The partisan brigade was formed after the Italian Armistice of September 1943. It brought together several hundred partisans who opposed Nazi forces and the Italian Social Republic (Repubblica Sociale Italiana, Salò). Many of its members were also connected to the Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale (CLN).

This group was founded by locals and consisted of people with different political and cultural backgrounds, including communists, socialists, Catholics, and anarchists. Despite these differences, they were united by the aim of resisting the occupation and contributing to the liberation of Italy

The activities of the Brigata Stella Rossa focused on sabotage, attacks on German supply lines, and intelligence gathering in support of the Allied advance. Like many partisan groups, it operated under difficult conditions and faced severe repression from Nazi forces.

As part of a wider strategy used by the Nazi army in Italy in 1944 and 1945, German troops carried out a large military operation in the Monte Sole area. This was not a reprisal, but a planned action meant to spread terror among the civilian population and to destroy partisan resistance. Between 29 September and early October 1944, more than 700 civilians were killed in what is known as the Marzabotto or Monte Sole massacre. During the operation, the partisans fled into the surrounding woods. When the brigade’s commander, Mario Musolesi, known as "Lupo," was captured and killed, the group lost its organization.

In the weeks that followed, surviving members dispersed or joined other partisan formations and continued to resist until the liberation of northern Italy in April 1945, when the Gothic Line was finally breached by Allied forces.

A Vector of Memory from Liberation Route Europe has been installed at the Stella Rossa Spazio in Vado, commemorating the partisan resistance and the victims of Nazi violence in the area.