Monument Details

Italian-American Execution Site Plaque

Details:

The plaque is mounted on a natural rock wall on the north side of the clearing. Plaque The plaque notes the significance of the site where 15 Italian-American soldiers of the 2677th Headquarters Company, Detachment C, (Unit A, First Contingent), a special Allied OSS unit stationed at Corsica, were taken prisoner and executed during the failed Operation Ginny. The soldiers were captured on 24 March 1944 when attempting to blow up a German supply tunnel, and they were executed in uniform two days later on 26 March 1944. Their bodies were hidden in a mass grave at the nearby site of La Ferrara.

To execute uniformed prisoners of war was a direct violation of the Geneva Convention, and in the days following Liberation, the investigation into the disappearance of the fifteen members of the OSS team was given priority. This case set a precedent for the Nuremberg war crime trials of German generals, officials and Nazi leaders beginning in November 1945. The precedent thus contributed to the codification of Principle IV of the Nuremberg Principles, which rejects "Superior Orders," and a similar principle found in sections of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The plaque itself is made of white marble with engraved black lettering and an engraved cross. All text is in Italian. The memorial was placed at the site on 26 March 2004 by the OSS Society and the Commune of Ameglia.

Monument Text:

IN QUESTO LUOGO VENNERO

FUCILATI IL 26 MARZO 1944

DAI NAZISTI I 15 MILITARI

ITALO-AMERICANI DELLA

MISSIONE GINNY

OSS SOCIETY E COMUNE DI AMEGLIA

NEL 60 ANNIVERSARIO 26 MARZO 2004

English translation:

In this place 15 Italian-American soldiers of Operation Ginny were shot by the Nazis on 26 March 1944

OSS Society and the Commune of Ameglia

On the 60th anniversary 26 March 2004