Pedescala
The Pedescala massacre: a terrible event in the Val d'Astico
The Pedescala massacre was one of the tragic events that shook Italy during World War II. It occurred between April 30 and May 2, 1945 in the Val d'Astico, and saw 63 people killed in Pedescala and another 19 in Forni and Settecà. In this section of my summary, I will discuss the events leading up to the massacre, providing historical context for understanding the facts.
The Val d'Astico has always been a transit point for traffic between Veneto and Trentino, and during World War II, this territory had become a battleground. In the late afternoon of April 28, at Settecà (just beyond Pedescala), four officials of the BdS-SD (German secret service) were attacked and captured by Umberto Zaltron's "Javert" partisans at the "Locanda dei Sella". During their transfer to Campolongo, two of them managed to escape, while the others were shot dead on May 3 in the territory of Rotzo.
The execution of the hostages
A group of young Russian soldiers in the Wehrmacht (263rd Ost-Bataillon) had set up camp in the houses, barns, and Asilo of Pedescala between April 26 and 28, 1945. In the early hours of April 29, many but not all had left, leaving behind a fair amount of materials and weapons. Before 8 am, the locals rushed to retrieve such materials, while some partisans (Giorgio Pretto "Walter", Francesco Moro "Giobbe", and Augusto Sella "Franz") of the Bgt. "Pasubiana", helped by some civilians (apparently two), broke into the barns and houses where the remaining young soldiers were still sleeping. They captured 19 prisoners who were taken to the bunker in the garden of a village house. But one or perhaps more soldiers managed to evade capture.
On the same day, the partisans engaged in a firefight with the vanguard of a new column of Germans who had arrived at the bridge, at the entrance of the village. Just before the firefight, shots were fired at a motorcart driven by the partisan Giovanni Marostegan "Gimmi", who, unaware of what was happening, was about to reach Pedescala. He remained unharmed and turned back.
Nazi revenge: the Pedescala massacre
In the following days, the Nazis decided to take revenge for the killing of their soldiers. On April 30, German troops attacked Pedescala, killing 63 civilians, including women and children. The massacre continued in Forni and Settecà, where another 19 people were killed. The perpetrators were Wehrmacht units to which some Italians were attached.
The total number of victims has not been established with certainty, as some sources also include the partisans who died in the battle at the bridge and a child who died on May 30 from a bomb that he had found.
After the massacre: consequences and commemoration
The Pedescala massacre was one of the most brutal and bloody of the entire World War II in Italy. After the war, the Pedescala community began to rebuild their lives, trying to put that terrible event behind them.
In the following years, the community has remembered the victims of the massacre with a series of commemorative initiatives, including the construction of a monument in the square in Pedescala. Today, the massacre is remembered as a warning against war and violence, and continues to be an important event in the history of the Val d'Astico.
