I’ve never been to Naples, Italy…frankly, I’ve never been out of the United States. But from the pictures I’ve seen, the city is beautiful. Situated on the southwestern coast of the country, the 2,500 year old city boasts an overall population of more than 3 million people. Its climate is wonderful, the history is rich and diverse, and the food is world-famous. And it’s a huge attraction for tourists.
On October 1, 1943, however, climate mattered little, and history wasn’t very important, either. About 500,000 people inhabited Naples, and food was the paramount concern, but mostly because there was none to be had. On this date, Allied forces entered the city, capturing it from the retreating Germans. If you recall, Allied forces had landed on Italy just a few short weeks before and were working north. Naples, which sits just 30 miles northwest of Salerno (the landing point), was an obvious target because of its terrific port facilities.
When the first U.S. forces entered at 9:30 in the morning, most of the Germans were gone. An insurrection by the Neapolitans had forced Field Marshal Kesselring’s troops, which had occupied Naples just two weeks prior, from the city. German occupation, forced labor, and public executions for “malcontents” had stirred the citizens into a fury, and the level of violence (according to OSS operatives) was what actually forced the Germans to leave.
But oh, did the Germans use that two weeks to make a mess! Sappers blew up the main aqueduct in numerous places and drained the city’s reservoirs…no water. They dropped dynamite down many of city’s manholes…no sewer. They blew up the phone exchange…no phone, they destroyed the electrical substations…no light, and they dynamited nearly all the bridges…no motorcars…not a single luxury. They stole the fishing boats in the harbor, forced the owners to pay exhorbitant ransoms to get them back, then scuttled them anyways, along with every other vessel in the port.
And the antiquities! They torched the library of the University of Naples (teaching ground of Thomas Aquinas), more than 80,000 books and manuscripts stored in Nola (a Naples suburb) were burned, and the archives of the city of Naples and the Italian Royal Society all went up in smoke. The National Library was also destroyed, as were numerous sites of enormous cultural value.
But for the Allies, the mess they saw was only the beginning. The Germans set dozens and dozens of time-delayed explosives throughout the city, killing thousands in the subsequent days and weeks. Starving women reduced themselves to prostitution for food, causing rampant disease…soldiers said one could get gonorrhea for a candy bar. And then, just months later, Mt. Vesuvius would get into the action and make the mess even worse.
October 1, 1943 was a terrible time to vacation in what some have called the most beautiful city in the world.
Recommended Reading: The Day of Battle
Today's History Lesson 