- Opinion
- Italy
Op-Ed
Antonio ScuratiThe Italian writer confided to Le Monde the speech intended to read on RAI 3 for Italy's liberation commemoration on April 25, in which he denounces Giorgia Meloni's far-right party for distorting history. However, the public broadcaster canceled his speech.
Published on April 23, 2024, at 12:48 am (Paris), updated on April 23, 2024, at 7:34 am 2 min read Lire en français
Subscribers only
Giacomo Matteotti was murdered by fascist hitmen on June 10, 1924. There were five of them waiting for him outside his home, all squadristi from Milan, militiamen hired by Benito Mussolini's closest collaborators. Matteotti, a member of parliament and secretary of the Unitary Socialist Party, the last man in parliament to oppose the fascist dictatorship with his face uncovered, was abducted in the center of Rome, in broad daylight. He fought to the bitter end, as he had done all his life. They stabbed him to death, then mutilated his corpse. Then they bent him in half to fit him into a pit dug in a hurry with a blacksmith's file.
Read more Subscribers only Italy's public broadcaster RAI censors writer Antonio Scurati
Mussolini was immediately informed. In addition to this crime, he committed the infamy of swearing to the widow that he would do everything possible to bring her husband back to her. And, while he was swearing, the "Duce" kept the victim's bloody documents in his desk drawer.
However, in this false springtime of ours, we're not just commemorating Matteotti's political assassination. We're also commemorating the Nazi-fascist massacres perpetrated by the German SS with the complicity and collaboration of the Italian fascists in 1944. The Ardeatine Pits, Sant'Anna di Stazzema, Marzabotto – these are just some of the sites where Mussolini's demonic allies slaughtered thousands of defenseless Italian civilians in cold blood. Among them were hundreds of children and even infants. Many were burned alive, others decapitated.
No denial of fascism
These two tragic anniversaries, of the springs of 1924 and 1944, prove that fascism was a phenomenon of systematic political violence, murder and massacre throughout its historical existence, and not just occasionally or at its end. Will the successors of this history acknowledge this once and for all?
Unfortunately, all the evidence suggests that this will not be the case. The post-fascist group in power, after winning the elections in September 2022, had two possible paths before it: deny its neo-fascist past or attempt to rewrite history. Undoubtedly, they chose the latter.
Read more Subscribers only Italy elections: Resounding triumph for Giorgia Meloni's far-right Fratelli d'Italia
Having avoided the subject during her election campaign, the council president, forced to confront it at the commemorations, stubbornly stuck to the ideological line of her original neo-fascist culture. She has distanced herself from the indefensible atrocities perpetrated by the regime (the persecution of the Jews) without ever denying the fascist experience as a whole. She attributed to the Nazis alone the massacres committed with the complicity of the fascists of the Italian Social Republic. And she has overlooked the fundamental role of the Italian Resistance, to the point of never mentioning the word "anti-fascism" during the commemorations on April 25, 2023 [anniversary of Italy's liberation in 1945 from the Nazi occupiers and their allies in Mussolini's regime].
You have 18.34% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.
Lecture du Monde en cours sur un autre appareil.
Vous pouvez lire Le Monde sur un seul appareil à la fois
Ce message s’affichera sur l’autre appareil.
Découvrir les offres multicomptes-
Parce qu’une autre personne (ou vous) est en train de lire Le Monde avec ce compte sur un autre appareil.
Vous ne pouvez lire Le Monde que sur un seul appareil à la fois (ordinateur, téléphone ou tablette).
-
Comment ne plus voir ce message ?
En cliquant sur «» et en vous assurant que vous êtes la seule personne à consulter Le Monde avec ce compte.
-
Que se passera-t-il si vous continuez à lire ici ?
Ce message s’affichera sur l’autre appareil. Ce dernier restera connecté avec ce compte.
-
Y a-t-il d’autres limites ?
Non. Vous pouvez vous connecter avec votre compte sur autant d’appareils que vous le souhaitez, mais en les utilisant à des moments différents.
-
Vous ignorez qui est l’autre personne ?
Nous vous conseillons de modifier votre mot de passe.
Lecture restreinte
Votre abonnement n’autorise pas la lecture de cet article
Pour plus d’informations, merci de contacter notre service commercial.