Fosse Ardeatine, those mothers and daughters

Michela Ponzani, Donne che resistono, Le Fosse Ardeatine dal massacro alla memoria. 1944-2025,
(Women Who Resist, The Fosse Ardeatine from Massacre to Memory. 1944-2025), Einaudi

On the eightieth anniversary of the Liberation, a story about the courage of women in history that I did not know about, but which is still relevant today. This book offers a new perspective on the history of the Fosse Ardeatine, and focuses on the experiences of women who lived through the tragedy by exploring how women, be they widows, mothers, or daughters of the victims, confronted their grief. Indeed, in Rome on June 8, 1944, Vera Simoni, daughter of General Simone Simoni, who was subsequently massacred, led a procession of women who were determined to meet Lieutenant Colonel John Pollock, commander of public security in Rome, to request that the 335 hostages massacred on March 24, 1944, be given a dignified burial to help keep the memory alive. These women played a fundamental role in making the Fosse Ardeatine a place of memory and mourning, and a symbol of resistance and collective memory that continues to this day. Finally, the book offers a broader view of the period, which highlights the courage and resistance of the women who helped preserve the memory of the martyrs of the Fosse Ardeatine.

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