“Fascism, with the regime of the Italian Social Republic, was an accomplice of Nazi ferocity”. This was stated by the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, at the ceremony for the 80th anniversary of the free zone of Carnia and Alto Friuli. An appointment that the Head of State did not want to miss, reiterating the importance of the Resistance for our country. «Today the Republic honors those who contributed to the cause of freedom, animating the experience of the free zones, of the partisan Republics».
President Mattarella in Friuli for the 80th anniversary of the Carnia Free Zone: live from Ampezzo
The Republic of Carnia “has contributed to giving the sense of the birth, after the one dissolved in the summer of 1943, of a new State, with a constitutional order that no longer saw subjects but citizens. The Resistance was not immobility. It was a tough challenge and the fallen of this land, honored by the Republic with the Silver Medal of Military Valor, are the price”.
“The Kingdom of Italy, with the ambiguous declaration of September 8, 1943 and until the change of front brought about by the declaration of war in Berlin on October 13, had allowed the invasion of the peninsula by German troops. Thus – he continued – the Third Reich’s intent to annex the territories and populations of the Alpine arc that went from Alto Adige to the province of Ljubljana, removed from the presumed authority of the collaborationist government of Salò and in reality subjected to German military authority, had been manifested.”
«Italy is proud of the path taken in these almost 80 years since the Liberation – added the Head of State -. Today history and memory meet. With the contradictions and suffering that accompany war events. And our country’s vocation for peace is a sign that all this has not passed in vain. Today the Republic, here, in Friuli, recognizes in these populations, in Carnia, the roots of our Constitution, which nourish our democratic life”.
«There is a series of memories of these experiences of the partisan Republics: from Montefiorino to Ossola, from Alto Monferrato to Valsesia, to Carnia, the example was offered of people who were not content to wait for the arrival of the allied troops but intended to challenge Nazi-fascism head-on, demonstrating that it controlled neither cities nor territories, exposing what it was: an occupation troop. This is why the battle of the Resistance was a battle for independence, as well as for freedom».
“THE1944 was a year full of horror, in Italy and in Europe. The progressive withdrawal of the Nazi troops left behind a dramatic trail of massacres. The villages of our Apennines and our Alps that were violated and burned are evidence of this, from Sant’Anna di Stazzema to Marzabotto, from Civitella Val di Chiana to Fivizzano. In Boves, in Carnia – the Head of State recalled in his speech -. The Allied offensive hammered the cities with bombings that often had tragic results, such as the one that led to the death of 184 children in Milan, in the Francesco Crispi Elementary School in Gorla. From Fossoli, transports of Jews departed for the extermination camps of Bergen Belsen and Auschwitz. At the same time, the movement of resistance to fascism was gaining strength, which, with the regime of the Italian Social Republic, was an accomplice to Nazi ferocity. The first embryos of political participation and democratic aspirations were appearing – continued Mattarella -. In Ampezzo, the Republic today pays homage to those who contributed to the cause of freedom, animating the experience of the free zones, of the partisan Republics. A cause exemplarily represented here by the Gold Medal winner Paola Del Din». Shortly after midday Mattarella left Ampezzo by car to reach Illegio, where he will visit the exhibition Il coraggio.
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