At dawn on 28 December 1943, the 7 Cervi brothers, Gelindo (42), Antenore (37), Aldo (34), Ferdinando (32), Agostino (27), Ovidio (25) & Ettore (22), are executed by an Italian fascist firing squad in Reggio Emilia for their partisan activities [Thread] >> 1 - ThreadSky

nickwhithorn.bsky.social • 60 days ago

At dawn on 28 December 1943, the 7 Cervi brothers, Gelindo (42), Antenore (37), Aldo (34), Ferdinando (32), Agostino (27), Ovidio (25) & Ettore (22), are executed by an Italian fascist firing squad in Reggio Emilia for their partisan activities [Thread] >> 1

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cgregorio52.bsky.social•60 days ago

@threadotweets.bsky.social

calderbennett.bsky.social•60 days ago

Thank you. A tragic thread with a beautiful ending that brought tears to my eyes.

nickwhithorn.bsky.social•60 days ago

Throughout the war the Cervi family (including parents Alcide Cervi & Genoeffa Cocconi and two sisters Diomira & Rina Cervi) use their farmhouse in Gattatico, near the town of Campegine, as a refuge for anti-fascists, men fleeing to avoid conscription and escaped prisoners of war >> 2

nickwhithorn.bsky.social•60 days ago

When Mussolini falls on 25 July 1943, the family procure large quantities of flour, butter and cheese and prepare a cartload of pasta that they take into the main square of Campegine, where it is cooked and distributed free to the population to celebrate the event >> 3

nickwhithorn.bsky.social•60 days ago

After Italy's surrender on 8 September 1943, occupation by German troops & creation of Mussolini's Italian Social Republic, the brothers become active in the resistance & the family home shelters growing numbers of partisans, draft dodgers and escaped Allied, especially Soviet, prisoners of war >> 4

nickwhithorn.bsky.social•60 days ago

This varied group becomes known as the "Banda Cervi" and its activities cause serious problems for the fascist authorities in the Reggio Emilia area. Eventually, the fascists get news from informers that allows them to capture most of the group >> 5

nickwhithorn.bsky.social•60 days ago

In the night of 24-25 November 1943, 100 to 150 fascist troops surround the Cervi farmhouse and call on the occupants to surrender. There is an exchange of gunfire but when the fascists set fire to a barn where women and children are hiding, the partisans lay down their arms >> 6

nickwhithorn.bsky.social•60 days ago

The captured men are the 7 Cervi brothers and their father, Quarto Camurri, Dante Castelluccio, a Soviet soldier called Anatolij Tarasov, 2 South African paratroopers named John David Bastiranse and John Peter De Freitas, and Irish paratrooper Samuel Boone Conley >> 7

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