It was just Holy Week in Rome and the city welcomed numerous pilgrims. Rome is really the place to be for this time of year. The weather was really good and the recent influx of tourists was obvious. Also all over the city were advertisements for una Buona Pasqua or Happy Easter. Some stores such as the Castroni up the street from my school even had a display with Easter eggs and other candy.
The busiest part of the city for the week was by far the Vatican where the line to get into St. Peter's seemed forever lengthening. Even more people than usual from all over the world were there to celebrate the holy time for Christians. Heading toward the weekend events really picked up. A Stations of the Cross began at the Coliseum on Good Friday. Of course on Easter Sunday, the Pope was present for mass at St. Peter's where numerous flowers decorated the Basilica steps and even more people crowded the square for a glimpse of the Pontiff.
Other than Easter, things have really begun to slow down as far as seeing sites and interesting happenings. This is probably because I do not have much time. I am busy with classes and school work. I am learning a lot in my classes but I can't help but wish sometimes that the "study" had been left out of my study abroad.
One interesting little trip last week was with my history class and Professor Argentieri. We visited the National Liberation Museum fittingly on Good Friday. The museum is located in a Palazzo that served as the German Army's interrogation center/torture chamber during the occupation of Rome by the Nazi's in 1943/1944. This was perhaps Rome's darkest hour in the 20th century. After Italy signed the armistice with the Allies in 1943, the Nazi's were ruthless in their persecution of any Italians they deemed to be a threat. They even issued a guarantee that for every single German soldier killed by the resistance in Rome, 10 Italians would be executed. The evidence of their ruthlessness comes to life in the items and empty cells in the museum. From blood stained shirts to the messages scrawled in the walls by people awaiting torture and execution, the building is quite a chilling place. Many of the messages left behind by the prisoners end with the dates of their incarceration. The ever present exit date is March 24, 1944.
This is the date where the Nazi guarantee came into full effect. Following a resistance bomb that killed 33 on Via Roselli, the Nazi's rounded up 335 prisoners. Transported them to the Ardeantine Caves and executed them. They beat their promise of 10 to 1 by 5.
One question I couldn't help but ask myself during my visit to the Museum of Liberation is how human beings could treat each other this way? Wasn't there any way to stop the senselessness? Even worse how can these types of things continue today? Just a few years ago war crimes were being committed in Kosovo. Middle Eastern regimes continue to brutalize their people. Africa continues to be home to a side-show of bloodthirsty dictators, warlords, and murder. In Darfour in the Sudan massacres continue as I write this. The questions remain, how can humans do this to one another and can these atrocities be prevented? I am left with more questions than answers in this paragraph it seems. Reply with any thoughts.
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