As part of the program of events that preceded the Liberation Day, “The archpriest died in Milan” was presented in Olgiate Molgora, a book recently published by Mimesis Editore but written (and already published) ten years ago by the authors Enrica Bolis and Clara Tacchi, who in the text retraced the arrest of Don Achille Bolis in February 1944 and his last days of life.
Manlio and Alberto Magni
The two teachers, now retired, were the guests at the oratory theatre. Also present with them were Manlio Magni and the historian Alberto Magni of the ANPI, who spoke with Bolis and Tacchi during the presentation of the volume, which was also surrounded by the voices of the “Canzoniere Popolare della Brianza”.
Before starting the event, deputy mayor Matteo Fratangeli greeted the public and thanked the guests, who also recalled the recent laying of the stumbling block in memory of the partisan Ernesto Cattaneo, a miller from Olgiate who was arrested with the accused of having supplied the partisans with flour. Furthermore, Cattaneo is mentioned in the pages of “The archpriest died in Milan” and his story in a certain sense is similar to that of Don Achille Bolis of Calolziocorte.
“The idea of writing the book came from the parish on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the death of the parish priest Don Achille, which occurred in San Vittore” explained the authors, revealing that the writing took two years. “For us it was a question of reconstructing the arrest and what happened in San Vittore”. It can be said that Bolis and Tacchi succeeded in their aim, shedding light on a tragic event and a suspicious death that the Nazi-fascist authorities initially traced to an aneurysm.
Clara Tacchi and Enrica Bolis
To find the truth, the two researchers consulted documents from various archives between Milan and Bergamo and listened to the testimonies of those who lived through that dramatic moment. “It took 20 years to discover that Don Achille, taken on the night between 21 and 22 February 1944, died in a cell in San Vittore in Milan on 23 February due to the torture he suffered” they said, explaining that this truth emerged already in 1963 thanks to the investigation commissioned by his nephew Ulisse Bolis.
In the province of Bergamo and in the Lecco area there were many priests who entered into contact with the resistance and those who, like Don Achille, committed themselves to helping those in danger lost their lives. “The parish of Calolzio was a resting place for those passing by and these movements attracted attention”. Oscar Zannini, a local doctor who after 8 September had organized himself to create an assistance network for refugee groups in the mountains, was also arrested together with Don Achille.
Matteo Fratangelo
The book also takes up his story, as well as that of other citizens who shared the same ideals: Giuseppe Rosa and his son Giovanni, Giovanni Ripamonti and Ernesto Cattaneo, all destined for a tragic end. “It is important not to erase their memory” the authors reiterated loudly.
Alberto Magni, an expert in the history of local resistance, finally recalled that civil resistance was carried out by the population spontaneously, through simple human sharing, an opposition in which above all many parishioners took part.
E.Ma.
