Fascism, Resistance and Freedom: Verona 1943-1945 on display at Castelvecchio

An exhibition tracing the crucial years of World War II in the city opens in Verona at the site that was the scene of one of fascism’s most dramatic moments. From March 14 to July 27, 2025, the Sala Boggian of the Castelvecchio Museum will host Fascism Resistance Freedom. Verona 1943-1945, an exhibition that sheds new light on a complex historical period marked by Nazi occupation, repression, the Resistance and finally the Liberation.

Curated by Andrea Martini, Federico Melotto, Marta Nezzo and Francesca Rossi, with the contribution of a prestigious scientific committee, the exhibition is sponsored by the City of Verona, the Department of Culture and the Civic Museums Directorate, in collaboration with the Verona Institute for the History of the Resistance and Contemporary Age. The exhibition unfolds through six thematic sections, offering the public an engaging narrative that alternates photographs, historical documents, period footage from theLuce Cinecittà Archive, artifacts and original works of art. Special attention is paid to multimedia tools: holographic projections, interactive installations and reconstructed settings transport visitors to the past, bringing to life the highlights of Veronese history during the war.

“The exhibition is the result of a choral project curated by historians and art historians, with the support of an international scientific committee,” says curator Francesca Rossi, Director of the Civic Museums of Verona.

“The 80th anniversary of the Liberation from Nazi-Fascism (1945-2025),” says Verona City Councilor for Remembrance Jacopo Buffolo, “gives us the opportunity to reflect on the history of our city in the two-year period that saw it the scene of occupation, deportations and bombings, but also resistance and reconstruction. In the knowledge that these pages of civic history, though studied, do not yet seem to have taken root in the common public memory. We strongly wanted this exhibition because we believe that Verona is an emblematic case study that not only tells a local story, but can also be a representative testimony at the national level. We want to offer, especially to new generations, the opportunity to confront a difficult and stratified past, illuminating its salient features, in order to better understand the city of today.”

Through documents and testimonies," adds Cultural Councillor Marta Ugolini, “the exhibition invites reflection on the value of historical memory and the resilience of Verona during and after World War II. But also history, as Francesca Rossi points out, ”from which emerges the fundamental role that museums and superintendencies played in the protection of the artistic heritage and the post-war reconstruction of the city and its monuments. Castelvecchio, the site of the exhibition, thus represents the symbolic place of that tragic season and of the responsibilities and courage of those who lived through it."

The Boggian Room: from the trial of fascist hierarchs to the memory of the Liberation

It is no coincidence that the exhibition is held precisely in the Sala Boggian. The space, now a symbol of the city’s culture, was the scene of key events in the history of fascism and its fall. Here, in January 1944, was held the trial of fascist hierarchs accused of treason after the Grand Council session of July 24-25, 1943, which decreed the end of the Mussolini regime. Among those convicted was Galeazzo Ciano, Mussolini’s son-in-law. Restoring the context of those events are some exceptional documents, including the original of the minutes of the historic session of the Great Council, along with letters, telegrams and testimonies that reconstruct the dynamics of that period.

Through multimedia installations and narrative points, the exhibition gives voice to the protagonists of those dramatic years. In addition to well-known figures such as Galeazzo Ciano, lesser-known but equally significant stories emerge, such as that of Rita Rosani, a young partisan of Jewish origin killed in battle in 1944, or Friedrich Boßhammer, the Nazi official who coordinated the deportations of Jews from Verona. A special focus is also dedicated to Vittore Bocchetta, an anti-fascist and sculptor, who survived imprisonment in concentration camps and recounted that experience in his works. Another section of the exhibition is devoted to the reconstruction of Verona’s artistic heritage after the conflict. In 1947, again at Castelvecchio, an exhibition was held on the works saved during the war, commissioned by Verona Museums director Antonio Avena. Today, some of those works are being exhibited again, including masterpieces such as Giambattista Tiepolo’s Heliodorus and the Priest Onias, Peter Paul Rubens ’s Lady of the Lycnides, and Alessandro Turchi’s Allegory of Hope, the only survivor of a cycle of canvases that was destroyed.

Parallel to the exhibition is the presentation of the I Luoghi della Memoria (Places of Memory) project, a historical journey that reconstructs the geography of war, persecution and Resistance in Verona. Through an interactive map, created by the General Archives of the City of Verona in collaboration with the Verona Institute for the History of the Resistance and Contemporary Age, visitors will be able to explore the sites that were the scene of crucial events, from the city’s prisons to the sites of deportations. Sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and prestigious research institutions, the exhibition is an opportunity to reflect on the value of freedom and democracy. Designed for a wide audience, with a focus on the younger generation, it aims to transform historical memory into a current tool for awareness. Accompanying the exhibition, a catalog published by Electa gathers insights and scientific contributions, further enriching the story of a Verona that, between 1943 and 1945, experienced the darkest moment of its history only to rise again in freedom.

Fascism, Resistance and Freedom: Verona 1943-1945 on display at Castelvecchio

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