cassino

[jolynn]

hello all, can anyone tell what happened to the town of cassino during ww2, i know there was a big battle at monte cassino but what happened to the town of cassino, thankyou all, john

[wishyou]

It was bombed by Usaf and Raf and destroyed as the abbacy.
Follow the link
http://www.battagliamontecassino.it/htm ... oto03.html

[jolynn]

hello wishyou, thankyou very much for those picture,s, it was terrible was,nt it, i wonder what happened to the cemetery in cassino town itself, as my great grandfather was buried there around 1895, thanks again, regards john

[wishyou]

You could ask to the comune
http://www.comune.cassino.fr.it

Anyway, as my opinion, it is very difficult that the grave of your grandfather is still in the cementary, as abitually every 30 years graves are given up.

[jolynn]

hello wishyou, thanks for that, what happens to the headstones if they are given up, thanks john

[wishyou]

I'm sorry but they are abitually destroyed
Rarely they are melted in the cementery walls, but only if there is space and for the will of the family.
The only chance is that someone has payed the rent of the grave for all these years.

[jolynn]

hello wishyou, thankyou for that, where would the burial records be kept so i can confirm his burial place, even if the headstone as gone, thanks again, john

[wishyou]

Burial records?
You have to try to ask to the Comune, but I think that's difficult to find something before 1950's.
You could ask for death certificate at Stato Civile of the Comune. It's the only sure thing you can get of him.

[jolynn]

hello wishyou, thankyou for that i will request a death cert. from the stato civile in cassino, thanks again, regards john

[millybobs]

Hi John
I was in Cassino last month and visited the rebuilt abbey. The government has done a great job of reconstructing the place as near as possible to its prewar glory after the Allies practically flattened it.

The town of Cassino was also badly damaged as were many neighbouring villages. The whole area was heavily fought over in 1944. There are plenty of war cemeteries in the area - Italian, US, Canadian, British, Polish - but, like everything else, the civil cemeteries were badly damaged too. I don't know about the records, but the graves themselves are very unlikely to have survived.

Paul

[Poipuo4]

I know many of you are not in America, but there is a great documentary on WWII that was just on American Public television. It is called "The War" by Ken Burns. It had some riveting footage of the battle at Casino. It is available now on DVD. Check out www.amazon.com.

This should be the direct link: http://www.amazon.com/War-Film-Burns-Ly ... 337&sr=1-1

It will be shown again throughout the month on American Public Television.

[Italysearcher]

I live close to Cassino and can tell you that all records were destroyed in WW2. Anyone living in the town (and for that matter any town where records were destroyed) were invited to re register at the Tribunal, their birth, marriage etc. Deaths that occurred before the war were not re registered and neither were births etc.
The reality is, that if your ancestor was not actually living in the area after WW2, you are unlikely to find any record of them. Many church records were sent for safe keeping to the Abbey! Some towns destroyed their records so the Germans would not know how many (male) residents were hiding in the hills. Prior to 1866 records are on microfilm as the second copies required by Napoleon were on file in the archives of Caserta.
Death records do not state cause of death and the only additional information it will give you, apart from the date, is the name of the person's parents (usually the father but not always the mother) and possibly their spouse.

[jolynn]

hello italysearcher, thankyou for your reply, my great grandmother was born in cassino in 1856, also her future husband would have been born there about the same time, he died around 1895, would rosa,s birth record be available and also aquilla,s, ihave the exact date of birth for rosa but not aquilla, i believe they were married around 1875, two of there children were born in cervaro, my granmother in 1890 and great aunt maria in 1892, i have her birth certificate, it was issued to her in the 1950,s as she needed one for insurance reason,s here in england, were would she obtained that from. also were would they have got her details from, any futher help would be appriciated, thankyou, regards, john

[Italysearcher]

Everything before 1865 is on microfilm so you should be able to find your GGrandmother and her husband. His death certificate was probably destroyed and would not have been reconstructed after the WW2. The kind of certificate you have was probably created based on the information she gave and sworn before a notary. The church and civil records prior to 1900 were all destroyed. I have done a search in Cervaro. They have some stuff but its not complete.

[jolynn]

hello, maria,s birth cert. was issued from cervaro in the 1950,s it has there stamp on it, would she have had to fill in forms here and send them to italy as i don,t believe she went there herself, thanks again, regards, john