Historical Museum of the liberation of Rome
( Museo Storico della
liberaZione di Roma )
The Museum is located in a nondescript building
behind St. John's Basilica, in Via Tasso.
lt
was once the seat of the cultural office of
the German Embassy in Rome, the headquarters
of the SS Kommandateur which were led by the
unfortunately well-known Herbert Keppler were
established here following the 8th of September
1943.
He
transformed the house into a prison in January 1944,
he blocked every opening by walling them up: the
rooms, kitchens and closets which were
walled-up then became the scenes of the brutal
interrogations, torture and imprisonment
of some of the most important figures of the
Roman Resistance.
In
1957 those same rooms became a Museum to remember
that tragic period of occupation and the Nazi madness
through the collection of the testimonies of the life
and deaths of those who were victims of the violence
in those years.
The establishment
of the museum was made by possible by the
donation which Mrs. Josepha Ruspoli in Brazzŕ
il of four apartments to the Italian state.
She
did not want the community to forget the lives lost
in the name of freedom.
Thus
unfolding along the three floors of the prisons are
the dramatic records of the persecution against
the Jews and the underground struggle (bans
and anti-Jewish orders, manifestos and
handbills of the resistance inciting the fight,
material on prisoners and those who died in the war
from the archives of the Gestapo) with rooms
dedicated in particular to the slaughters of
the Fosse Ardeatine (in fact some of the
335 victims were taken from the prisons
of Via Tasso) with the tragic finds consisting
in pieces of rope and fragments of fabric
found on the bodies of Forte Bravetta
where seventy-seven freedom fighters were shot dead
and from La Storta whose victims also
included Bruno Buozzi.
The rich
graphical and photographic documentation goes back
over the main historical events that occurred in
Rome between the fall of Fascism and
the armistice, illustrating then the defence of
Rome between 8 and 11 September 1943 and the
formation on an impulse of colonel Giuseppe Montezemolo
of the Underground Military Front; the memories
of the protagonists of that time of fighting come back
to life not only through images of the time but can
also be touched by hand in this unique museum
of "history lived" thanks to the persistence
in their integrity of some cells bearing writings
in pencil on the plaster and graffiti produced with
makeshift means that reflect touching messages of
life and freedom often written by prisoners nearing
death.
The rooms are loaded with history and maintain a
certain emotional hold, yet they also feature curiosities
and souvenirs connected with the underground struggle
such as the three-point nails used by the partisans
against German vehicles.
Information and Addresses
Address Via Tasso, 145
Visiting Hours Tuesday to Sunday 9.30 am - 12.30
am. Tuesday, Thursday and Friday also 4.00 am -7-00
pm. April 25 guided tours every hour from 9-30 am to
no pm
Closed Nov. 1-2, Christmas and Easter holidays,
May 1, August Telephone 06 7003866; Fax 06 77203514
Price Free admission
For
Tours information
– private guided tours – special entrances, no
waiting in line - VIP services
www.tourinrome.com
www.vaticanmuseuminformation.com
www.vaticanmuseumticket.com
