It was the largest massacre of civilians committed by the Waffen SS in western Europe during the war.

They also killed numerous residents of the adjacent Grizzana Morandi and Monzuno communes, the area of the massif of Monte Sole (part of the Apennine range in the province of Bologna).

[2] Giovanni Fornasini, a parish priest and member of the Resistance, risked his life to protect the population from the Nazis during the massacres.

While Fornasini saved the lives of many of his parishioners and managed to escape immediate death, he was later discovered by an SS officer while he was burying the bodies of those killed in the massacre, which was forbidden by the Nazis.

When Fornasini confessed to having helped the villagers avoid execution, the officer shot and killed him.