Villarbasse
The Villarbasse Massacre
The Villarbasse Massacre of November 20, 1945, was one of the most heinous crimes of the immediate post-war period in Italy. Ten people, including lawyer Massimo Gianoli, were brutally beaten and thrown alive into a cistern during a robbery at a farmhouse in Villarbasse, in the province of Turin. The authors of the massacre were four Sicilians from Mezzojuso, one of whom was killed in a settlement of accounts among mobsters in Sicily before being captured.
The Death Penalty in Italy
The particular brutality of the crime in the Villarbasse Massacre, which saw the massacre of ten defenseless citizens, sparked public outrage and prompted Enrico De Nicola to reject clemency, making the Villarbasse Massacre the last offense for which the death penalty was applied in Italy. The decision to abolish the death penalty had already been made, but it was with the promulgation of the Italian Constitution, which came into force on January 1, 1948, that it was officially abolished.
The evening of November 20, 1945
On November 20, 1945, the owner of Simonetto farm in Villarbasse, lawyer Massimo Gianoli, was having dinner in the main house, while in the tenant's house Antonio Ferrero, there was a celebration for the birth of a granddaughter and eight other people were present. Four men - Francesco La Barbera, Giovanni Puleo, Giovanni D'Ignoti, and Pietro Lala - forced their way into the farmhouse to commit a robbery, but were discovered when one of the robbers suddenly dropped the mask hiding his face.
The massacre
The robbers decided to kill all possible witnesses and took the victims, one by one, to the cellar and hit them with a stick, then threw them into a cistern for rainwater collection that was in the courtyard. In total, ten people died: lawyer Gianoli, Teresa Delfino, Antonio Ferrero, Anna Ferrero, Renato Morra, Rosa Martinoli, Fiorina Maffiotto, the two-year-old boy, and Marcello Gastaldi.
In conclusion, the Villarbasse massacre remains one of the most frightening crimes in Italian history, which marked the last use of the death penalty in the country. It is important to remember the memory of the victims and reflect on the importance of justice in our country.
