At the end of October 1943, the 1ª Divisione d'Assalto "M" Tagliamento was transferred to Brescia, more particularly to Val Camonica, with orders to defend the lines of communication of the Wehrmacht and the construction sites of the Organisation Todt, and to engage groups of partisans.
On the way, one of the prisoners, Fernando Caciolo, managed to escape and hide, finally taking refuge in the house of the priest, Don Bravi, where he stayed for three months before returning to his home village, Anagni.
The following is a list of the victims, alphabetically by surname, with their ages and towns:[1] The responsibility for the massacre was attributed to Slovenian-born Paolo Poduje, known by the code name of Moicano, a member of the Special Operations Executive (SOE).
The identity of Moicano remained unknown for many decades, but witness statements and documents produced at the subsequent trial showed that he had been parachuted to near Pizzo Formico at the beginning of April 1945 as a captain in the Intelligence Corps under the command of Count Manfred Beckett Czernin.
Theories that Poduje was responsible for the summary execution at Rovetta were confirmed when Moicano admitted at the beginning of the 21st century that he had indeed ordered the shooting of soldiers of the Italian Social Republic.