A twentieth-century Pompei – San Pietro Infine

 

Una Pompei del Novecento – San Pietro Infine

Il 10 dicembre 2022 si celebra il 79^ anniversario della Battaglia di San Pietro Infine. Mentre la 2^ Divisione neozelandese, con l’VIII Armata britannica, era impegnata ad est degli Appennini nella battaglia di Orsogna, ad ovest, la V Armata americana si lanciava contro la cosiddetta “linea invernale”, una catena collinosa di posizioni tedesche altamente fortificate a sud di Cassino.  In mezzo, poco distante dalla SS 6, si trovava il piccolo paese di San Pietro Infine, appena 14 km a sud di Cassino nella provincia di Caserta.

La battaglia che si svolse dall'8 al 17 dicembre 1943, cruciale nella spinta verso nord per liberare Roma, divenne una leggenda grazie al film documentario girato dall’allora giovanissimo John Huston. Viene ricordata anche perché fu la prima battaglia in cui truppe italiane del Regio Esercito parteciparono come co-belligeranti degli Alleati in seguito all'Armistizio di Cassibile.

La cittadina di San Pietro Infine fu completamente distrutta nella battaglia e rimase abbandonata per molti anni. La maggior parte dei suoi abitanti non tornò più. Negli anni Cinquanta, un nuovo paese fu costruito nella valle poco distante. Quello vecchio oggi è un Parco della Memoria Storica, un museo della guerra a cielo aperto.

The Memorial Park of San Pietro Infine

Some 14 km south-east of Cassino are the ruins of the medieval village of San Pietro Infine which, like so many others, found itself in the path of the retreating and advancing armies.

The Germans occupied the village in September 1943, forcing the inhabitants to evacuate, except for those who could be employed as manual labour. They also occupied the strategic positions on the heights overlooking the valley and Route (Highway) 6, the main road to Rome, in particular Monte Sambucaro (or Sammucro), and Monte Lungo on the opposite side of the pass (‘Death Valley’).

The attack of the II US Army Corps against the German forces defending these positions began on 5 November with a massive attack against Monte Camino, followed by other attacks against Sammucro and Monte Lungo (in which, for the first time, the Italian Royal Army participated as co-belligerent)..   

The Battle of San Pietro Infine itself was waged 8 -17 December, 79 years ago. The enemy was convinced to withdraw only when other key positions of the Bernhardt Line had fallen into Allied hands. The village of San Pietro Infine was totally destroyed in the battle of December 1943, and never rebuilt. Those inhabitants who had stayed on in the area were forced to leave. It would be six more long months before the armies vacated the area and by that time some thirty villages in the vicinity of Cassino had been obliterated.

In the 1950’s, a new township was built in the valley below and for years the old village was completely abandoned. Today it has become a Parco della memoria storica, or Memorial Park, a stark reminder of the folly of war. At the small museum, where mementos of the village and its story are exhibited, it is also possible to view the famous documentary film, “The Battle of San Pietro”, produced by the young John Huston in 1945, which tells the incredible story of San Pietro and its inhabitants. There are interviews with villagers making their first encounters with Allied (American) soldiers.  Many had been resisting in caves dug in the tufa rock, rather than abandon their homes altogether. For them, John Huston’s face was the first American face they saw. Many, of course, were children, some of whom are still alive and living in the area. Children were even born in the caves, and one who still had no name when the Americans arrived, was given the name “Roosevelt”, which he bore proudly all his life.

A street in the old village

The entrance to two of the caves near the village

San Pietro Infine is a ghost village, The steep winding streets have been cleared, the walls made secure, and the ruined church given a protective roof dome. It is now possible to explore the old village and the caves where those villagers who could not or would not leave held out for months while the battles raged around them.

A fine house at the front of the village overlooking the valley has been rebuilt and made into a boutique hotel, frequented especially by veterans and their families. Only its beautiful wooden doors survived the bombing and today grace the hotel entrance.

The salvaged doors of the hotel

The old village of San Pietro Infine is an enduring testimony to the destructive and disruptive effects of war. A visit there is a sobering experience.   

The new township on State highway 6