War, as we know, strikes with greater violence precisely those who are innocent and have no escape. This is the brief story of the bombing of Treviso, a small city wounded in its heart by the fury of the terrible conflict, one among many victims of that senseless horror.
Bombing of Treviso: a fatal error
It was due to a translation error of an encrypted message (apparently written in Latin, where the final translation result perhaps erroneously cited Tarvisium) intercepted by the Allies that, on April 7, 1944, the city of Treviso suffered a massive carpet bombing by the United States Air Force.
In just 6-7 minutes – from 1:24 PM to 1:31 PM – about 2000 bombs were dropped on the city, damaging more or less severely 80% of its buildings and causing a number of deaths that has never been fully quantified. There has been talk of about 1000 victims, 1600 according to other versions never fully confirmed. The regime press also added its own, primarily for propaganda purposes, with headlines and slogans that have gone down in local history such as: Passion Friday for Treviso or Behold the Grim Face of the Invader – This Is the True Nature of the False Savior, followed by macabre vignettes depicting black American aviators and soldiers… deliberately drawn with simian-like facial features and in the act of harassing young peasant women in a group.
The primary target was the Treviso Railway Station and – according to a recent historical hypothesis – the Nazi-Fascist joint command at the “Stella d’Oro” hotel (then located, before its complete destruction, in Piazza Borsa), where a secret meeting was said to be held among high-ranking fascist leaders and high-ranking officers of the local Wehrmacht detachment.
Tarvisio, not Treviso
Treviso, however, apart from the “Stella d’Oro” hotel, did not play any particularly significant roles from a military point of view. It is therefore possible that, due to a translation error, it was mistaken for the Friulian city of Tarvisio, which was known for its supplies of weapons and ammunition via local rail convoys.
To this day, this hypothesis still raises doubts, given that the Americans were usually accustomed to carrying out reconnaissance for aerial photographic surveys over the skies of areas considered “primary military targets,” which is all the more absurd in light of the fact that Treviso and Tarvisio have topography and layout far too different even when observed with the naked eye from ancient reproductions on the first urban planning maps of the two respective cities in question.
Nevertheless, this did not prevent the Venetian town from being reborn, perhaps more beautiful and characteristic than before, a true pearl to visit even for a quick trip during a day trip to Venice.
