The Lunigiana was in what was called the Tyrrhenian sector of the Gothic Line, and many monuments all over the territory recall the events that lead to the wholesale murder of non-participants by German soldiers, often under the command of one man, Major Walter Reder.

The Eccidio di San Terenzo e Bardine Museum, Historical Museum of the Massacre in San Terenzo and Bardine, is a memorial to the events taking place in August of 1944, in which 159 unarmed civilians were killed.

Set in the former Parish Oratory in the center of San Terenzo Monti in the Fivizzano province, the archive is now named after Don Michele Rabino who lost his life along with other local inhabitants.

Inside the museum are photos and documents collected over the years that remember the civilians who were taken away and killed while fighting for their lives. Experiencing the museum helps keeps alive the memory of the tragic events that occurred in this small village almost 75 years ago.

Walk around the little town of San Terenzo Monti and you'll come upon the stations of the cross, each with a parallel story of the massacre. In the pictures you will find one of these. As Christ staggers under the weight of the cross, the war story finishes with the a recollection of the massacre:

"Here they were tied with barbed wire tightly around the neck to trees, hedges and support poles of the vineyards, and her a slow agony, were gunned down with a blow to the neck. The 57 victims were aged between 19 and 55 years."

For a more detailed story of our walk and the massacre, see A Path to Lunch: The WWII San Terenzo / Bardine Reprisal Atrocity