On 3 February 1945, a group of men left Castelfiorentino for the Gothic Line, animated by the desire to liberate Italy from Nazi-Fascism, which then, as in previous years, had marked the history and events of the entire peninsula.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the 80th anniversary of the departure of the volunteers for the Liberation Struggle, Castelfiorentino remembers the event with a widespread photographic exhibition, offering the public images of those historic moments. The inauguration is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. on Monday 3 February, in Piazza Gramsci.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A few years ago an article reported: “There were those who already had military experience, as soldiers in the army. Those who had taken up arms after 8 September 1943, as partisans. But there were also those who, at only sixteen years old, did not hesitate to forge identity cards in order to be enlisted. Without showing any uncertainty, not even in the face of his parents’ resistance. It was one hundred and nineteen young men who on a cold morning of 3 February 1945 gathered in front of the Teatro del Popolo in Castelfiorentino to take part in the final battle along the Gothic Line, the defensive belt that stretched from Versilia along the entire Tuscan-Emilian Apennines and separated the liberated Italy from the one still occupied by Nazi-Fascist forces. Animated by a courage only matched by their enthusiasm, the one hundred and nineteen volunteers met in Piazza Gramsci and the stages of their departure were immortalised by photographer David Bastianoni, who left a precious record of that memorable day. The smiles, the gestures, the expressions on their faces, but also the memories of those moments remained as the symbol of an Italy that was trying, after Fascism, to demonstrate its will for redemption”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“\u2018Of the 119 volunteers who left on 3 February, 73 were from Castelfiorentino, 27 from Certaldo, 8 from Montespertoli, 2 from Montaione and 4 from Sarzana. They joined the reconstituted Italian army of the “Groups of Combat” (the “Legnano”, the “Cremona”, the “Friuli” and the “Folgore”) to support the Anglo-Americans in the last great offensive against the German army in Italy”.<\/p>\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/visitcastelfiorentino.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/locandinavolontari2025-2-724x1024.jpg\")
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