Carpi's cemetery is one of the most significant places in the town holding the memory of the citizens who sacrificed themselves while fighting for the Liberation from Nazi-Fascism. In front of the two plaques located on both sides of the arcaded entrance, under the arches a shrine pays homage to those who died in the Liberation struggle, 55 Carpi citizens including two women. In the crypt of the church, another plaque commemorates "All the victims of the war events 1940-1945".
The two shrines under the entrance arches were built in the early post-war years on the initiative of the Freedom Volunteers Corps (Corpo Volontari della Libertà - CVL), the military arm of the Resistance to which most of the fallen belonged, to mark the public memory of the Resistance in Carpi's citizenship. Also, on the initiative of the CVL, in the cemetery a memorial tomb is devoted to four Carpi citizens who died in the clashes of April 22, 1945, Carpi's liberation day.
Carpi, together with the municipalities of Soliera, Novi and Campogalliano, formed the First Partisan Zone during the critical years of 1943-1945, in an area where the situation for the guerrilla against the Nazi-Fascist military forces was not favourable at all. Despite the units’ difficult working conditions, due to a flat, completely open and with no natural shelters area, the Resistance managed to organise itself and conduct important military actions.
Right after September 8, 1943, a dense underground opposition network began to form in Carpi, albeit the presence of an active group of republican fascists and several German commands. The Patriotic Action Groups (GAP) began to operate militarily in the early summer of 1944, combining their military actions to the countryside social struggles. The 'Aristide' Detachment was formed, named after the battle name of one of the first fallen, Geminiano Bisi. The actions undertaken by the GAP were daring and often going beyond the province borders. On the civilian front the operating groups were: the Patriotic Action Squads (SAP), initially animated by Archimede Benevelli, the Youth front, founded by Sandro Cabassi, and the Women's Defence Groups, promoted by Maria Beltrami.
At the end of March 1945, the military pressure forced the brigades to move, unarmed, to the Apennines. However, in less than a month, a new underground unit was established, leading to the liberation on April 21 and 22, of the municipalities of the First Zone, counting over three hundred casualties, including those who were shot or who died during the combat, or because of the wounds or torture.
Every year, the town's Liberation Day celebrations start from this memorial site to pay homage to the 'fallen for freedom'.
