executed, others that there were Italians among the murderers. Sergeant Camfield’s report suggests that the Anti-Aircraft and Training Company of the 10th Army, already responsible for the massacre of Montemignaio on June 20th, was responsible for the killings. On the other hand, according to the German records, the 3rd Regiment of the Brandenburg Division (which in the meantime also been operating in Cetica and Pratomagno) was the unit operating in the Scheggia Valley and had declared killing 10 “bandits” in the Scheggia sector.
5 Dead
Antonio Ferrara di anni 31
Galletti Baldovina di anni 29
Magni Gabriello di anni 38
Mugnaini Raffaele di anni 15
Vignoli Vigno di anni 34
Responsible Corps
Corps responsible: Division “Brandenburg” – 3 Regiment – II bataillon, perhaps supported by units of the Training School Fla.-Lehr und Ausbildungs-Kompanie AOK 10 (both troops belonging to the 10th Army). Unspecified Italian group also present.
The Voices
Fidalma Taverni
Testimonianza Fidalma Taverni
My husband had come back from Croatia
On June 26th 1944, during a German round-up, the villagers fled to hideouts for safety. But the army captured several people, including Fidalma's husband.
Crediti: Località Pratovecchio. Riprese e intervista di Pier Angelo Bonazzoli realizzata il 25/10/2016.
The Signs
Memorial stones to the Fallen in the Carbonettoli massacre
Informations
Place of placement: In the woods, near the Scheggia stream
Date of placement:
Description
The massacre of Carbonettoli, perpetrated by the Germans on June 29th 1944 against 5 civilians (four men and a woman), who were barbarously murdered, is commemorated by two crosses on the site where some of the victims died. A simple iron cross is set on the rocks where Bartolina Galletti née Bartoli died. Underneath it, on the bare stone, are roughly engraved the initials of her name and surname, together her personal details. The other cross, also made of iron, is situated near the banks of the Scheggia stream. It is set in a stone of a roughly trapezoidal shape, on whose base are engraved, in an equally rudimentary fashion, the initials of another victim, Raffaello Mugnaini, together with his personal details. There are no signs commemorating the other three Fallen: Vigno Vignoli, Antonio Ferrara and Gabriello Magni.
Personal observations
The inscription "B B" stands for Baldovina Galletti in Bartoli, while "M F" stands for Raffaello Mugnaini. Together with him Vigno Vignoli was also shot.
For the other two victims, Antonino Ferrara and Gabriello Magni, no memorial has been found on this site. However, the place where Magni was shot (he later died in his home in the village of Liconia) is further downhill than that of the other two, who were killed close together on the banks of the Scheggia stream.
The site where the crosses are located is now completely overgrown and abandoned. There are no footpaths and it is virtually unreachable without the guidance of a local inhabitant and some proper tools to cut through the undergrowth. I would like to thank Mr. Nuzzi and Mr. Bartoli for their great kindness in helping me reach the site of the massacre and enabling me to inventory it.
News and contextualisation
At dawn on June 29th 1944, a section of the anti-aircraft artillery ('Flak') of the Luftwaffe, the German air force, carried out a vast rounding-up operation of the Montemignaio area in search of partisans. On June 20th, three soldiers from the same unit had been killed, leading to immediate reprisals that culminated in the shooting of 11 men in the hamlet of Castello. It seems that they were also accompanied by fascist soldiers.
The inhabitants of Montemignaio were terrified and feared for their lives. They fled their homes, seeking refuge in the surrounding hills and in the caves of Liconia. Unfortunately, some of them were spotted entering a cave by Germans coming from the Consuma Pass. A burst of machine-gun fire hit Baldovina Galletti née Bartoli, aged 29 (born September 13th 1915), in the back of the head.
Three men were killed in a ditch in the banks of the Scheggia stream: Antonio (or Antonino) Ferrara, 31 years old; Vigno Vignoli, 34 years old (born May 15th 1910) and Raffaello Mugnaini, 15 years old (born March 27th 1929).
Further downhill, 38-year-old Gabriello Magni (born April 13th 1906) was seriously wounded, his body literally riddled with bullets. He was taken to his home in Liconia where he died the following day, June 30th, despite medical treatment.
The remains of Mugnaini, Vignoli, Magni and Galletti lie in the cemetery of Montemignaio, at La Pieve.
