A Civil War

by Claudio Pavone

  46 ‘Una spina nel fianco’, L’Unità northern edition, 7 September 1944 (on the liberated zones of the Emilian Appennines).

  47 Bianco, Guerra partigiana, p. 99

  48 The episode is recounted in the ‘Relazione di Marelli sul lavoro svolto fra i volontari della libertà in montagna’ (Piacentino), 26 December 1944. Marelli argued that they would not keep their word (it was a matter of freeing an imprisoned German lieutenant in exchange for Ferrarini) (Le Brigate Garibaldi, vol. III, pp. 142–3).

  49 Communication from the Ugo Muccini Garibaldi Brigade (La Spezia) to the local CLN leadership, 12 November 1944 (ISRT, Carte Enzo Enriques Agnoletti).

  50 Such was the reasoning of La Riscossa italiana (organ of the Piedmont CLN) of January–February 1944, in its editorial ‘Saldezza del fronte antifascista’, where it praised the freedom-fighters who had ‘almost unanimously’ proved able to foil the enemy’s manoeuvres.

  51 See paragraph 20, ‘Direttive politiche’ of the ‘Direttive per la lotta armata’, Milan, February 1944. According to the document, ‘there is a national pact … and anti-communism must not become the cover for the struggle against it’ (Atti CVL, p. 560).

  52 The Piedmont delegation letter ‘Cari compagni’, of 19 April 1944, referring in particular to an episode taking place in Val Sangone (Le Brigate Garibaldi, vol. I, pp. 355–9).

  53 ‘Circolare del Comando regionale lombardo alle formazioni dipendenti’, 27 September 1944 (INSMLI, CVL, envelope 90, folder 1).

  54 The circular is kept in IZDG, envelope 272b, folder 1/C.

  55 The Cuneo No. 4 Brigade’s political commissar P.’s letter ‘Cari compagni’, 28 February 1944. The matter was reported with disdain by the Command of the Brigade to the Piedmont CLN’s Military Committee on 15 March (IG, BG, 04211).

  56 ‘Dal colloquio con un compagno del Comitato federale di Novara’, 30 December 1944. Also in December, a report on the organisational and political situation in the province signed by ‘Valbruna’ (Vittorio Flecchia) for the attention of the PCI secretariat, held that ‘the Socialists, at first “radical” to the point of wanting to exclude the bourgeois currents from the CLN, have now become nothing less than capitulationist faced with the Fascists’; as a consequence of these changing positions, ‘it has thus far not been possible to implement the pact for unity in action’ (‘Rapporto sulla situazione politica organizzativa’, IG, Archivio PCI).

  57 ‘Relazione sull’attività militare’, sent on 26 August 1944 to the Regional Command of the Command of the 4th Piedmont Division (Le Brigate Garibaldi, vol. II, pp. 272–3).

  58 Report from the inspector Riccardo (Alfredo Mordini) of the 3rd Lombard Division ‘Aliotta’, 25 November 1944. On 28 November he would inform the General Command’s military delegation that the GL had made an agreement on its own, and thus the Garibaldians had been forced to bear the German assault alone (IG, BG 01652 and 01654).

  59 ‘Situazione militare della zona sotto il controllo del Comitato militare di …’, n.d., around mid-April 1944 (IG, BG 03974).

  60 Command of the 54th Valcamonica Brigade to the Command delegation, ‘Notiziario-Bergamo’, n.d. (IG, BG 010564 and 010734).

  61 The ‘Delegation for Lombardy’ to the 1st and 2nd Divisions Group Command, 24 September 1944 (INSMLI, CVL, envelope 93, folder 4, subfolder a).

  62 For example, the cases of Nevio in the Valle di Gressoney and of Gastone (86th Brigade) in Valtellina. See the ‘Relazione sulla Valle di Gressoney. Rapporto del commissario della Valle, Negri’ of 11 November 1944; the ‘Breve relazione riassuntiva per i compagni della Delegazione per la Lombardia’, signed by Maiocchi, 2 December 1944; the communication from the Lombard Divisions Group Command to the Command delegation, 4 December 1944 (IG, BG, 05694: see Le Brigate Garibaldi, vol. II, p. 585, note 3, and vol. III, pp. 13–17; IG, BG, 01287); as well as the very harsh reprimand, calling for revenge, from the delegation to Group Command (INSMLI, CVL, folder 4, subfolder a).

  63 ‘The comrades responsible’ to the Vice-Commander Pietro and the ‘Comrades responsible for the 2nd Piedmont Division’, 16 December 1944 (Le Brigate Garibaldi, vol. III, p. 101).

  64 See the ‘Comunicato del Comando della 3a divisione Piemonte’, 2 October 1944 (Le Brigate Garibaldi, vol. III, p. 393).

  65 IG, BG, 01152.

  66 Report dated 1 March 1945 and letter from the Lombard Command of the GL formations to the Command of the GL Division Orobica, 15 December 1944 (INSMLI, CVL, envelope 93, folder 5, subfolder a).

  67 Regional GL Command for Lombardy to the Commissar Mario, 11 April 1945 (INSMLI, CVL, envelope 93, folder 5, subfolder a).

  68 The suspicion that the Fiamme Verdi were prone to deals and bargaining with the enemy is illustrated by the ‘Relazione riservata del rappresentante delle formazioni gl nel Comando militare regionale lombardo sulla situazione politico-militare delle formazioni Fiamme Verdi e del generale Fiore’, 18 March 1945 (INSMLI, old classification, Comando militare regionale lombardo, Delegazione Brigate GL, Corrispondenza). Similar reports appear in various Garibaldian documents: for example, a report from the inspector Remo to the Lombard Regional Command, the CLNAI and the Lombard delegation of 10 March 1944 (INSMLI, CVL, envelope 90, folder 4). For the arguments over the Fiamme Verdi and General Fiore, see the letter from the Bergamo zone-commander ‘Bassi’ (Mario Buttaro) to the Lombard Regional Command, n.d. but January 1945 (IG, BG, 010605). The formation’s commander, Captain Gianni, soon repented, asking to be readmitted into the movement (see letter from ‘Bassi’ to the Lombard Regional Command, 20 March 1945, IG, Archivio PCI).

  69 ‘Circolare a tutti i commissari politici di brigata sui colloqui con i Comandi nemici’, from the Command of the 1st Gramsci Division, 20 October 1944 (Le Brigate Garibaldi, vol. II, pp. 457–9).

  70 See, for example, the ‘Circolare n. 19 sulle relazioni col nemico’, from the Piave Zone Command, 20 March 1945 (ibid., vol. III, p. 511).

  71 ‘Informazioni da Torino’, 13 December 1944, from the Piedmont insurrectionary triumvirate official Alfredo, who had sufficient scruple to say that this news was still yet not confirmed (ibid., p. 68). An apparently analogous case of GL members – or supposed GL members – fraternising with fascists was mentioned, and denounced, in a 3 April 1945 document sent from the Lombard Divisions Group Command to the delegation and insurrectionary triumvirate for Lombardy (ibid., pp. 574–8). The tendency not to trouble the Germans without having first been attacked was mentioned in a document of the Military Command of the Valli di Lanzo, 30 January 1944 (IG, BG, 04205).

  72 See Lazagna, Ponte rotto, pp. 94, 167; on p. 172 there is a fine description of the population’s many efforts assisting the partisans.

  73 See Dellavalle, Operai, p. 119. On the coexistence of RSI and CLN authorities in peripheral areas, see pp. 210–11.

  74 Bernardo, Il momento buono, p. 50.

  75 See the observation made on this score in Chiovini and Mignemi, Il 44 sulle sponde del Lago Maggiore, p. 9.

  76 ‘Relazione sull’attività partigiana nella zona di Macerata’, n.d. but late March 1944, probably written by the Communist federation (Le Brigate Garibaldi, vol. I, p. 343).

  77 Bruzzone and Farina, La Resistenza taciuta, p. 23.

  78 Bernardo, Il momento buono, p. 38.

  79 See the ‘Relazione riguardante la zona dei Castelli Romani dal 22 gennaio 1944, data dello sbarco in Nettunia, al 15 febbraio 1944’, n.d., unsigned (Le Brigate Garibaldi, vol. 1, pp. 261–2).

  80 See Manno, Le bande SIMAR, pp 47–50.

  81 See the letter sent from the Command of the 2nd Piedmont Division to the Valli di Lanzo CLN, 22 July 1944 (Le Brigate Garibaldi, vol. II, pp. 155–7).

  82 See ‘Relazione dell’ispettore Gigi sulla ispezione al Comando del raggruppamento divisioni biellesi’, 15 December 1944 (ibid, vol. III, p. 78).

  83 See the sharp denunciation in the ‘Relazione sul lavoro svolto in Valle Maria’, unsigned, 30 July 1944 (ibid., vol. II, pp. 172–4) and the warning sent to the Garibaldini
of Dronero and the surrounding area by the commander, Steve, and the political commissar, Copeco, of the 104th Carlo Fissore Brigade, 15 January 1945 (‘Ai garibaldini di Dronero e dintorni’, ibid., vol. III, p. 238).

  84 Report from Andrea ‘Dal Comando battaglione partigiani Friuli’ (ibid., vol. I, pp. 95–7).

  85 See Gorrieri, La Repubblica di Montefiorino, pp. 545–9; see also p. 561, n. 22. The words ‘civil war’ (p. 547) are, in Gorrieri, an obvious slip of the pen, given that he denies the legitimacy of such an expression (see p. 222, n. 17).

  86 See the ‘Promemoria per il CLN della Liguria d’incarico del presidente del CLN di Apuania’, 28 December 1944. On 7 January 1945, the Apuania CLN president, Christian Democrat Enzo, drafted a ‘Relazione di massima sul movimento patriottico nella provincia di Apuania, per il CLNAI’, which contained a section entitled ‘The truce with the Germans’. The truce entailed the mutual recognition of ‘zones of influence’: the partisans could even circulate in the German zone, ‘if disarmed and not in uniform’; the Germans could enter the free zone ‘only in small platoons, out of urgent necessity and, if possible, with prior notice’ (INSMLI, CLNAI, envelope 7, folder 3). See also ‘Relazione sulla insurrezione armata e conseguente liberazione delle città di Massa e Carrara’, sent from the local PCI federation to the party leadership in Rome on 24 April 1945, which speaks of the ‘farce’ of the German platoons and partisans passing through the city without troubling one another (Le Brigate Garibaldi, vol. III, pp. 687–92).

  87 See the ‘Rapporto d’informazioni’ from the Modena PCI federation, October 1944. The CLN did not accept this demand, but all the same posed very tough conditions of its own (ISRR, Archivio triumvirato insurrezionale Emilia-Romagna).

  88 ISRT, Carte Francesco Berti, envelope 1, folder 1, Verbali del CTLN, 19, 23, 24, 26 and 27 June meetings. On this whole affair, see Francovich, La Resistenza a Firenze, pp. 233–6, according to which all negotiation was broken off on 26 June.

  89 See the ‘Direttive n. 9’ of 15 September 1944, probably drawn up by Secchia, and the ‘Direttive n. 16’, drafted by Longo, of 10 April 1945 (Le Brigate Garibaldi, vol. II, pp 332–5; vol. III, pp. 591–5). Secchia, republishing some lines from the ‘Direttive n. 16’, comments: ‘It is remarkable that serious historians have not brought out the full importance and proper value of these directives, which, in settling the matter once and for all, and ordering all Communists to act, if necessary, even by themselves – with full respect for the unity of all democratic forces and in the name of the CLN – were decisive for the success and ultimate triumph of the national insurrection’ (Il PCI e la guerra di liberazione, p. 101).

  90 ‘It will perhaps also be better to speak of the liberation of Milan and not of an insurrection, a word that, for some, can make this concept seem more suspect and even forbidding’, wrote Citterio on 13 February, in the name of the GL Lombard Command, to Ludovico of the ‘GL Provincial Command 734’ (INSMLI, CVL, envelope 93, folder 5, subfolder a).

  91 The title ‘Prepariamo l’insurrezione nazionale inseparabile dalla liberazione dai tedeschi e dai fascisti’ (‘Let us prepare the national insurrection, indivisible from liberation from the Germans and the Fascists’) stretched across the whole front page of L’Unità’s northern edition of 25 November 1943, while the editorial of the 5 December issue was entitled ‘Dalla guerriglia partigiana all’insurrezione nazionale’ (‘From partisan guerrilla-struggle to the national insurrection’). Similar titles appeared in the 10 January and 21 June 1944 issues. The CLN had called for insurrection with its 20 September 1944 appeal (Atti CVL, pp. 176–7). On the uncertainties of the CLN itself with regard to drawing up a general plan for insurrection, see G. Grassi, ‘Nota storica’, Atti CLNAI, pp. 36–7.

  92 See Passerini, Torino operaia, p. 11.

  1 Bianchi’s definition, in I cattolici, p. 176

  2 On this point, see G. Poggi’s deft essay, ‘La Chiesa nella political italiana dal 1945 al 1950’, in S. J. Woolf, ed., Italia 1943–1950. La ricostruzione, Bari: Laterza, 1974, pp. 255–82, and E. Rotelli, V. Onida, M. Reineri and F. Margiotta Broglio, La successione, Rome: Edizioni Lavoro, 1980.

  3 See, for example, ‘Timori in sagristia’, in Avanti!, northern edition, 10 January 1944.

  4 See, for example, Bianco, Guerra partigiana, p. 36.

  5 A trap not totally avoided even by such excellent essays as those of G. Miccoli (‘Problemi di ricerca sull’atteggiamento della Chiesa durante la Resistenza con particolare riferimento alla situazione del confine orientale’, in Società rurale, pp. 241–62) and of S. Lanaro (‘Società civile, ‘mondo cattolico’ e Democrazia Cristiana nel Veneto tra fascismo e postfascismo’, in Isnenghi and Lanaro. eds, La Democrazia cristiana, pp. 3–71).

  6 A card kept in IVSR, folder Stampa antifascista.

  7 The words of F. Malgeri, ‘La Chiesa di fronte alla RSI’, in Poggio, ed., La Repubblica sociale italiana, pp. 313–33, at the end of a passage (p. 321) in which he dwells on pastoral activities.

  8 See E. Brunetta, Correnti politiche e classi sociali alle origini della Resistenza nel Veneto, Vicenza: Neri Pozza, 1974, p. 65, quoted in Tramontin, Contadini e movimento partigiano, p. 289.

  9 These last words were used by Rochat, Memorialistica e storiografia sull’internamento, p. 49 and n. 98, to describe the attitude of the chaplain, referring back to the memoirs of P. Bettotti, Noi della Pusteria. Diario di guerra, Trento: Tipografia AOR, 1951.

  10 As don Pezzin recounted to the author.

  11 See A. Fappani and F. Molinari, Chiesa e Repubblica di Salò, Turin: Marietti, 1981, pp. 7–8. The two priests commented ‘The sharp reply was not without effect.’

  12 Telegram from the secretary of state’s office to monsignor Cicognani, 31 May 1944, cited in Malgeri, La Chiesa di fronte alla RSI, p. 320.

  13 Cited in Malgeri, La Chiesa di fronte alla RSI, p. 318.

  14 The report of the colloquium is cited in Miccoli, Problemi di ricerca, p. 248; and in Malgeri, La Chiesa di fronte alla RSI, p. 320.

  15 See G. Dossetti, ‘Introduzione’ in L. Gherardi, Le querce di Monte Sole, Bologna: Il Mulino, 1986, p. xxxvi.

  16 F. Traniello has drawn attention to this question in ‘Il mondo cattolico nella guerra e nella Resistenza’, in L’Italia nella seconda guerra mondiale e nella Resistenza, pp. 325–69.

  17 See the May 1944 instalment (cited in Scagliola, L’Italia Cattolica, p. 158).

  18 The poster (n.d., printed in Treviso) begins by invoking Francis of Assisi, patron saint of Italy (Fondo RSI, n. 739).

  19 The pastoral letter was published in pamphlet form by the Opera Diocesana per la Stampa Cattolica. It is quoted and discussed at length in Rovero, Il clero piemontese nella Resistenza, pp. 41–75 (the words cited in the text are from p. 47).

  20 Ibid.

  21 See the 18 October 1941 issue of Veritas, a daily newspaper for the clergy, and the December 1941–January 1942 edition of Témoignage chrétien. Veritas also referred to the previous decision of 26 June, by which the Dutch episcopate forbade sacraments being given to ‘those Catholics known to have given notable assistance to the National-Socialist movement’.

  22 ‘Relazione sulla stampa cattolica’, in ACS, SPD, CR, RSI, quoted without reference to its date in Malgeri, La Chiesa di fronte alla RSI, p. 318.

  23 See Rovero, Il clero piemontese nella Resistenza, pp. 63, 62. Angrisani’s words reported in the text are taken from his brochure La croce sul Monferrato durante la bufera, Casale Monferrato: Tipografia Casalese, 1946, p. 18.

  24 Don Moretti espoused these ideas in the Cenacolo di studi sociali. See Bianchi, I cattolici, pp. 182–3, no date indicated. Bianchi comments: ‘Thus also the Catholics who had not asked for or wanted the prosecution of the war had to accept the war among Italians; so, too, because they were convinced that legality was on their side.’ The biographical notes on Moretti (pp. 179–80) recall the ‘decisive meeting’ with Giorgio La Pira.

  25 See Fogar, Le brigate Osoppo-Friuli, pp. 296–301, which
also features an even-handed judgment on don Moretti’s ‘justificationism through theology and doctrine’.

  26 See Bianchi, I cattolici, pp. 192–4.

  27 Fogar, Le brigate Osoppo-Friuli, pp. 328–30. For the Garibaldian reaction, see the letter from Marco, ‘A cari compagni’, 3 December 1944 (IG, BG, 09453).

  28 See the letter from the Lombard Divisions Group Command to the delegation for Lombardy, various commands and the CLNs of Chiavenna and Sondrio, 1 December 1944, as well as that of the Piedmont insurrectionary triumvirate official Alfredo to the PCI leadership for occupied Italy, 12 December 1944 (Le Brigate Garibaldi, vol. III, pp. 12, 68).

  29 See Gobetti, Diario partigiano, p. 186, under the date 9 August 1944.

  30 Florence: Libreria fiorentina. Ronconi carried out a diligent analysis of the documents produced by the cardinal Dalla Costa, already traced in outline in cardinal Schuster’s prior texts. See Note sui rapporti fra il clero toscano, la Repubblica sociale italiana e le autorità d’occupazione tedesche, pp. 133–4.

  31 ‘Lettera aperta a S.E. il Cardinale Dalla Costa Arcivescovo di Firenze’, Voce Operaia, 5 January 1944. Enzo Enriques Agnoletti replied to the 5 December notification with a letter of his own (see Francovich, La Resistenza a Firenze, pp. 104–5), against which Vittore Branca polemicised – in the cardinal’s defence – as late as 1984. See the aforementioned ‘La città dell’Arno’, in Nuova Antologia.

  32 See Briguglio, Clero e contadini, pp. 324–5.

  33 See the texts quoted in Gorrieri, La Repubblica di Montefiorino, pp. 177–8, which also recalls the violent reply from the local Fascist daily Diana repubblicana, with its article ‘Difesa del crimine’. The canon cited by the bishop reads ‘Qui violentas manus in personam … aliorum clericorum vel utriusque sexus religiosorum iniecerit, subiaceat ipso facto excommunicationi Ordinario proprio reservatae,’ ‘Whoever would lay a violent hand on the person of … and other members of the clergy or religious persons of both sexes, should by default be subject to excommunication of the kind specific to his own order.’ On the shooting of don Borghi and of the eight patriots, see Bergonzini, La lotta armata, p. 70.