Plaque at Palazzo Roderio

On 21^st July 1921, around 500 members of Fascist militias reached the town with the aim of freeing Renato Ricci (founder of the Carrara Fasces of Combat), and a further eleven comrades held at the Firmafede Barracks. The mission was conducted by the Florentine Blackshirts and led by Umberto Banchelli and Amerigo Dumini (later head of the squad that killed Giacomo Matteotti).

However, the raid was opposed by soldiers, the Carabinieri, and a large part of the population, among which the anti-fascist Arditi del Popolo network played an important role. A day of fighting ensued, leaving several victims and resulting in a Fascist retreat, despite the release of the prisoners which was facilitated by the intervention of the Massa public prosecutor.

These events, which marked the history of the town, were commemorated as early as 1945 with a plaque on the façade of Palazzo Roderio. After the Liberation of Italy, more plaques were put up. One is symbolically dedicated to Luigi Gastardelli, the first confirmed victim of Italian Fascism. A street has also been dedicated to Pietro Arnaldo Terzi, the anti-fascist Mayor of Sarzana between 1920 and 1922, and the railway station square where the main conflicts took place has been dedicated to Carabinieri Captain Guido Jurgens. Finally, since 2008, the municipality of Sarzana has been conferred a decoration in honour of the Civil Resistance of 21^st July 1921.