Page 35 - NONOSTANTE IL LUNGO TEMPO TRASCORSO…Le stragi nazifasciste nella guerra di liberazione 1943–1945

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now managed by Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Drago- Section 3 - Deportations: soldiers (I.M.I. - In-
ne - is to explain to young people in a simple and ternati Militari Italiani - Italian War Prisoners) - po-
direct way one of the most important chapters liticians - Jews.
of our modern history, upon which we base the Section 4 - The trials: the Allied trials. The Mi-
constitution of our Republican and Democratic litary Courts trials.
State. The long and difficult path that paved its Section 5 - Conclusion.
establishment is, in fact, composed of many es- Section 6 - Documentary videos.
sential events that preceded and prepared our
1948 Constitution; it involved also the sacrifice In addition to display cases and videos, there
of hundreds of thousands of Italians. Italians who are also many items: military and civilian historical
belonged to our Armed Forces and fought va- relics, provided by museums, associations, private
liantly during the Second World War; Italians who citizens and Armed Forces, as well as documents
chose to organise patriotic units giving life to the coming from historical and judicial archives.
Resistance and fought bravely alongside the Ita- We can say that this initiative has a double
lian and Allied Armed Forces. purpose: on one hand, to preserve and add value
We also find the civilian population and their to one of the most important historical chapters
strong contribution, sometimes ignored or unde- of our Country: a so-called second Risorgimen-
restimated. They quietly but crucially supported to, upon which we based our Republic thanks to
the fighting forces by any means. This tribute and the great sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of
their sacrifices strengthened the ethical founda- civilians and soldiers. Pages that concern not only
tion of our National Liberation. events, but also complex trials on massacres.
The blood tribute our Country had to face On the other hand, we would like the young-
during the Nazi occupation was atrocious: tens of sters, especially the students, to be familiar with

thousands of victims - both civilians and soldiers - these pages of national history, in order to tran-
slaughtered in Italy and abroad over the course of smit those values of peace, democracy, equality
thousands of massacres committed by the Nazis. and respect for humanity that are at the base of
More than 70 thousand military victims and al- our society.
most 25 thousand civilians, between September
8th 1943 and May 1945. The final part of the exhibition is dedicated to
Furthermore, the suffering provoked by the criminal trials performed in Italian Military Courts
deportations - for political, religious and racial against German war criminals. These attempts -
reasons - which meant more violence, pain and although partial and on certain occasions belated
death for hundreds of thousands unarmed and - were made to re-establish the legal principles in
innocent Italians, were they simple citizens or matters of war crimes.
soldiers. It is also thanks to these trials - a part of
This exhibition aims at briefly illustrating the which has been conducted after 60 years from
phases of this path, telling the story through pho- the events - that new perspectives were fuelled
tographs, videos, voice-over videos, documents in terms of study and research for historians and
and pre-arranged historical registers of this trou- scholars, without forgetting the reinforcement
bled process which led to the Italian Liberation for what concerns the Memory of a fundamental
on April 25th, 1945 after the Armistice signed on chapter of Italian contemporary history.
September 8th, 1943. This exhibition is one of a kind, and nothing
Places, people, documents that speak throu- similar has ever been presented in Italy. It actually
gh these images, delivering a cruel reality, the one originated from the belated legal trials that have
experienced by the Italian citizens between 1943 been performed (under the direction of the writer)
and 1945. A reality made of pain, blood, suffering, in the past 20 years by the Military Courts - espe-
but also of genuine outbursts towards the ideals cially by the one in La Spezia - that concerned
of freedom, honour, solidarity and love for Italy. hundreds of criminal legal proceedings between
There are six subject areas: 2002 and 2008 for the bloodiest massacres.
Section 1 - War crimes against Italian soldiers, The title “...Despite the long time…” recal-
in Italy and abroad. ls this acknowledgement. These sadly famous
Section 2 - War crimes against the civilian po- words are part of the “temporary dismissal” that
pulation, divided into three areas (North, Center had illegally concealed 695 files, that were disco-
and South). vered by chance only in 1994; they underline the

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