The regions of Italy were no stranger to war and conflict, but in the midst of WWII, millions were stunned by the bloodshed and chaos that gripped their lands and Europe at large.

The Italian Resistance rose up to fight fascism, save Jews, ferry emergency supplies to war-torn cities and feed intelligence to the Allies.

Gino Bartali — a globally-renowned cyclist and Tour de France winner — joined the Resistance, smuggling papers within his racing bicycle that would be used to rescue hundreds of Italy’s Jews.

But one of the most fascinating aspects of the story was that 40% of these Italian Resistance members were women (105,000 out of 250,000). More than 4,600 of these heroines were arrested, 2,750 were deported to concentration camps, and 623 were killed by Fascists or Nazis.

It was unprecedented. Seemingly overnight, these caretakers and mothers morphed into machine gun-toting fighters, emergency aid workers and spies who risked everything to restore peace and order to their lands.

From Dday.org:

“The politics of Italy from the 1920s to the 1940s were tumultuous to say the least. Two very different forms of government were vying for control and power; the Italian monarchy led by Marshal Pietro Badoglio, who consequently fled southern Italy, while Mussolini was reinstated as a puppet figure for the Italian Social Republic, who also had an alliance with Adolf Hitler. As a result of the turmoil between the parties, an Action Party formed from the camaraderie of the Communists, Socialists, and Christian Democrats. These particular sects of people began small resistance units, as time wore on, the small groups joined together under the National Committee for the Liberation of Northern Italy.

Once Mussolini was eradicated, a ‘crisis of conscience’ occurred through the masses that affected women just as potently as the men. Very soon after Mussolini’s demise, the Women’s Defense Groups began in Milan to coincide with the National Committee of the Liberation of Northern Italy. A major piece of women’s’ contributions to the cause were grassroots mobilization, as well as the legitimization of women’s roles in politics, particularly through the efforts of the Union of Italian Catholic Women and the Union of Italian Women.”

Women leaders and politicians remain a central and influential force in Italy today.

 

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