The Liberation of Rome marked a turning point in the Allied campaign in Europe.
Today marks the 81st anniversary of Rome’s liberation from German occupation, with the arrival of Allied troops in the Italian capital on 4 June 1944.
American soldiers from the Fifth Army, led by General Mark Clark, moved into Rome from the south along Via Casilina and Via Appia as the Germans withdrew northwards along Via Cassia.
On 5 June the Allied troops marched triumphantly through the streets of Rome where they received a tumultuous welcome from the city’s residents.
Domenica #4giugno 1944. Alle prime luci dell’alba, dopo nove mesi di oppressione e di violenza, le truppe americane della V Armata del generale Mark W. Clark entrano a Roma e sfilano davanti all’Altare della Patria. La Città Eterna è affrancata dal giogo del Terzo Reich. pic.twitter.com/3Hhl2cxFqo
— Rai Storia (@RaiStoria) June 4, 2024
On 4 June, retreating German soldiers executed 14 prisoners at La Storta, in the northern outskirts of Rome, including 12 Italian partisans, one Pole and one Englishman.
The prisoners had been held at the Gestapo headquarters on Via Tasso, which acted as a notorious jail and torture centre during the nine-month Nazi occupation of Rome.
The arrival of the Allies in Rome followed the Anzio and Nettuno landings south of the capital in January 1944 and the Battle of Monte Cassino, one of the bloodiest battles in world war two.
#OTD in 1944, Italy. The liberation of Rome. #WW2 #HISTORY pic.twitter.com/PRUeoJ4KK1
— RG Poulussen (@rgpoulussen) June 4, 2024
In October 1943 the Nazis deported more than 1,000 Roman Jews to Auschwitz in a single operation while in March 1944 they murdered 335 Romans in the Fosse Ardeatine massacre.
The liberation of Rome marked a turning point in the Allied campaign in Europe and came two days before D-Day when tens of thousands of Allied troops landed simultaneously on the coast of Normandy.
The 81st anniversary is being marked by Rome’s Cinema in Piazza film festival with a special screening of Roberto Rossellini’s masterpiece Roma città aperta in Piazza di San Cosimato on Wednesday 4 June at 21.15.
