1 outside cemetery: here, on the evening of 25 August 1944, the partisan Giovanni Poletti was shot, after being interrogated and tortured in the base of the German headquarters. In this place also the partisan Sergio Gallotti, who arrived at Mandello to join the partisans of the Grigne, was shot on 31 December 1943. In the bas-relief a matyr’s arm holds up the torch of freedom, which is surrounded by a crown of thorns (that is grief and suffering) while an insidious little snake (that is the spy, the betrayer) coiled round the arm, is ready to bite fatally with its sharp teeth.
2 inside cemetery monument: it was erected in memory of all the local who died during the local Resistance in other places too. The bronze statue represents a dying partisan who, with his bowed head, in an extreme effort tries to lift the torch of freedom up to the sky. His distress and pain are visible on his tired face. He is young, handsome and brave but naked, at the mercy of the events.
In the background you can read the names of the partisans from Mandello dead for freedom; their names and their photos are also on the little horizontal memorial plaques on the base of the monument.
3 at “Molina”: this building was the base of the German headquarters from 1943 to 1945. Here the partisan Giovanni Poletti was interrogated and tortured and then led to the cemetery to be shot. Here the terms of surrender of the Armata Liguria were signed by General Pempsel and the CVL (Volunteers of Freedom). From the end of April 1945 to beginning of June 1945 this building was the base of the Partisan Command. Returned to civilian use in June 1945, it preserves the memory of a tragic, but fundamental period of our History.
4 monument at “la Maiola”: this monument was erected in memory of Battista Morganti, Adamo and Davide Gaddi, dead in this place for the explosion of a time bomb on the evening of the 26 October 1944. The bronze bas-relief represents the three fallen partisans; one of them proudly shows a torch, symbol of glory and freedom. In the background you can see the local mountains: Grigna and Sasso Cavallo, places of our Resistance
5 Moto Guzzi: Here groups of workmen were organized to oppose the machinery dismantlement wanted by the German soldiers.