The inauguration of a memorial set in a cave that was used as a Nazi hideout during one of the bloodiest battles in World War II, raised outrage in Italy.
The memorial was to have the following words engraved in Italian, English and German: "In memory and recognition of the soldiers of all nations who fell in the bloody Battle of Cassino and all the civilian victims of the terrible war,” the German News Agency reported.
A local hoteliers' association planned to unveil a memorial in the Foltin cave at the foot of Monte Cassino, a hill 130 kilometers south of Rome where an estimated 250,000 troops were killed in 1944.
The cave served as a shelter for Nazi paratroopers during Allied air raids, and headquarters for their commander, Captain Ferdinand Foltin.
Nicola Zingaretti, president of Lazio, and member of the Centre-left movement wrote on Facebook: “A ceremony in Cassino for Nazi paratroopers. We asked: don’t do it!” saying that Nazi "oppressors" do not deserve honors.
The event’s opponents described it as an "anti-historical, anti-Italian initiative," offending "the hard-won democracy attained by the Allies and Italian fighters".
The memorial's supporters had said on Saturday that their initiative was "completely devoid of any political meaning" and simply aimed to inform visitors about a historically relevant site.
Italy entered World War II as an ally of Nazi Germany, but was invaded after the collapse of its Fascist regime in 1943 and became a battleground between the advancing Allies and retreating Nazi forces.
