Plaque commemorating Giovanni Rossi
The conflicts within the first partisan brigades
In January 1944 Alberto Fini, a common criminal admitted to his band as a guide by Giovanni Rossi, killed a civilian associate of the partisans. A former soldier from Salerno, Ugo Stanzione, received permission to eliminate Fini but was killed by the latter in the attempt; the other partisans reacted by killing Fini. The Modena Communist Federation attempted to remove Rossi from the command of the band and to introduce the role of political commissar, but Rossi was unwilling to countenance this. He was killed in his sleep at Monterotondo, between Frassinoro and Palagano, during the night of 28 February 1944, by partisans sent up from the plain; there is still controversy surrounding these events.
A plaque on the facade of the Town Hall at Frassinoro commemorates Giovanni Rossi.
