We are headed to Rome for a several days before starting our tour of Sicily in less than a month! We have a whole list of plans and food we want to experience. However, I would love some personal recommendations for museums in Rome that deal with WWII. While not the main focus of our time in Rome, it would make my 13 year old son immensely happy to visit a museum that dealt with the impact of fascism and WWII on Italy.
Posted by
Portland, Oregon, United States
906 posts
Check out this http://www.museoliberazione.it/it/
This site isn't a bad read either: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g187791-c215348/Rome:Italy:World.War.Ii.Sights.In.Rome.html
Are you going to Pisa on your trip? The Campo Santo, totally destroyed n WWII, was rebuilt, literally, piece by piece by the Italians. It was an incredible project and worth the visit.
Posted by
WPB, FL & Firenze
3112 posts
I second the recommendation for the Museo della Liberazione. I visited a few years ago and, while small, I thought it was interesting. If I recall correctly, it was the former Gestapo HQ in Rome. While not a museum per se, a walk through EUR might also interest him.
Posted by
west Chester, PA
368 posts
I have not been to the museum in Rome, but if your son is interested in history and you travel to Pisa, the Campo Santo is fabulous. As mentioned, it was burned to the ground during WWII and the resiliency of the Italians was captured on film, as well as photos. It is a great place to visit while everyone else is doing the “Pisa lean” in the campo di miracoli. Another fabulous little traveled place is the national cemetery 7 miles outside of Florence. We drove there (I think there are buses from Firenze also) and it is not filled with tourists. Imagine Arlington cemetery in the middle of Tuscany with rolling hills and umbrella pines. Beautiful and serene and well worth the extra effort to visit.
Posted by
Tennessee
384 posts
As background information, I have visited many WW2 museums and battlefields. I visited the Museum of Liberation in Rome on Via Tasso a month ago. I found visiting the museum to be a moving experience. I was especially touched by the Union Jack and "England forever" that a British soldier had scratched on the wall in a room. The English audioguide was very helpful. I do think it's important to know in advance that this is a pretty small museum - - - it's not at all like a major battlefield museum. I was there maybe 1/5 hours.
If you do visit the museum, I recommend Googling the Wikipedia article on Guiseppe Montezemolo before you visit. When I saw his photo at the museum, it was obvious he was someone important, and I learned more about him after the fact.
In the past year, I have read short 2 books by Iris Origo: A Chill in the Air (An Italian War Diary 1939-43) and War in Val D'Orcia (An Italian War Diary 1943-4). The author writes primarily about wartime years on a remote Tuscan farm. However, she also quotes high level contacts in Rome. Reading these books gave me a sense of the ambivalence many Italians felt about being allied with Germany through 1943 as well as conditions after Italy surrendered to the Allies and German troops occupied Italy.
Posted by
Centennial, CO, US
2123 posts
If you haven’t already been, I highly recommend that — once you get home — you take him to the WWII museum in New Orleans at some point. It’s huge and very, very well done.
Posted by
OP
WV, USA
115 posts
Thank you for the thoughtful replies. We will put the museum of liberation on our itinerary and make sure we do some reading beforehand.
Charlene- the WWII museum in NOLA is on our list! We have been able to do some live webinars they have for students over the past year. Last fall my son was able to watch online a live interview with Marthe Coen. She was a Jewish French spy in Nazi Germany and the fact that my kids got to hear her story “live” and ask questions was priceless. Needless to say we love that museum and can’t wait to take a road trip to see it.
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
7737 posts
Another powerful site to visit is the Mausoleum of the Fosse Ardeatine Massacre, where the occupying Germans slaughtered 335 Roman men and boys in response to a partisan attack on the Nazis, 10 Romans for each German killed. The youngest victim was 15.
The memorial plaque outside the entry to the caves reads:
WAYFARERS THIRSTY FOR LIBERTY – WE WERE ROUNDED UP AT RANDOM – IN THE STREET AND IN JAIL – AS A REPRISAL CAST IN EN MASSE – SLAUGHTERED AND WALLED WITHIN THESE PITS – ITALIANS, DO NOT CURSE – MOTHERS, BRIDES, DO NOT WEEP – CHILDREN, CARRY WITH PRIDE – THE MEMORY – OF THE HOLOCAUST OF YOUR FATHERS – IF OUR SLAUGHTER – WILL HAVE HAD A PURPOSE BEYOND REVENGE – IT IS TO ENSHRINE THE RIGHT OF HUMAN EXISTENCE – AGAINST THE CRIME OF MURDER
http://www.mausoleofosseardeatine.it/guide/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ardeatine_massacre
https://goo.gl/maps/9keEjyXDLct
I still well up with tears thinking about it.