War

The Museo della Liberazione di Ancona (Ancona Liberation Museum) in Offagna presents the history of local resistance to German and fascist occupation from 1943-45 in the form of period artifacts as well as a collection of more than 15 000 physical and digitized photographs. Originally a travelling photograph exhibit, a permanent museum for the collection was established in Offagna in 2006; this recognised the town’s wartime significance as the site of the Battle of Monte Crescia, crucial in the capture of Ancona and its port.

The Museo della Risiera di San Sabba (San Sabba Rice Mill Museum) is a national monument and museum: a former rice mill and factory in Trieste, which German occupation authorities employed as a detention and concentration camp from 1943-45.

The Museo del Risorgimento e della Resistenza (Risorgimento and Resistance Museum) in Vicenza, part of the larger Musei Civici Vicenza (Vicenza Civic Museums) complex, presents the history of war and resistance in Vicenza; a series of permanent exhibitions cover a 150-year period, including Napoleon’s first campaign in Northern Italy in 1796, intense local fighting during the Italian Revolutions against Austria in 1848, and the end of the Second World War and liberation in 1945.

The Fondazione Museo Storico del Trentino (Trento Historial Museum Foundation), the municipal museum for the city and autonomous region of Trento, presents the history of the region from the end of the 18th century to the present day; this includes significant material on Trento’s experiences in both the First and Second World War, the rise of Italian fascism, local resistance to German and fascist occupation from 1943-45, and postwar violence and reconstruction.

The Museo della Seconde Guerra Mondiale del Fiume Po (Po River Second World War Museum) in Sermide e Felonica presents the wartime history and significance of Felonica and the Po River, an important strategic position during the Allied invasion of northern Italy in 1944 and 1945. The river formed part of the German defensive position, and the region witnessed aerial attacks leading up to the successful Allied crossing of the Po in April 1945; the Felonica region, meanwhile, represented the border between the British and American armies.

The Museo della Fine della Guerra (End of the War Museum) in Dongo is located in the town near where, on April 27, 1945, Benito Mussolini was halted while attempting to escape Italian territory and was held by local partisans before being executed the following day. The museum is located in Dongo’s Palazzo Manzi, the town hall, where Mussolini and accompanying Italian Social Republic officials were taken and held prior to Mussolini being taken into captivity.

The Museo Diffuso della Resistenza, della Deportazione, della Guerra, dei Diritti e della Libertà (Widespread Museum of Resistance, Deportation, War, Rights, and Freedom) in Turin presents themes of wartime resistance, deportation, rights, and freedom from the Second World War onwards in both a local and national context.

The Musée Mai–Juin 1940 (May-June 1940 Museum) in Margut is a small, one-room, private collection of chiefly military objects dating from the Battle of France in May and June 1940. These include military uniforms, weapons, ammunition, military equipment, documents, posters, photographs, flags, and other objects from the battlefield.