Before the Second World War, the building at Via Tasso functioned as the cultural office of the German embassy in Rome. As soon as the German occupation began, it became the headquarters of the SiPo-Sicherheitspolizei (Security Police) and the SD-Sicherheitsdienst (Security Service). The five-storey building at number 145 was used as a prison, the windows were bricked up and bars and grates installed. The offices and barracks of the SS were located at number 155.

More than 2,000 Jews and political opponents were imprisoned there, with terrible hygienic conditions due to overcrowding. They were tortured and killed until Rome was liberated on 4^th June 1944. Many of the prisoners shot by Herbert Kappler at the Fosse Ardeatine (24^th March 1944) came from Via Tasso. On 4^th June 1944, during the days of liberation, 14 people already detained in the prison were shot by fleeing German soldiers in the La Storta area, along the Via Cassia. Among them was the socialist trade unionist Bruno Buozzi.

On 4^th June 1955, the Historical Museum of Liberation was inaugurated on the site. The cells, where the inscriptions left by the prisoners can still be read, are the backdrop to a journey through the history of Rome under German occupation. A computer lab and a specialised library are attached to the Museum.

Photo gallery

Watching /reading tips