Every 25th of April Italy celebrates the anniversary of its liberation from Nazi-fascist tyranny. It’s one of the country’s twelve public holidays equivalent to the UK’s bank holidays.

Actually the Second World War did not officially end in Italy until the signing of the Caserta treaty of 29^th April when the Salò puppet government finally surrendered. Of course, the war didn’t finish in the west until 3rd May and it wasn’t until August 15^th, with the Japanese surrender, that the bloodiest conflict in human history ended.

What April 25^th does signify, however, is the general insurrection of Italian people against the dying embers of the fascist regime. The shibboleth towards the nazi-fascists was ‘die or surrender’ and it was uttered by Sandro Pertini who, eventually, became Italy’s most admired president especially for our own Her Maj.

Bagni di Lucca, in common with all other Italian communes, held its own commemoration which started in Fornoli’s Park of Peace by the memorial stone to Little Lilian Urbach, born in Bagni di Lucca and murdered at Auschwitz – a terrible story I have related in my posts at

https://longoio2.wordpress.com/2017/01/25/suffer-little-children/

and at:

https://longoio2.wordpress.com/2016/01/28/more-about-liliana-urbach-from-silvana-bracci/

Speeches and poems were delivered by the mayor of Bagni di Lucca, Paolo Michelini, Valeria Catelli and Virginio Monti before a group which included representatives from the partisan associations representing the nation’s freedom fighters, in close liaison with the allied forces, under their legendary leader Pippo, alias Manrico Ducceschi, commemorrated by the plaque you see across from the Forestieri but whose mysterious death in 1948 is the subject of a brilliant post by Paolo Marzi at http://paolomarzi.blogspot.it/2016/08/un-partigiano-scomodo-manrico-ducceschi.html

We then moved to Chifenti cemetery where there’s a memorial to the partisans murdered by the Germans on 18 July 1944 at 9 AM. These were Davino Bartoli, 29 years old and father of five sons, 23 year old lieutenant Giorgio Falsettini from Florence, Giovanni Frati, 17 years old, from Trassilico, Lio Olivieri, 26 year old, lieutenant Pietro Pacini from Fabbriche di Casabasciana, 26 year old Gabriele Pierinelli and his brother 32 year old Iginio Pierinelli, drivers helping partisans with supplies, and Giuseppe Raffo, a 23 year old student from Turin.

Again, speeches, accounts and poems were delivered, a minute’s silence was observed and a flower of peace placed before the monument.

Finally the group moved to Salvo D’Acquisto’s statue in Bagni di Lucca Villa to conclude their commemoration. I have told Salvo’s moving story at https://longoio2.wordpress.com/2015/11/19/salvo-dacquisto-3/ . Do read it if you care about values of courage and fraternity.

What disturbed me a little was the relatively small number of people attending the commemoration, despite the fact that the day is a national holiday, Furthermore, I was the only English person there – after all it was the close collaboration between the Italian partisans and the British army that was a major reason enabling Italy’s liberation.

Clearly, holidaymakers to this beautiful country and, especially, the charming ambience of Bagni di Lucca, do not want to be reminded that just over seventy years ago Italy was a theatre of war – a fact which means that this liberation day was commemorated in every commune throughout the peninsula.

Furthermore, there has regrettably been growing indifference to the fact that for these seventy years Europe has been largely free from the endemic warfare it previously engaged in. Indeed, all those countries that have become members of the European Union have not raised a gun in anger against each other since. It is for this reason that the European Union was awarded the Nobel peace prize in 2012.

It is for me a bitter blow that there are still so many people that believe firmly in a UK referendum result that was based on lies and misrepresentation in spite of the continuing uncovering of these untruths and deceits since 2016.

Although not explicitly stated by the speakers it was felt to be a matter, not only of sincere regret, but also of uneasy premonition that dark forces are infiltrating a Europe that may be starting to losing the confidence of the immediate post war era for the murky thirties period. I, for one, would be ashamed to live in a country that is taking European citizenship away from me