Salvo D’Acquisto was born in the Italian city of Naples in 1920. He was the eldest of eight siblings. He joined the Italian Army and police force, known as the Carabinieri when he was 19. He was sent to North Africa to serve for a few years. He was a devout Catholic and a formidable leader. But have you heard about his heroic act in 1943?
Two Germans were killed in 1943 while mishandling ammunition. In response, the Nazis rounded up 22 locals and forced them to dig their graves before being executed. Salvo D’Acquisto “confessed” to the crime to save them. He was performed instead of the other 22, thereby saving their lives.
Salvo D’Acquisto’s Early Life
Salvo D’acquisto was born on October 15, 1920, in Antignano, via San Gennaro, in a four-story building known as Villa Alba. His father, Salvatore, is from Palermo, and his mother, Ines, is from Naples. Except for growing up in a strict Catholic environment and attending the Salesian asylum from the daughters of Mary Help of Christians in Vomero via Alvino, he was the first of five children, the others being Frank, Rosario, Erminia, and Alexander.
Following elementary school and averages, he enrolled in high school Giambattista Vico which terminated which received a military card for calling lever; on August 15, 1939, he enlisted as a volunteer-in-Carabinieri, whose weapon played or played the maternal grandfather and three uncles. (Source: Eduka Life)
The Heroic Act and Sacrifice of a True Hero
On September 23, raids were carried out that resulted in the capture of 22 people chosen randomly from the local population while an armed team forcibly removed Salvo D’acquisto from the barracks and the door in Palidoro’s main square, along with the other hostages.
Deputy Brigadier is separated from the raked, kept in check by the German military, who do not miss him with a stick and hit him: he, however, maintains a dignified demeanor. When the Germans ask CK D for the names of those responsible, he responds that the explosion was accidental: in short, there aren’t any.
Following that, the hostages are taken out of the country: the raked are given spades and forced to dig a mass grave in preparation for execution. Excavations last a few hours; however, except for purchase, all hostages are unexpectedly released. The latter is the self-reproach of the attack, even if you are not responsible, to save the lives of twenty-two prisoners, who are immediately released and run away.
Salvo D’acquisto remains in the pit ahead of the platoon, ready to carry out the execution. Before being killed, he screams, Long live Italy! Before being shot without mercy by the Germans. The military then covers his body with the soil dug up earlier. He was younger than 23 years. Today, monuments, avenues, and barracks honor Salvo D’acquisto and his sacrifice.
Pope John Paul II also remembered him in a speech to the police on February 26, 2001, saying:
The history of the Carabinieri proves that you can reach the peak of Holiness in the fulfillment of the duties of its faithful and generous. I think, here, your colleague, vice brigadier Salvo D’acquisto, Gold Medal of military valor, whose cause of beatification is underway.
Pope John Paul II
(Source: Eduka Life)