Although Rossi avoided politics, some of Rossi's associates were active opponents of the fascist state. For example, he mentored Eugenio Curiel, who became a member of the communist party, while completing a degree at Padua. Later, in 1943, Curiel joined the resistance in Milan, and in 1945, was assassinated by soldiers of the Republic of Salò a German puppet state. Similarly, Ettore Pancini, who received his laurea under Rossi in 1938, spent the war years alternating between cosmic ray research and active participation in the Italian resistance movements of Padua and Venice.