When the Germans occupied Rome in September 1943, food was scarce. A system of rationing was already in place but food rations were reduced further over the ensuing months. Rations were available only to those who had a Carta Annonaria, or ration card.
Feeding the freedom fighters
From September 1943 until June 1944, groups of partisans were stationed outside of Rome. A combination of former servicemen and other volunteers, they attacked and ambushed the German occupiers, frequently targeting communication and transport lines that led to the front at Monte Cassino.
Within Rome were many resistance groups, and Gap (Gruppi di Azione Patriottica) was one of the most famous. Its members operated in small groups, “cells”, known by their “battle names”. They proved particularly effective at launching attacks against the Germans.
The resistance was not confined to military-style action. Members sourced intelligence, aided fugitives and otherwise used their skills to support the resistance effort. Sympathetic public officials often helped in secret.
Some resistance members lived a double life and remained openly in Rome but healthy men of working age and former servicemen were generally forced into hiding. One of the largest problems for the resistance was how to feed them; their ration cards were cancelled once they failed to present themselves to the Germans for approved work or military service.
Initially, the general population gave them food but, once rations were further reduced, few had food to spare. Sympathetic public officials tried to help although they could only supply around twenty or thirty ration cards at a time, as the cards were jealously guarded by the Germans. The growing numbers who needed them were in the tens of thousands in Rome and in similar numbers outside of the city.
We’ll make our own ration cards
One resistance group decided to make ration cards that would resemble the real ones as closely as possible. The task was entrusted to Ettore Basevi, who led the group’s press and information section. He consulted craftsmen, who all raised one major concern: the real cards were produced with watermarked paper. If forged cards were used regularly, they would be covered with shopkeepers’ st