Today In History (July 19 1943)

[WhiteHealer]

TODAY IN HISTORY

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1943: Rome, Italy is attacked by 532 American bombers which drop 1,168 tons of bombs on the ancient city, almost exclusively on civilian targets. The entire working class district of San Lorenzo is destroyed, and more than 3,000 non-combatant Italian men, women, and children are killed in the raids over five residential districts. This was only the first raid of an almost unbelievably vicious bombing campaign which saw more than 110,000 bombers drop over 60,000 tons of bombs on the city in just 78 days. When the Pope appealed to Franklin Roosevelt to stop the carnage against innocent civilians, the Great War Criminal lied, blandly denying that civilians were being targeted.