Mario Martinoni

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Colonel Mario Martinoni

Mario Martinoni (born November 26, 1896 in Minusio , † February 8, 1981 in Lugano ) was a Swiss officer . He was a colonel and in command of the 32nd Mountain Infantry Regiment at the end of the Second World War .

Commander in World War II

On the direct instruction of the Federal Council, Colonel Martinoni negotiated in the days shortly before the end of the Second World War, on April 27 and 28, between approx. 300 German soldiers who wanted to be interned by the Allies or arrested by Italian partisans by a possibly violent one Wanted to evade the border crossing at Chiasso , and the responsible Allied troop commander Major Joseph McDivitt in Como . By doing this, Martinoni made it easier for the German troops massed at the border to surrender to the Americans, and thus greatly reduced the internment pressure on Switzerland in his sector. Without his intervention, the city and population of Chiasso might have suffered severe damage.

Immediately afterwards, as planned, his regiment was moved away from the border. The overtired Martinoni suffered a nervous breakdown and, in a state of shock, expressed his desire to a doctor to kill his superior. He was then removed from his command.

Later assessment

In ignorance of the Federal Council's instructions - which remained secret for reasons of neutrality - and of Martinoni's mental illness, the public and historiography later assumed that Martinoni would be relieved of his command as a disciplinary sanction for his supposedly unauthorized actions. This led to resentment in Ticino.

It was not until 2010 that the military historian Jürg Stüssi-Lauterburg showed the true events on the basis of contemporary documents. In response to a motion submitted by the Ticino Council of States Filippo Lombardi , the state government recognized Martinoni's achievements and expressed its thanks to him; she stated: "Here a commander has done a great job for his troops, for his mission, for his country, for human life."

A memorial stone, unveiled 65 years after Martinoni's intervention, commemorates this incident in Chiasso.

literature

  • Elena Aga-Rossi, Bradley F. Smith: Operazione Sunrise. La resa tedesca in Italia 2 maggio 1945. Mondadori, Milano 2005.
  • Teodoro Amadò: Una brillante carriera stroncata dalla ragion di Stato. In: “Bollettino della società storica locarnese”, number 14, Tipografia Pedrazzini, Locarno 2011, pp. 70–94.
  • Giuseppe Luigi Beeler: In grigioverde agli ordini del Col Martinoni. In: Rivista Militare , number 2, April 2010, pp. 3–5.
  • Chiasso municipality: I fatti di Chiasso.
  • Chiara Gerosa: Quando il col Martinoni salvò Chiasso dalla guerra. In: Giornale del Popolo . April 24, 2010, p. 6.
  • Stefano Giedemann, Luca Filippini: Storia delle truppe ticinesi ricorrendo i 130 anni del Bat fuc mont 95.
  • Erich Kuby: Il tradimento tedesco. Translation by Lydia Magliano, (Collana Storica Rizzoli), Rizzoli, Milano 1983, 467 pages.
  • Vigilio Massarotti: Una vita in grigioverde. Dal caduceo all spighe. Edizioni Pedrazzini, Locarno 2009.
  • Eric Morris: La guerra inutile. La campagna d'Italia 1943-1945. Longanesi, Milano 1993.
  • Rivista militare della Svizzera italiana: Chiasso 1945 - Riconoscimento dei meriti del colonnello Mario Martinoni. LXXXII year, number 5, September-October 2010.
  • Alessandro Zanoli: Chiasso, scene dalla guerra. In: Azione , settimanale della Cooperativa Migros Ticinese, April 19, 2010, p. 5.

archive

  • Archivio cantonale, ticinesi fondo Martinoni troop: various documents, Bellinzona.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c 10.3491 - Filippo Lombardi motion , recognition of the services of Colonel Mario Martinoni at the events of Chiasso on April 28, 1945
  2. ↑ a b Negotiations of the Council of States on October 29, 2010 on the Lombardi motion, Votum Bundesrat Maurer
  3. ↑ a b The officer who saved Chiasso - and who became a tragic hero , Tages-Anzeiger , April 29, 2010
  4. ^ "The events of Chiasso" - Late rehabilitation for Ticino Colonel Mario Martinoni , NZZ , April 27, 2010
  5. ↑ April 28, 1945. I fatti di Chiasso. ( Memento of the original from May 1, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Website for the anniversary 2010 (Italian) Ed. Municipality of Chiasso 2010 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.chiasso1945.ch
personal data
SURNAME Martinoni, Mario
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss officer
DATE OF BIRTH November 26, 1896
PLACE OF BIRTH Minusio
DATE OF DEATH February 8, 1981
Place of death Lugano