From 7th to 31st March 2025, the Via Zirardini Open-Air Gallery will host the photographic exhibition WOMEN IN THE RAVENNA RESISTANCE – IMAGES FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHIC ARCHIVE OF THE HISTORICAL INSTITUTE OF RAVENNA, in collaboration with the Historical Institute of the Resistance and Contemporary Age in Ravenna and its province.
The initiative, which is part of the programme of celebrations for 8th March, is a tribute to the young women who made a fundamental contribution to the Resistance in the Ravenna area during the Liberation Struggle.
The photographs come from the Documentary Fund of the National Liberation Committee “Biographies of female relay “, kept at the Archives of the Twentieth Century, and collect testimonies of many ordinary girls, mostly very young, who distinguished themselves for their militant commitment and courage during the difficult years of the Second World War.
Among the best-known figures are Ines Bedeschi, a Gold Medal for Military Valour in Memory, an expert Conselice relay girl, captured and slaughtered in March 1945, and Natalina Vacchi, a Callegari factory worker, hanged on 25th August 1944, who was awarded the Bronze Medal for Military Valour. The explanatory panel instead depicts the five Bartolotti sisters from Savarna, who were also heavily involved in organisational tasks of great responsibility, including Maria, decorated with a Silver Medal for Military Valour for her courage.
The gallery is not limited to these stories of heroism, but offers a broad cross-section of women from different walks of life who never sought recognition for their actions. Each portrait tells a piece of their story, their daily commitment and the danger of their struggle, often at the cost of their lives.
