[Bassano Del Grappa] Viale dei martiri bassano
The raid on the Grappa was carried out with atrocious cowardice, often blackmailing the partisans through killing, harassment or threats to civilians and relatives taken from the countries. It culminated in the monstrous show of strength that was the hanging in Viale dei Martiri.
This tree-lined avenue starts from the Upper Castle and reaches Porta delle Grazie; from it you can enjoy a splendid view of the city.
Once it was protected to the north by the medieval walls, demolished in 1886 to allow a better enjoyment of the landscape to the rich families of Bassano who had their palaces there.
Viale dei Martiri took this name following the bloody episode of the Grappa roundup between 20 and 23 September 1944, which culminated on 26 September in the execution of 31 young partisans, most of them hanged from the trees of the then avenue XX Settembre. Each tree bears the name and photo of the partisan who died there.
For each tree there was a hangover: each of them had hands tied behind his back and carried a plate on his chest, reciting “Brigands”. The Nazis believed to be responsible for the massacre have never been tried by the Italian State for their crime. In the afternoon of that distant September was given the order to kill the 31 young people. These, previously, had injected in order to diminish their reactive abilities all young people even eighteen. The bodies were on display for almost a full day, about twenty hours, to frighten the inhabitants and dissuade them from participating in rebellion against the regime. On all other trees is the name, surname and also the photo; Except for one, unfortunately, unknown.