Sant’Anna di Stazzema and Monte Sole Historical Park were the scenes of tragic events, two massacres with over 1,300 civilian victims, carried out by the same German division, the 16th SS Panzergrenadier Division Reichsführer-SS, with the collaboration of Fascist squads, in the summer of 1944: August 12 at Sant’Anna di Stazzema and between September 29 and October 5 at Monte Sole.

“Cammino ’44” therefore recalls the year in which these massacres took place. But the other territories crossed by the route also witnessed Nazi-Fascist violence, such as Bagni di Lucca (July 1944, 16 victims), Piteglio (September 1944, 22 victims), Grizzana Morandi (July 1944, 39 victims), and Savignano (September 1944, 9 victims).

All these places lie along the line of the Gothic Line, around which the war stagnated and took on its most total and dramatic form: partisan warfare, Fascist round-ups, Allied bombings, and the movement of troops from various extra-European nations. The name of the Cammino is therefore a tribute, encapsulating the meaning of a journey dedicated to peace and dialogue.