Enrico Adami Rossi (11 January 1880 – 12 July 1963) was an Italian general during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Biography

He participated in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

with the rank of cavalry

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

; serving at the Supreme Command, he distinguished himself in advanced reconnaissance actions, being awarded two

Bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

and one

Silver Medal of Military Valour The Silver Medal of Military Valor () is an Italian medal for gallantry. Italian medals for valor were first instituted by Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia on 21 May 1793, with a gold medal, and, below it, a silver medal. These were intended for j ...

for his behaviour in the battles of Asiago, of the Ortigara and of Vittorio Veneto. After the war, he served as Deputy Chief of Staff of the

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

Army Corps from January 1925 to July 1926 and then as Chief of Staff of the Territorial Military Division of

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

from July 1926 to November 1927. He taught at the Army War School from January 1928 to September 1929 (and later again from September 1932 to October 1933), after which he was given command of the 14th Cavalry Regiment "Cavalleggeri di Alessandria" for three years. In 1935-1936, after promotion to brigadier general, he commanded the 29th Infantry Brigade "Peloritana II", and after its reorganization as a Division he served as deputy commander till January 1938. In September 1938, after promotion to Major General, he assumed command of the Territorial Defence of

, which he held till 1941. In 1941 he was given command of the territorial defense of

Bari Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and ...

, where along with General Luigi De Biase (commander of the XI Army Corps, with headquarters in Bari) he conducted the internal investigation launched by the

Royal Italian Army The Royal Italian Army () (RE) was the land force of the Kingdom of Italy, established with the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy. During the 19th century Italy started to unify into one country, and in 1861 Manfredo Fanti signed a decree c ...

on the conduct of General Nicola Bellomo for the facts of Torre Tresca (the killing of a fugitive British

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

), which resulted in his exoneration. On 11 January 1942 he was transferred to the Army reserve due to his age, and was again given command of the territorial defense of Florence; in April he was promoted to

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

. On 11 July 1943 he was appointed commander of the territorial defense of

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

. After the

fall of Fascism The Fall of the Fascist regime in Italy, also known in Italy as (, ; ), came as a result of parallel plots led respectively by Count Dino Grandi and King Victor Emmanuel III during the spring and summer of 1943, culminating with a successfu ...

on 25 July 1943 he refused any co-operation with anti-Fascist parties and harshly applied the directives issued by

Pietro Badoglio Pietro Badoglio, 1st Duke of Addis Abeba, 1st Marquess of Sabotino ( , ; 28 September 1871 – 1 November 1956), was an Italian general during both World Wars and the first viceroy of Italian East Africa. With the fall of the Fascist regim ...

and

Mario Roatta Mario Roatta (2 February 1887 – 7 January 1968) was an Italian general. After serving in World War I he rose to command the Corpo Truppe Volontarie which assisted Francisco Franco's nationalist forces during the Spanish Civil War. He was the d ...

for the restoration of public order; on 1 August he ordered the political prisoners who had been released from prison after the fall of the regime to surrender themselves to the authorities to be taken again into custody (among them were

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

leader Dante Conti and

Socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

Giuseppe Saragat Giuseppe Saragat (; 19 September 1898 – 11 June 1988) was an Italian politician and statesman who served as President of Italy from 1964 to 1971. Early life Saragat was born on 19 September 1898 in Turin, Piedmont, Kingdom of Italy, to Sard ...

, who were thus arrested again). After the proclamation of the

Armistice of Cassibile The Armistice of Cassibile ( Italian: ''Armistizio di Cassibile'') was an armistice that was signed on 3 September 1943 by Italy and the Allies, marking the end of hostilities between Italy and the Allies during World War II. It was made public ...

on 8 September 1943, Adami Rossi, in charge of the Turin Fortress Area, kept his men confined in the barracks, rejected the requests by the anti-Fascist parties to participate in the defense of the city against the Germans, refused to hand over weapons to the civilian population, and made contact with the Germans, handing them over the city on 9 September without any resistance. He then joined the Italian Social Republic and on 11 November 1943 he was appointed regional military commander of

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

and commander of the territorial defense of Florence. In February 1944 he set up the extraordinary

military tribunal Military justice (or military law) is the body of laws and procedures governing members of the armed forces. Many nation-states have separate and distinct bodies of law that govern the conduct of members of their armed forces. Some states us ...

, of which he became president; in March 1944 this tribunal sentenced to death the Martyrs of Campo di Marte, five young

draft dodger Conscription evasion or draft evasion (American English) is any successful attempt to elude a government-imposed obligation to serve in the military forces of one's nation. Sometimes draft evasion involves refusing to comply with the military dr ...

s and suspected

partisan Partisan(s) or The Partisan(s) may refer to: Military * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line ** Francs-tireurs et partisans, communist-led French anti-fascist resistance against Nazi Germany during WWII ** Ital ...

s who were rounded up in

Vicchio Vicchio is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Florence in the Italian region Tuscany, located about northeast of Florence. As of 2016, it had a population of 8,105 and an area of . Geography Vicchio borders the munic ...

after a partisan attack in which several

Fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

sympathizers had been killed. On 5 April 1945 he was appointed head of the

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

Regional Military Command, and in early May he was taken prisoner by U.S. troops and imprisoned in the Coltano prisoner-of-war camp. During his captivity there his testimony was required by General Bellomo during his trial for the events of Torre Tresca, but he was not allowed to testify. Adami Rossi was in turn tried by the Court of Assizes of Florence, which found him guilty of

collaborationism Wartime collaboration is cooperation with the enemy against one's country of citizenship in wartime. As historian Gerhard Hirschfeld says, it "is as old as war and the occupation of foreign territory". The term ''collaborator'' dates to the 19th c ...

for having favored the establishment of extraordinary military courts; he was initially

sentenced to death Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

and to the confiscation of all assets in May 1946, but the sentence was overturned in the Supreme Court. A second trial in November 1947 resulted in him being sentenced to twenty-four years in prison, while another parallel trial sentenced him to three years in prison for not resisting the Germans in Turin after the armistice of 8 September 1943. However, the sentenced was later reduced to two years and he was released in February 1948. On November 19, 1953, he was ultimately acquitted by the Supreme

Court of Cassation A court of cassation is a high-instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation do not re-examine the facts of a case; they only interpret the relevant law. In this, they are appellate courts of the highest instance. In ...

and reinstated in rank, also obtaining the restitution of his assets. He later became national consultant of the National Union of Combatants of the

Italian Social Republic The Italian Social Republic (, ; RSI; , ), known prior to December 1943 as the National Republican State of Italy (; SNRI), but more popularly known as the Republic of Salò (, ), was a List of World War II puppet states#Germany, German puppe ...

. His name appears on the

CROWCASS The Central Registry of War Criminals and Security Suspects, more commonly known as CROWCASS, was an organisation set up to assist the United Nations War Crimes Commission and Allied governments in tracing ex-enemy nationals suspected of committin ...

list of individuals wanted by Great Britain for

war crimes A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hos ...

.Ivan Palermo, Il caso Bellomo, p. 82 He died in Rome in 1963.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adami Rossi, Enrico 1880 births 1963 deaths Italian Army generals Royal Italian Army personnel of World War II Italian prisoners of war in World War II Italian people convicted of war crimes Italian prisoners sentenced to death Recipients of the Bronze Medal of Military Valor Recipients of the Silver Medal of Military Valor People of the Italian Social Republic Prisoners sentenced to death by Italy World War II prisoners of war held by the United States