A Civil War (113 page)

66
‘Rapporto di informazione. Piemonte', dated 22 February 1945, Turin (IG,
BG
, 04082).

67
Cited in Ragionieri,
Il partito comunista
, p. 398

68
See the report by Tommaso on the political and organisational situation in Varese, 27 September 1944 (IG,
BG
, 010834).

69
As Carlo, Commissar of the 50
^th
Brigade, put it at the meeting of the Biella and Valsesia region Garibaldi Brigades commanders held in Callabiana in November 1944 (see Dellavalle,
Operai
, p. 196).

70
The Garibaldi Brigades were defined thusly in a report by Giorgio (Oltrepò Pavese) to the Lombardy Delegation, 1 September 1944 (
Le Brigate Garibaldi
, vol. II, p. 302).

71
See Michel,
Gli Alleati e la Resistenza in Europa
, pp. 40–1.

72
Le Brigate Garibaldi
, vol. I, pp. 292–3. The constitution of the ‘Party triangle' was recommended by the Piedmont delegation to the ‘comrades responsible' for the lower Val di Susa detachments, in a 26 April 1944 communiqué (p. 363).

73
See the report from the 8
^th
Asti Division, 14 January 1945 (cited in
Le Brigate Garibaldi
, vol. III, p. 239ff).

74
As was lamented at a meeting between Party organisers and commissars of the 3
^rd
Lombardia Aliotta Division (Oltrepò Pavese) on 20 October 1944 (record in IG,
BG
, 01519).

75
See the directive sent from the ‘Group Command for the 40
^th
, 52
^nd
and 55
^th
Brigades' to the Commander and the Commissar of the 40
^th
Brigade, 22 August 1944 (IG,
BG
, 0638). At a meeting of ‘the Executive Committee of the PCI with the Command of the N. Nanetti Garibaldi Division', on 15 April 1945, there was talk of the need not to alarm ‘outside elements' within the ranks (the record of the meeting is in IG,
Archivio PCI
). A circular from Orel, ‘responsible Party organiser attached to the division' had only recently (10 April) made reference, without mincing his words, to the Allied missions (
Le Brigate Garibaldi
, vol. III, pp. 601–2).

76
Padoan (Vanni),
Abbiamo lottato insieme
, p. 42.

77
Bernardo,
Il momento buono
, p. 47.

78
As described in a missive from ‘Lucio Nino' to the Genoa Delegation (IG,
BG
, 09939).

79
From the aforementioned letter by Sandrelli:
Le Brigate Garibaldi
, vol. I, pp. 125–9.

80
See the letter to the Command of the 1
^st
Piedmont Division, 30 September 1944, signed ‘comrades' (
Le Brigate Garibaldi
, vol. II, pp. 379–80); the record of the 3 March 1945 Party meeting with the 3
^rd
Lombardia Aliotta Division (
Le Brigate Garibaldi
, vol. III, pp. 435–6); a report from Albero, of that same division, to the insurrectionary triumvirate for Lombardy, 9 March 1945 (IG,
BG
, 01880); the record of a later Party meeting in the Aliotta Division, 21 March 1945 (IG,
BG
, 01933). See also the position taken by the Political Commissar of the Arno Division, Giobbe (Danilo Dolfi), reproduced in M. A. and S. Timpanaro's ‘Introduzione', in G. and E. Varlecchi,
Potente
, p. 34.

81
See the letters from the Cell to the commands of the Division and of the 45
^th
, 98
^th
and 100
^th
Brigades, 15 January 1945 (
Le Brigate Garibaldi
, vol. III, pp. 238–9); and the letter of 10 March 1945 from the Veneto Delegation (ISBR,
Carte Landi
).

82
‘Serrare le file', Northern edition, 25 November 1944.

83
In the Biella region, out of around 1,850 Garibaldini in the 5
^th
and 12
^th
Divisions, 600 were Communists and ‘all the commissars and almost all the commanders (if not all) are members of our Party'; moreover, ‘almost all of the intellectuals in the two Divisions' were Communists (‘Relazione del lavoro di Partito', signed ‘Bibi', 3 December 1944: IG,
BG
, 05299). Other reports soon afterwards gave even higher figures, and also added to these the – significant in themselves – figures for members of the Fronte della gioventù (
Le Brigate Garibaldi
, vol. III, pp. 77–9 and notes). See Dellavalle,
Operai
, pp. 77, 200. The Ligurian Garibaldi Division commanded by a Catholic (Bisagno), to take another example, had a ‘significant' proportion of Communists, including the vice-commander, the commissar, the vice-commissar, and the head of the High Command, while the intendant was a priest: ‘Note particolari, 1 agosto 1944' (IG,
BG
, 010075).

84
Bianco,
Guerra partigiana
, p. 42.

85
See the report from Pietro, Commissar of the 1
^st
Division, to the Piedmont Delegation, 23 June 1944 (
Le Brigate Garibaldi
, vol. II, pp. 61–4).

86
See, for example, the letter from the ‘comrades responsible' for the Piedmont Delegation to their equivalents in the Val di Susa, 12 July 1944 (
Le Brigate Garibaldi
, vol. III, pp. 116–20); the letter from the Command of the 3
^rd
Piedmont Division (the person who penned this must have been an old member, since they wrote ‘Partito Comunista d'Italia' rather than ‘Partito Comunista Italiano') to the Command of the Giustizia e Libertà formations, Susa Alpine battalions (IG,
BG
, 004944); ‘Camicia rossa', an article in
La voce della realtà. Giornale murale per la popolazione a cura della 19a brigata d'assalto Garibaldi Eusebio Giambone
, 13 August 1944 (IG,
BG
, 04741); and the letter from the Lombardy Delegation to the Command of the 3
^rd
Aliotta Division, 10 November 1944, which issues a reprimand for the paper
Il Garibaldino
, speaking as if it were an organ of the PCI (INSMLI,
Brigate Garibaldi
, envelope 1, folder 1, subfolder 2).

87
Le Brigate Garibaldi
, vol. III, pp. 116–20.

88
‘Relazione del responsabile militare del Triumvirato insurrezionale della Liguria, Gi.', 5 July 1944 (
Le Brigate Garibaldi
, vol. II, pp. 97–8).

89
Note to the Command Delegations, 4 December 1944 (INSMLI,
Brigate Garibaldi
, envelope 1, folder 4).

90
According to the Division daily report (IZDG, envelope 272a, folder 1/A.C.7).

91
A Stella Rossa Brigade operating in Piacentino was commanded by a communist (‘who behaved very badly, and added to that was a Montenegrin, obtuse and rigid as steel'). It published the paper
L'Umanità nuova
, termed ‘indecent' – such was the judgment passed in the report ‘Comando della 6
^a
zona ligure al responsabile militare del triumvirato insurrezionale della Liguria, Giovanni', 2 November 1944, which guaranteed that the paper would change its name to
Guerriglia
(
Le Brigate Garibaldi
, vol. II, pp. 527–30, rich in commentary on the regional press). The Montenegrin was probably unaware (and the writer of the letter probably did know) that
Umanità Nova
was an anarchist title.

92
See Mautino,
Guerra di popolo
, p. 36, and Fogar,
Le brigate Osoppo-Friuli
, p. 278.

93
Avanguardia. Giornale della gioventù socialista
, June 1944.

94
Here, we are essentially referring to the oft-cited
Saggio bibliografico
.

95
On this tradition, see De Felice,
Nomi e cultura
, pp. 37–9, where he recalls how the ‘habit of conveying social protest and the hope for a new, different life by means of one's children's names' was signalled in Ernesto Ragionieri,
Dall'Unità a oggi
, vol. IV, Book 3,
La Storia d'Italia
, Turin: Einaudi, 1976, p. 2076.

96
See the GNR reports cited in Pansa,
L'esercito di Salò
, pp. 33, 54–5, 76–7; and Bocca,
La Repubblica di Mussolini
, p. 152.

97
See the report ‘Il Sopraluogo in Valle di Lanzo', 24 February 1944, signed Garelli (
Le Brigate Garibaldi
, vol. I, pp. 268–71).

98
See Dario's report ‘Cari compagni' (n.d., but late Spring 1944) reporting upon the sectarianism of the brigades in Tuscany (IG,
Archivio PCI
). See also the eponymous report from the inspector Paolo, 15 June 1944 (
Le Brigate Garibaldi
, vol. II, p. 34).

99
See the report of the Command of the 40
^th
Matteotti Brigade to the Milan PCI federation, 10 July 1944 (
Le Brigate Garibaldi
, vol. II, pp. 113–14; and the letter from the Commissar Gracco addressed to the ‘delegate-inspector of the North Emilia Garibaldi Brigades), 2 August 1944 (
Le Brigate Garibaldi
, vol. II, pp. 188–9).

100
‘Relazione sul movimento partigiano della zona di confine umbro-marchigiana', by Celso Ghini, 16 August 1944 (IG,
Archivio PCI
).

101
Report by the Command of the 7
^th
Garibaldi Division, 1 September 1944 (IG,
BG
, 05640).

102
See the instructions issued on 7 September 1944 (Casali,
Il movimento di liberazione a Ravenna
, vol. II, pp. 269–70). See also the circular from the Ravenna Provincial SAP Command, 8 September 1944, which conclude with the appeal ‘Unity! Unity! Unity!'; and also the letter from the Commander of GAP Sector No. 3 (Russi) to the squad-leaders, 16 September (Casali,
Il movimento di liberazione a Ravenna
, vol. I, p. 76, and vol. II, p. 317). In the same area, on 18 February 1944 Asdrubale wrote to Matteo on the issue of propaganda, commenting that ‘any text is fine, as long as it's revolutionary', this propaganda being distributed among young people, soldiers and women (
Il movimento di liberazione a Ravenna
, vol. II, p. 283).

103
‘Relazione sulla 6
^a
divisione', by the inspector Andreis, 12 October 1944 (
Le Brigate Garibaldi
, vol. II, p. 435).

104
See ‘Relazione del responsabile militare del Triumvirato insurrezionale della Lombardia, Fabio, sulla situazione delle forze patriottiche di origine garibaldina', 16 April 1945 (
Le Brigate Garibaldi
, vol. III, pp. 626–36).

105
‘Relazione personale sulla situazione generale politico-militare della zona della divisione Garibaldi Nino Nanetti', Rome, 31 May 1945 (
Le Brigate Garibaldi
, vol. III, pp. 718–22).

106
Padoan (Vanni),
Abbiamo lottato insieme
, p. 119. The description refers to the GAP battalion commanded by ‘Giacca' (Mario Toffanin) which, on 7 February 1945, massacred the Osoppo Brigade Commander ‘Bolla' (Francesco di Gregori), the political commissar, the Action Party's ‘Enea' (Gastone Valente) and seventeen partisans at the Porzûs
malghe
. On the killing, see the letter from ‘Libero' (Italo Romanelli) addressed to the ‘Segreteria del Partito d'azione per l'Alta Italia', February 1945 (
Formazioni GL
, pp. 317–22 and their respective notes).

107
‘Relazione del compagno Silvio sugli avvenimenti dalla fine di maggio ad oggi nelle province di Terni e Perugia', 25 June 1944 (IG,
Archivio PCI
, published in the 23 June 1964
Rinascita
.

108
‘Relazione del commissario politico Remo al comandante di brigata', on the Giordano Cavestro detachment, undated but from 23 May 1944 (IG,
BG, Emilia-Romagna
, G.IV.2.2).

109
See the instructions from the political commissar of the 2
^nd
Piedmont Division to all the other political commissars, ‘A tutti i commissari politici', n.d. (IG,
BG
, 04667).

110
Letter from the official responsible for the insurrectionary triumvirate for Emilia-Romagna, Cri., to the General Command, 14 July 1944 (
Le Brigate Garibaldi
, vol. II, p. 126). We should also add that this same Cri. lamented the commanders' failure to salute one another. On the refusal of the Christian-Democrat partisans in Montefiorino to adopt the red star and the clenched-fist salute, see Gorrieri,
La Repubblica di Montefiorino
, pp. 379–80.

111
Milovan Djilas,
Conversations with Stalin
, London: Penguin, 1967, p. 61.

112
E. P. Thompson, ‘Anthropology and the Discipline of Historical Context', in
Midland History
, vol. 1, p. 3 (1972). K. Thomas (
Religion and the Decline of Magic
, London: Penguin, 1971) had applied his interpretative criteria to the fact that an old man ‘who had attended sermons his whole life' thought of God as ‘a kindly old man', Christ as a ‘docile young man' and his soul as a ‘great bone in his body'.

113
See ‘Relazione di C. sulla prima visita alle formazioni partigiane della zona di Foligno', 3 February 1944 (
Le Brigate Garibaldi
, vol. I, pp. 251–5).

114
‘Lettera aperta ai Garibaldini della Brigata Piave', 29 August 1944; first appendix to the letter from the Nanetti Division Command to the Command of the Mazzini and Tollot Brigades, 29 August 1944 (
Le Brigate Garibaldi
, vol. II, pp. 283–4.

115
See the letter from the PCI representatives in the Modena Division to the CLN for the province and mountain-region, the CUMER and the representatives of the Christian Democrats, Action Party and Socialists, 22 February 1945 (
Le Brigate Garibaldi
, pp. 379–80); and Gorrieri,
La Repubblica di Montefiorino
, pp. 379–80, which underlines the Christian Democrats' pride in wearing their own symbols.