Shrine to the 22 martyrs of the Caiazzo massacre

On 13^th October 1943, 22 people were brutally murdered by Wehrmacht units during their retreat in Caiazzo, about fifty kilometres north of Naples.

As part of a defensive line north of the Volturno river, the village had already been forcibly evacuated in early October and many civilians had taken refuge in the farms of Monte Carmignano. After seeing alleged light signals from a farmhouse in the direction of the advancing Americans, Wehrmacht soldiers entered the building. They firstly arrested four men who, together with three women who tried to obtain their release, were shot at the nearby command post. Then, back on the farm, they killed the remaining women and children with rifle shots and hand grenades.

It was not until 1994 that an Italian court declared former second lieutenant Wolfgang Lehnigk-Emden and former sergeant Kurt Schuster materially responsible for the executions of the civilians and sentenced them to life imprisonment in absentia, but neither was extradited from Germany.  A similar trial in Germany, following a complaint by Simon Wiesenthal, ended in 1970 without a conviction as the statutes of limitations had passed.

In Caiazzo, a memorial stone has commemorated the names of the victims since 1968. In 2013, a memorial stele was erected in Piazza Portavetere, a gift from the municipality of Ochtendung, in Rhineland-Palatinate, which is now twinned with Caiazzo. One of the main perpetrators of the massacre had long been active as a politician there.