Visiting Via Tasso’s Nazi Prison Museum in Rome

Recently, I visited for the first time Rome’s Museo Storico della Liberazione (Liberation Historical Museum).

During WWII, the Germans occupied Rome between September 1943 and June 1944. During that time, the SS headquarters on Via Tasso served as a prison, interrogation facilities and the place where prisoners were tortured and killed.

During that time, being told someone was brought for questioning to Via Tasso was recognized by all as a death sentence.

The collection is small but interesting, and the cells have been left intact. It is tucked into a small street behind the Saint John’s Basilica. The museum is open daily, with explanations in Italian and English. Free admission, with donation requested.

The ground floor is also dedicated to the Fascist years in general, and, if you know Rome, is a fascinating look at how the city grew and new quarters that were built.

The top floor contains the prison cells, where there are further displays of life under German occuation, and details about the prisoners and their deaths.

The windows were all bricked up during this time, and it has been left partially that way in some of the cells to have an idea of what it was like at the time.

There are also plenty of wartime posters, orders and the leaflets (like that below) distributed or dropped down from airplanes by the Allied forces.

One of the most moving sections contains a cell where the graffitti scratched into the walls by prisoners awaiting their fate was well preserved. I’ve included one that I translated in the photos below.

The explanations are a bit academic and it takes time to sift through many of the individual stories, the way the museum is organized, but it’s a worthwhile visit to learn more about the period of German occupation in Rome, and the terror behind the walls of Via Tasso.

Definitely worth a visit for all interested in WWII history.

One of the cells carefully displays the graffitti from the prisoners still carved in the walls. One heartbreaking passage from one of those prisoners awaiting his execution is shown here in the photo below:

The soul to God
Life to the King
The heart to a woman
Honor for me.