ARCHIVE ACTIVITY
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23 September 2020
Iniziative (EN) -
Federazione Anna Lindh Italia - Onlus (EN)
The twentieth anniversary is dedicated to the centenary of the birth of Salvo D’Acquisto. The president recalled the deputy brigadier who sacrificed his life for others. On the 5 floors of the Museum - in full compliance with the rules for Covid - films, unpublished and testimonies were screened.
This event, says President Capasso, wants to pay homage to a commendable figure who honors the Carabinieri and Italy.
On this occasion, President Capasso announced that in the coming months the entire building of the Museum will be dedicated to "The Carabinieri, faithful over the centuries".
On 23 September 1943 - the videos of the Museum announce - the deputy brigadier Salvo D’Acquisto, awarded the gold medal for military valor for memory, sacrificed his life to save that of 22 innocent people.
The previous day - 77 years ago - the explosion of some crates of ammunition killed a German soldier and wounded two. The crates were deposited in an abandoned barracks of the Guardia Di Finanza, in the Torre di Palidoro area and not far from Torrimpietra, where the Carabinieri station commanded by Salvo D’Acquisto stood.
Although it had been an accident, the event was considered by the German militias to be an unscrupulous attack organized by the Italians. D'Acquisto tried to persuade them that it was an accident but the Nazi officer did not give weight to his explanations.
He ordered to round up 22 people at random among the houses of the small town in the Roman province and had them brought near the Tower of Palidoro.
They were all questioned briefly but their version was not heard. Salvo D’Acquisto, given the bad turn taken by events, decided to turn to a Nazi officer and offered his life in exchange for the release of the 22 hostages, already forced to dig their own grave.
It was 5.15pm when Feldwevel Hansel Feiten gave the fatal order. Before dying under German bullets, D'Acquisto shouted "Long live Italy!"
Today, 77 years after his heroic deed and on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his birth, the Carabinieri commemorated his sacrifice.
In Naples, the interregional commander "Ogaden" general of the army corps Adolfo Fischione, together with the commander of the carabinieri legion Stefanizzi and other officers of the weapon paid homage to the tomb of Salvo D'Acquisto in the Basilica of Santa Chiara and then deposited a laurel wreath at the monument in Piazza Salvo D'Acquisto, in the presence of the prefect Valentini.
Salvo D’Acquisto
He is one of the heroes of the liberation war from Nazi-fascism. Born in Naples on October 15, 1920, Salvo D'Acquisto was a deputy brigadier of the Carabinieri and had just turned 23 on September 23, 1943 when he offered his life in Fiumicino, near Rome, to save a group of civilians during a roundup of Nazi troops. After fighting and being wounded in Libya in 1941, Salvo D'Acquisto returned to Italy and was first aggregated to the Central School of the Carabinieri in Florence. He was then assigned to the Torrimpietra station, near Fiumicino, about thirty kilometers from Rome. After 8 September 1943 and the armistice of Italy with the allies, the Nazi troops turned into an occupation army. Among these, a unit of German paratroopers occupied some premises of the Guardia di Finanza near Torrimpietra. Here, during an inspection of some abandoned ammunition crates, an explosion occurred that killed two of them, injuring two others. What had been a tragic accident due to the inattention or inexperience of the young paratroopers, was classified as an attack by the commander of the German unit. With a criminal practice that would have bloodied Italy until the end of the war, the Nazi troops started a roundup and 22 people randomly chosen from among the inhabitants of the area were captured. The youngest was 13. In vain, while the group was being taken to the place chosen for the shooting, Salvo D’Acquisto tried to convince the German commander that there had been no attack, but only a terrible accident. The prisoners were taken to the Torre di Palidoro and forced to dig for hours a large pit that was supposed to contain their corpses. What happened a few minutes before the execution was told by one of the survivors, Angelo Amadio, believed by the Germans to be a carabiniere and therefore held last: "at the last moment, against all our expectations, we were all released except the deputy brigadier D’Pcquisto. ... We had already resigned ourselves to our fate, when the non-commissioned officer spoke with a German officer through the interpreter. What the Purchasing Officer said to the officer in question is not known. The fact is that after a while we were all released: I was the last to leave that location. " The deputy brigadier, given the futility of making the German commander think, took full responsibility for an attack that no one had committed. The 22 prisoners were released and Salvo D’Acquisto was immediately shot. He was awarded the Gold Medal for Military Valor in memory.
"Campania" Division General Maurizio Stefanizzi and the Provincial Commander of the Carabinieri of Naples, General Canio Giuseppe La Gala, placed a cushion of flowers on the hero's tomb, in the basilica of Santa Chiara.
A laurel wreath was subsequently placed - in the presence of the Prefect of Naples Marco Valentini - on the recently restored monument, in the square that took the name of the soldier and a military delegation paid the honors to the hero.
