Carrara women uprising
The women's uprising of Carrara against the evacuation of the entire local area during the Second World War began on July 7, 1944, when the local commandant Lieutenant Többens ordered this. With this measure the German occupation wanted to weaken or suppress the struggle of the partisans. This massive women's uprising resulted in the eviction order being lifted on July 11, 1944.
The fact that the women had prevented the planned evacuation of Carrara by the German occupying forces with their uprising made it possible for the Italian resistance to hold out until the final liberation in April 1945.
requirements
Socialist and especially anarchist ideas were very firmly anchored in Carrara's labor movement at the time . This self-confidence and their combat experiences from the strikes against the quarry owners in the early 20th century led to a pronounced self-confidence among the quarry workers and to the development of spontaneous and individual forms of politics and resistance. Most of the women of Carrara were anti-capitalist and anti-fascist influenced by their family origins .
It was also significant that without the support and support of the civilian population, especially women, for example in the form of the delivery of food and clothing or the transmission of information to partisans, the armed resistance could hardly have been sustained.
Women's resistance organizations
In Italy at that time, women in the Italian resistance against the German occupation were organized in the Gruppi di difesa della donna (women's defense groups). These groups had the task of forwarding political and strategic information to partisan units and of maintaining the connections between them. They also operated sabotage, wrote appeals against the fascist Italian Social Republic (RSI) and moved or painted over street signs to mislead the German troops. Usually these women were unarmed and did not take direct action against the occupation.
Military concept
On July 7, 1944, the local commander of Carrara, Lieutenant Többens, ordered the evacuation of the entire urban area with around 100,000 people. At that time there were thousands more displaced people from neighboring areas in Carrara. The evacuation of the city, which was to take place two days after the announcement, was only part of an overall plan. Only people and their immediate family members who worked for the Todt organization or for the German or Italian military or were in the public service were to remain in the city itself . The aim was to leave a city deserted by people, which would no longer cause administrative or regulatory problems for the military, and above all the partisan movement, which was still weak, was to be stopped. The military saw the danger that the partisans could enter Carrara via the Apuan Alps .
The entire coastal region between La Spezia and Marina di Massa should remain under German control in order to repel Allied landings if necessary . So that the German units could operate unhindered to defend the western section of the Goths , it was planned to relocate 200,000 people from the entire operational area around Carrara to the lower Po plain .
Women's resistance
The women's groups had already learned about the eviction order from the city of Carrara from the National Liberation Committee and had gone from house to house that morning and asked the women to demonstrate in front of the German local command. The women who joined the project were divided into groups and gathered in the Piazza delle Erbe in front of the town hall, where the local commander resided. When arriving in front of this building, several hundred women chanted against the eviction order. Some of the protesting women were arrested and the German military tried to evacuate the place by force. But this did not intimidate the protesting women, so a delegation of women was admitted, which received the promise that the eviction order would be revoked. The next morning the eviction order was posted again and soldiers who were now positioned on street corners with machine guns were supposed to break the women's resistance. With a crowd, the women blocked the streets of Carrara for hours. Thereupon the local commander Többens lifted the evacuation order on July 11, 1944.
Aftermath
Via Garibaldi street in Carrara was renamed Via VII Luglio to commemorate the women's uprising . There is a marble plaque on the Piazza delle Erbe and a plaque of honor for the resistance on the town hall. In 1974 a monument with a sculpture made of Carrara marble was erected in the center of the city to honor women.
More resistance from women
There was also resistance from Italian women to the German occupation in Bologna in the Villa Spada, Nonantola, Venice and Castelnuovo Monti.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Elena Pensierini, Franzesca Rolla, Pina Menconi: We will not leave the city! The Carrara women's uprising on July 7, 1944 against Resistancea . Retrieved September 1, 2019
- ^ Evacuation order of July 7, 1944
- ↑ Luca Madrignani: 7 luglio 1944: le donne salvano Carrara (Italian), in Toscana Novecento. Retrieved September 1, 2019
- ^ Carrara , on Europe Memorial Sites (1939–1945) . Retrieved September 1, 2019
- ↑ Women's Resistance , on Memorial Sites Europe (1939-195). Retrieved September 1, 2019
