Sant'Anna di Stazzema

Sant'Anna
Frazione

Ruins of the village in 2008
Sant'Anna

Location of Sant'Anna in Italy

Coordinates: 43°58′27″N 10°16′25″E / 43.97417°N 10.27361°E / 43.97417; 10.27361Coordinates: 43°58′27″N 10°16′25″E / 43.97417°N 10.27361°E / 43.97417; 10.27361
Country  Italy
Region  Tuscany
Province Lucca (LU)
Comune Stazzema
Elevation 660 m (2,170 ft)
Population (2014)[1]
 • Total 27
Demonym(s)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 55040
Dialing code (+39) 0584
Patron saint St. Anne
Website Official website

Sant'Anna di Stazzema, officially Sant'Anna, is a village in Tuscany in central Italy. Administratively, it is a frazione of the comune of Stazzema, in the province of Lucca.[1][2]

History

In 1944, it was the site of a notorious Nazi crime against humanity committed by a part of 16th SS Panzergrenadier Division Reichsführer-SS during World War II. In the morning of 12 August, about 560 (130 children) local villagers and refugees were murdered and their bodies burnt in a scorched earth policy action.[3] After the war, the village was only partially rebuilt.

The massacre gained high notoriety from 1994. During an investigation of the military attorney Antonino Intelisano, 695 files about war crimes in Italy during World War II were found in a wooden cabinet, known as the Armadio della vergogna (armoire of shame), located in a palace of Rome.[4]

Since 2000, it has been the site of the Italian National Park of Peace (Parco Nazionale della Pace) with memorials and a museum[5] dedicated to the massacre.

Geography

Located in the Apuan Alps, Sant'Anna is a mountain village that is 12 km far from Pietrasanta and 16 from its Marina, on the Mediterranean Sea; 18 km from Viareggio, 24 from Massa and 37 from Carrara. The nearest train station is that of Pietrasanta on the Pisa-Genoa line and the nearest motorway exit is "Viareggio-Camaiore" on the A12.[6]

Ossuary and monument to the victims of the massacre 
Village church 

The massacre inspired the novel Miracle at St. Anna by James McBride, and Spike Lee's film (2008) of the same title that was based on it.[7]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 (in Italian) Infos about the hamlets of Stazzema (municipal website)
  2. ↑ (in Italian) Municipal Statute of Stazzema
  3. ↑ Italian Town, Lost in History, Now Fears Memories of Nazis, The New York Times, April 18, 2004.
  4. ↑ The armoire of shame on Sant'Anna website
  5. ↑ The Historical Museum of Resistance of Sant’Anna di Stazzema
  6. ↑ Google. "Sant'Anna di Stazzema" (Map). Google Maps. Google.
  7. ↑ " James McBride - Miracle at St. Anna" (italian-mysteries.com)
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