The courtyard, where today lies the Memorial Stone of the Museum Monument to the Deportee erected in 1973, was used during the Second World War as a 'war garden'.
Established by a law decree published in the Official Journal on February 8, 1943, war gardens were 'buildable public properties waiting to be used. Free areas in parks or gardens [...], which can be used for fruitful farming'.
They are established also in the urban town area, where several green spaces are used to grow greens and cereals, in order to tackle the serious food shortages in the local population.
Hunger is one of the heaviest issues affecting the population during the war.
Food shortage was a problem Italians had already experienced over the 20-year fascist rule, triggered by the autarkic policy decided and implemented by the regime. Already in January 1940, before Italy's entry into the war, rationing of food commodities had been imposed: coffee, flour, rice, sugar, pasta, meat, oil and edible fat. Their direct sale was banned and replaced by the introduction of a ration card whereby each citizen could buy foodstuffs whose quantities were set authorities.
During the war, due to the increasing supply problems and the importing restrictions imposed by the government, food shortages became an increasingly serious problem.
The war gardens were one of the measures taken by the Fascist regime in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent a real food paralysis not only in terms of livelihood but also in terms of public order.
