Fragheto massacre

The Fragheto massacre (Italian: Eccidio di Fragheto or Strage di Fragheto) was the massacre of 30 Italian civilians and 15 partisans in Fragheto, a frazione of Casteldelci in central-northern Italy, on 7 April 1944, during World War II, by soldiers of the German 356th Infantry Division. After partisans belonging to the Eighth Garibaldi Brigade ambushed troops approaching the hamlet, fourteen soldiers of the Sturmbattaillon OB Sudwest conducted house-to-house searches and summarily killed civilians. Representing 40% of the hamlet's population, many of the victims were elderly people, women, or children. A further seven partisans and one civilian were shot the next day at Ponte Carrattoni, at the confluence of the Senatello and Marecchia.

The Fragheto massacre was among the first massacres perpetrated by the Wehrmacht and collaborating Italian fascists in central-northern Italy. For years after the massacre, some local opinion held partisans responsible for the massacre, accusing them of attempting an impossible ambush and leaving the hamlet's residents open to reprisal.

An initial investigation into the massacre was archived in the 1960s, the files being lost in the Armadio della vergogna. In 2013, a trial in absentia acquitted the only two surviving German soldiers, who had been charged with multiple homicide aggravated by trivial reasons.

In early 1944, partisans active in central-northern Italy were disrupting the construction of the Gothic Line. On 2 April 1944, five detachments of the Eighth Garibaldi Brigade, who were partisans aligned with the Italian Communist Party, occupied Sant'Agata Feltria. They captured forty-two soldiers of the Italian Social Republic, carabinieri, and policemen.

With supporting Italian fascist forces, a German detachment was sent to round up partisans in the area between Monte Fumaiolo and Casteldelci. On 6 April, troops belonging to the Sturmbattaillon OB Sudwest of the 356th Infantry Division passed through Capanne di Verghereto [it]. At an infirmary in the town, they killed three wounded partisans, and captured eight young people as prisoners, of whom seven were partisans and one was a civilian. The prisoners, who were seriously ill, were forced to carry cases of ammunition.

To escape encirclement, partisans in the area began to flee along the valley of the Senatello stream. On the night of 6–7 April, the first company of the partisan brigade, led by Alberto Bardi [it], sheltered in the hamlet of Fragheto. In the morning, they decided to engage the German troops approaching the hamlet, thereby delaying their advance and allowing other companies time to escape. The company climbed the hills near Calanco and ambushed the Germans. The ambush killed three partisans and several Germans.

The partisans retreated from their positions at approximately 13:00, ending the ambush. In the houses at Calanco di Sotto, the Germans killed six partisans aged between 21 and 24. The German forces continued towards the Senatello, stopping to search houses for partisans. Being warned of an imminent incursion by partisans, the young men of Fragheto fled the hamlet, while the women and children stayed, believing the Germans would only target men of military age. By attacking the hills, the partisans hoped the hamlet would be spared any reprisal.

Arriving in Fragheto at 17:30 that afternoon, fourteen soldiers of the Sturmbattaillon OB Sudwest raided the hamlet, conducting house-to-house searches and summarily killing civilians inside. The soldiers believed that the hamlet was a partisan base: according to German testimonies, they had found a wounded partisan in the first house they searched, while in another, an Italian civilian opened fire on two soldiers.