A Civil War (139 page)

159
Instructions from the Command of the Modena detachment to the Stanzioni detachment, March 1944 (
Le Brigate Garibaldi
, vol. I, p. 341).

160
Letter from the Command of the Carlo Pisacane brigades-group to the Command of the Belluno division, 3 December 1944 (IG,
BG
, 09451).

161
See Tramontin,
Contadini e movimento partigiano
, pp. 301ff.

162
Report by Ilio, commissar of the 47
^th
Brigade, to the Delegation for North Emilia, 3 August 1944 (
Le Brigate Garibaldi
, vol. II, p. 195).

163
‘Esame della corrispondenza censurata al 30 giugno 1944' (ACS, SPD, CR, RSI, envelope 9, folder 3).

164
Testimony of Mario Filipponi, in Portelli,
Biografia di una città
, p. 284.

165
Artom,
Diari
, p. 138 (28 December 1943).

166
See decree no. 5 of the CLN in the free zone, on the establishment and functioning of the people's tribunal, attachment no. 3 to the minutes of its 6–8 October 1944 session; F. Vuga,
La zona libera di Carnia e l'occupazione cosacca
(
luglio-ottobre 1944
), Udine: Del Bianco, 1961, pp. 145–7).

1
The undated and unsigned poster is held in IVSR, Stampa antifascista.

2
Preface to Bianchi,
Giancarlo Puecher
, p. IX. Parri adds that ‘the coils of this drama enveloped the last days of Giancarlo Puecher'.

3
I take both quotes from M. Arduino, ‘Rappresaglia (Diritto internazionale)', in
Digesto italiano
XX: 1 (1911–15), pp. 90–5.

4
G. S. Pene Vidari, ‘Rappresaglia (Storia)', in
Enciclopedia del Diritto
.

5
‘Rappresaglia', in
Nuova Enciclopedia Italiana
, directed by Gerolamo Boccardo, Turin: UTET, 1885.

6
Rousseau,
The Social Contract
, Book I, §4.

7
The expression is used by Arduino, ‘Rappresaglia (Diritto internazionale)', p. 93.

8
On this last episode, see ibid., p. 94.

9
LRE
, p. 700.

10
See M. Di Giovanni, laureate thesis.

11
Weber,
Economy and Society
, vol. I, pp. 46–7.

12
This being Weber's definition of community, naturally making reference to Tönnies (ibid., p. 41).

13
As Otto Brunner's thought is paraphrased in Fioravanti, ‘Stato (Diritto intermedio)', p. 24.

14
See, on this point, the observations made in A. Preti, ‘Quale storia tra Marzabotto e Monte Sole?',
Rivista di storia contemporanea
XVII (1988), pp. 134–47, with regard to Gherardi,
Le querce di Monte Sole
. An analogous consideration could be made on the – debatable – use of the word ‘holocaust' to designate the Nazi massacre of the Jews.

15
See Dossetti, ‘Introduzione', in Gherardi,
Le querce di Monte Sole
, esp. pp. xvi– xvii. The fact that a narrow legal formalism can lead to the grotesque, in dealing with these questions, is demonstrated by the sentence Dossetti cites in support of the thesis that it was not a reprisal in the true sense: ‘Even if one wanted, as an absurd hypothetical, to accept that only in the presence of the civilian population can one recognise a grave and immediate danger in the outcome of the operations being carried out, the possibility of keeping them alive would always have remained, and in no sense is it possible to identify a tie of necessity between this immense number of killings of women, the elderly, and children, and the success of the military action.' Dossetti, drafting a document by the Christian Democrat leaderships of Modena, Reggio Emilia and Parma, dated 25 February 1945, claimed ‘In no way is it admissible, not even for reasons of defence, to kill in reprisal people who were surely not subjectively responsible.' This position was taken in opposition to the actions carried out by the SAP, many of which were adjudged ‘neither legitimate, nor necessary, nor opportune' (quoted in Gorrieri,
La Repubblica di Montefiorino
, p. 538).

16
Dossetti, ‘Introduzione', p. viii.

17
See
LRE
, p. 700.

18
Quoted in Tramontin,
Contadini e movimento partigiano
, p. 297.

19
See Pansa,
L'esercito di Salò
, pp. 207–8.

20
‘Direttive per la lotta armata', in
Atti CVL
, p. 547. Rochat, who published the document, deems that it was ‘probably [drafted by] Parri, certainly by an Action Party member' (ibid., p. 11).

21
June 1944 (cited in Michel,
La guerra dell'ombra
, p. 266). See the article ‘Le Maquis et la population', which holds that all French people had to accept the risks of war (
44. Organe des Forces françaises de l'intérieur et du Comité départemental de la libération nationale pour les Basses-Pyrénées
, 12 August 1944).

22
‘Norme per gli ispettori', 25 December 1944, probably elaborated by GL Division C. (
Formazioni GL
, p. 258).

23
Pesce,
Senza tregua
, p. 206.

24
Ibid., pp. 211, 260.

25
Report by the Command of the 1
^st
Piedmont Division to the Piedmont Delegation, 16 July 1944 (
Le Brigate Garibaldi
, vol. II, pp. 132–3).

26
Mautino,
Guerra di popolo
, p. 187.

27
The former words appeared as the title of an article in the Northern edition of 24 August 1944; the latter were the lesson drawn from the news that ‘the women of Parma snatched thirty-seven young partisans away from the firing squad' (Northern edition, 25 May 1944).

28
Northern edition, 29 December 1943. See the Rome edition, 23 March 1944, and the article ‘Per salvare Roma cacciare i tedeschi', where it is possible to find an implicit polemic against the growing myth of the Pope
qua
defender of the city. On 26 October 1943, the paper developed the idea that, seeing as the German reaction was going to happen in any case, it was worth forewarning of it (‘Agire subito').

29
Tramontin,
Contadini e movimento partigiano
, p. 284.

30
Appeal of 26 October 1944 (ISRR,
Archivio del triumvirato insurrezionale dell'Emilia-Romagna
).

31
‘Direttive di lavoro', by the PCI leadership, 27 September 1943 (?) (IG,
Archivio PCI)
.

32
‘Relazione sulla insurrezione armata e conseguente liberazione delle città di Massa e Carrara', sent from the federation committee to the PCI leadership in Rome, 24 April 1945 (
Le Brigate Garibaldi
, vol. III, p. 688).

33
See Gorrieri,
La Repubblica di Montefiorino
, p. 115

34
See, for example, the article ‘Attesismo' in the 7 December 1943
Il Combattente
, and the long lecture by Ilio Barontini to Giovanni Pesce when, after the first attack was brought to a successful conclusion, he was posed with the question of possible reprisals (Pesce,
Senza tregua
, p. 45). See also a circular from the Padua Communist federation (undated, but after the Salerno turn), on what would have become of the peoples of Europe had they all accepted enslavement on account of the threat of reprisals (IG,
Archivio PCI
).

35
Testimony of Mario Sabadini, on the shooting of a
carabiniere
who had fought together with the partisans, as a reprisal (Portelli,
Biografia di una città
, p. 283).

36
See Giovana,
Storia di una formazione partigiana
, p. 242.

37
Quoted in Tramontin,
Contadini e movimento partigiano
, p. 290.

38
See, on episodes of this type, the testimony of G. Nicoletta, commander of the autonomous De Vitis Division, concerning July 1944 (in ANED,
Gli scioperi del marzo 1944
, pp. 60–1); Quazza,
Un diario partigiano
, p. 176 (4 April 1944); and the stone on the Piazza di Boves, marking the killing of the priest Giuseppe Bernardi on 19 September 1943.

39
See ‘Esame della corrispondenza censurata al 30 giugno 1944', which mentions this letter sent from Gabiano, Alessandria province: ‘Too many massacres! In a village near here they shot fifty-seven villagers, all innocents, taken as hostages' (ACS, SPD, CR, RSI, envelope 9, folder 3).

40
See
Formazioni GL
, p. 273.

41
H. Michel, ‘Le Maquis au-delà de la légende', in
Le Monde aujourd'hui
, 30–31 December 1984, p. xi.

42
‘Relazione sulla situazione delle brigate d'assalto Garibaldi dell'Oltrepò Pavese', 3 September 1944, signed ‘Piero' (
Le Brigate Garibaldi
, II, p. 304).

43
Letter from the commissar Tino and the commander Nanni, of the 16
^th
Perotti Brigade, to the Command of the 1
^st
Piedmont division, 6 August 1944 (IG,
BG
, 04375).

44
Letter from the delegation of the Command of the Garibaldi Brigades for North Emilia, to the delegate of the province of Reggio Emilia, 27 July 1944 (
Le Brigate Garibaldi
, vol. II, p. 168).

45
See, for example, the report by the commissar of the 12
^th
Brigade, Gracco, to the ‘delegate-inspector of the North Emilia Garibaldi Brigades', 2 August 1944 (ibid., p. 187). See also Dellavalle,
Operai
, p. 111, and Quazza,
Un diario partigiano
, pp. 157–8, 164, 177. Today, superstitious partisans are reluctant to talk about their own absence during the massacre of the civilian population by the Nazi-Fascists in Guardistallo (Pisa). My thanks to Katia Sonetti for this information.

46
This case was reported – also being seen as a consequence of the bad behaviour of some partisans – in ‘Relazione e ricognizione zona di operazione della Divisione Piave, Brigata C. Battisti', signed by the brigade commander, 14 November 1944 (IG,
BG
, 06963).

47
‘Resistere con audacia, resistere attaccando', editorial in
Voce Operaia
, 15 January 1944.

48
See Dellavalle,
Operai
, p. 74.

49
Unpublished memoirs of G.M., c. 23.

50
‘Rapporto della visita fatta dall'ufficiale di collegamento del CUMER alla 8
^a
brigata Garibaldi' (Romagna), 2–7 August 1944. The author confided, ‘however, this form of opportunism will soon enough be wiped out' (IG,
BG
, 02226-29).

51
Calamandrei,
La vita indivisibile
, pp. 158–60 (under the dates 23, 25 and 26 March 1944). The leaflets were put out on 2 April (ibid., p. 163). On the (widely followed) pause after the Fosse Ardeatine massacre, see Katz,
Morte a Roma
, pp. 183ff.

52
H. Michel, paper to the XII International Congress of Historical Sciences, 1965. See ‘I problemi della storia della Resistenza nei lavori del Colloquio di Vienna', in
Il Movimento di liberazione in Italia
81 (October–December 1965), p. 40. Already in the nineteenth century, the Russian Romanenko held that terrorism ‘cost infinitely fewer victims than a mass struggle' (Laqueur,
History of Terrorism
, p. 36).

53
Chiodi,
Banditi
, p. 139. Cocito was later hanged.

54
On 19 July 1944. See
Le Brigate Garibaldi
, vol. II, p. 149 and the documents cited in the notes therein.

55
Pesce,
Senza tregua
, p. 211.

56
Testimony of Tersilla Fenoglio Oppedisano, in Bruzzone and Farina,
La Resistenza taciuta
, p. 154.

57
Report by Mariano, 17 August 1944. This document clearly expresses the concerns raised by the peasants, not wanting ‘to hear any more of having to hide wanted men, even if nothing had happened. Imagine, a little, them having to hide people in case of Germans' (Casali,
Il movimento di liberazione a Ravenna
, vol. II, pp. 298–9).

58
‘Rapporto al Centro del Partito', by Banfi, from Emilia, 16 December 1943 (IG,
Archivio PCI
). See also the report from Mantua (undated, but from more or less the same time) which called attentism ‘the firstborn son of the most genuine fears' (
Le Brigate Garibaldi
, vol. I, p. 195).

59
‘Relazione generale sull'attività di guerriglia svolta dal Distaccamento F. Giaconi', written by Alessandro Favilli (ISRT,
Carte Carlo Campolmi
, envelope 1, folder 6, subfolder 1).

60
Report by the inspector Albero to the insurrectionary triumvirate for Lombardy, 24 February 1945 (
Le Brigate Garibaldi
, vol. III, p. 415).

61
‘Notiziario e direttive', marked ‘D' (Duccio Galimberti), 30 June 1944 (ISRP, envelope 29, folder b).

62
On this, see Ventura,
La società rurale veneta
, p. 69.

63
See Tramontin,
Contadini e movimento partigiano
(for example, p. 294, with regard to the parish priest of Seren del Grappa).

64
See Tramontin,
Il clero italiano e la Resistenza
, p. 22.

65
See Ballone,
Una sezione, un paese
, p. 440.

66
Angrisani,
La croce sul Monferrato durante la bufera
, p. 16 (quoted in Rovero,
Il clero piemontese nella Resistenza
, p. 50).

67
Leaflet of 29 July 1944, in ISRT, Raccolta volantini, DC Firenze (clandestini 1943–44).

68
‘Relazione di massima sul movimento patriottico nella provincia di Apuania', 7 January 1945, lamenting the local formations' weak obedience to the directives of the CLN (INSMLI,
CLNAI
, envelope 7, folder 3, subfolder c).