The Order Has Been Carried Out: History, Memory, and Meaning of a Nazi Massacre in Rome (Palgrave Studies in Oral History)

Winner of the 2005 Oral History Association Book Award On March 24, 1944, Nazi occupation forces in Rome killed 335 unarmed civilians in retaliation for a partisan attack the day before. Alessandro Portelli has crafted an eloquent, multi-voiced oral history of the massacre, of its background and its aftermath. The moving stories of the victims, the women and children who survived and carried on, the partisans who fought the Nazis, and the common people who lived through the tragedies of the war together paint a many-hued portrait of one of the world's most richly historical cities. The Order Has Been Carried Out powerfully relates the struggles for freedom under Fascism and Nazism, the battles for memory in post-war democracy, and the meanings of death and grief in modern society. On March 24, 1944, Nazi Occupation Forces Killed 335 Unarmed Civilians In Rome In Retaliation For A Partisan Attack The Day Before. The Order Has Been Carried Out Is An Oral History Of The Massacre, Of Its Background And Its Aftermath. The Moving Stories Of The Victims, Of The Women And Children Who Survived And Carried On, Of The Partisans Who Fought The Nazis, Of The Common People Who Lived Through The Tragedies Of The War, Paint A Many-hued Picture Of More Than A Century In The History Of One Of The World's Most Richly Historical Cities. These Narratives, Woven Together By One Of The Foremost Practitioners Of Oral History, Tell Of The Struggles For Freedom Under Fascism And Nazism, Of The Battles For Memory In Italy's Postwar Democracy, And Of The Meanings Of Death And Grief In Modern Society.--jacket. The Narrators -- There Was No Request -- The Sense Of History In Rome -- Context And Background -- Where Stories Begin And End -- Oral Sources -- Creation And Use Of Sources -- The Time Of Names -- Rome -- Places And Times -- Beginnings -- The Magnet -- Building Fever -- The Heart Of The State -- Soldiers -- In The Shadow Of St. Peter's -- Roman Hills -- Portico D'ottavia -- Monuments: Testaccio, Trionfale ... -- Via Della Pelliccia -- Twenty Years: Fascism And Its Discontents -- Working-class Worlds: San Lorenzo And The Valley Of Hell -- Historic Streets: Ponte, Regola, Tor Di Nona ... -- Students -- Concentration Camps: Gordiani, Val Melaina, Primavalle ... -- A Street In The Center: Via Rasella -- Acts Of War -- Race Laws -- Africa, Spain, Russia ... -- War From The Air: San Lorenzo, July 19, 1943 -- Death And Rebirth Of The Homeland: Porta San Paolo, September 8, 1943 -- Portico D'ottavia, October 16, 1943 -- The Fosse Ardeatine -- Resistances -- Incipit -- Open City, Captive City -- Let Them Know They're Not The Masters Of Rome -- Memories Of War -- Long Heroism: The Military Underground Front -- Identities, Allegiances, Memory -- Anzio, Forte Bravetta, Via Tasso ... -- Via Rasella -- That Day -- The Germans Who Sang -- The Sleeping Dog: Cause And Effect -- Lists, Posters, Orders, And Other Missing Texts -- Personal Responsibility And Collective Guilt -- Politics Of Time -- Should We Have Turned Ourselves In? -- What Was The Use? -- The Massacre -- The Jail -- The Road -- The Black Hole -- Women Who Seek. Alessandro Portelli. Includes Bibliographical References.