Herbert Kappler was a key German SS functionary and war criminal during the Nazi era. He served as head of German police and security services in Rome during the Second World War and was responsible for the Ardeatine massacre. Following the end of the war, Kappler stood trial in Italy and was sentenced to life imprisonment. He escaped from prison shortly before his death in West Germany in 1978.
Kappler in Italy on 9 May 1945
The Ardeatine massacre, or Fosse Ardeatine massacre, was a mass killing of 335 civilians and political prisoners carried out in Rome on 24 March 1944 by German occupation troops during the Second World War as a reprisal for the Via Rasella attack in central Rome against the SS Police Regiment Bozen the previous day.
Entry to caves in the Fosse Ardeatine Monument
A body lies in the Via Rasella during the roundup of civilians by Italian soldiers and German troops after the partisan bombing on 23 March 1944
German troops and Italian soldiers of the Decima Flottiglia MAS round up civilians in front of the Palazzo Barberini, Rome, in March 1944
Plaque dedicated to Don Pietro Pappagallo, on the house in which he lived on the Via Urbana, Rome: IN THIS HOUSE IN THE DARK TIME OF THE NAZI OCCUPATION THERE SHONE THE LIGHT OF THE GENEROUS HEART OF DON PIETRO PAPPAGALLO TERLIZZI (BARI) 28·6·1888 ROME ARDEATINE CAVES 24·3·1944 HE RECEIVED WITH LOVE THE PERSECUTED OF EVERY FAITH AND CONDITION UNTO THE SACRIFICE OF HIS OWN SELF HE FELL IN THE ULTIMATE SIGN OF REDEMPTION AND THE FORGIVENESS OF GOD
