Tensions on the anniversary of the march on Rome, the Anpi and the black shirts in Predappio

It would be a date to forget, but one cannot forget. Today, October 28th is 100 years since the March on Rome, or the beginning of fascism, “the greatest disaster in national history of the last century”, quoting the senator for life Liliana Segre who was deported as a Jew, whose writing will be read on the occasion of the peace demonstration scheduled for the next few hours in Naples. Recurrence – subject of a special in installments on Republic from Ezio Mauro – which falls to the government for the first time as the main force the heir party of those who, after the regime fell, decided to maintain an ideal and spiritual link with that experience.

Between posters posted and then immediately removed, parades, demonstrations and gatherings of nostalgics, days of tension are anticipated. On the streets of Rome last night some posters appeared celebrating the anniversary, immediately removed thanks to the intervention of the Municipality. Celebratory posters were also seen in Paternò, in the province of Catania, the birthplace of the President of the Senate Ignazio La Russa. And then there is Predappio, the town of the first Romagna hill where Benito Mussolini he was born and where his remains are found in the town cemetery. There where blackshirt gatherings are frequent, like the one that will be repeated on Sunday when a procession is scheduled that will end right at the cemetery where he will speak Orsola Mussolinithe great-granddaughter of the founder of fascism.

It is difficult to estimate how much they will pay homage to the memory of the Duce, but considering the centenary it is likely that it will be more attended than usual. The hotels in the area are all full even if most of the participants will arrive by organized coaches departing from various parts of Italy. Today in Predappio we will not remember the march on Rome but another anniversary that the chance of history causes to fall on the same day, namely the Liberation of the country from Nazi-fascism, which took place 22 years later, on October 28, 1944. For years this anniversary was not celebrated, but for some years the Anpi has decided to regain possession of it with a procession that will wind through the streets of the town. ‘Predappio Tricolore’, one of the two fascist gadget and souvenir shops, located in the town, in Viale Matteotti, has announced that it will be closed to avoid discussions. The demonstration of the Anpi has been discussing for weeks, since the mayor Roberto Canali (the first of the center-right since the post-war period) announced that the Municipality would not grant patronage to the initiative, officially for reasons of viability.

The principals and anti-fascist demonstrations will follow one another throughout the weekend in many Italian cities. In the capital, on Saturday at 3.30 pm there will be a sit-in in Piazza Venezia. The organizers, moreover, have criticized the authorization granted for the national gathering-parade of dismissed officers / Unuci, which is also scheduled for Saturday in Piazza Venezia, just below the balcony from which the Duce was looking out. In Milan, on the other hand, a procession is scheduled, again on Saturday at 3.30 pm, which will start from piazzale Loreto, go along via Padova and end at the Martesana park.

Meanwhile, today the president of the Council of Ministers Giorgia Meloni takes part in the celebratory ceremony of “The Days of Research” held at the Quirinal Palace in the presence of the President of the Republic. Saturday at 11.30 Meloni places a laurel wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Altare della Patria. The Democratic Party, on the other hand, always today, with the secretary Enrico Lettawill pay tribute to Giacomo Matteotti carrying flowers on the tombstone of the socialist deputy killed by Mussolini’s assassins in 1921.