Mälzer had become military commander of Rome on 30 October 1943 . In 1944 he became involved in the Ardeatine massacre . Since Rome had become a city close to the front , the power to decide about retaliatory measures after partisan attacks lay with the commanders of the Wehrmacht , i.e. Mälzer , Eberhard von Mackensen and Albert Kesselring . In that respect Herbert Kappler , head of the SD in Rome , was Mälzer 's subordinate . Shortly after the bombing of the German SS Police Regiment ' Bozen ' on 23 March 1944 , an apparently intoxicated Mälzer appeared at the scene of the crime and ordered to blow up the blocks of houses at the Via Rasella immediately . He also threatened to have all the people who had been arrested at the Via Rasella to be shot . It was Kappler who later claimed to have talked Mälzer out of his plan . Instead Mälzer proceeded to inform Kesselring
Ardeatine massacre
Ardeatine massacre
Kurt Mälzer