Alessandria prison riot, a docuseries for the 50th anniversary of the massacre

Trials, investigations, theories, truths to discover and the memory of a story that the city of Alexandria seems to have forgotten. It was the revolt in the Don Soria prison on 9 and 10 May 1974 which turned into a massacre with seven dead and 15 injured. On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary, a docuseries will be published to retrace those two long days with interviews with the survivors and the families of the victims.

They called it «Forgotten Memory» and it wants to tell that tragedy to the new generations. Not only that: it is a story for everyone, so as not to forget.

The idea came from Lav Comunicazione, the production company of the Diocese of Alessandria which produced the six episodes the first of which will be available on the site from May 10th.

The meaning of this work, which began a year ago, is contained in a sentence pronounced by Luigi Gaeta, son of the officer Sebastiano Gaeta: «It almost seems that Alessandria wanted to forget the history of the revolt. They named the prison after my father and Cantiello, but nothing has been done to understand what really happened.”

The story in summary

On Thursday 9 May of that year in the Don Soria prison three armed inmates took around twenty people hostage to escape. Two days of negotiations which culminated in a tragic outcome: five dead hostages, two rioters and dozens injured.

Doctor Roberto Gandolfi, Professor Pier Luigi Campi, the officer Sebastiano Gaeta, Brigadier Gennaro Cantiello and the social worker Graziella Vassallo Giarola died. Among the rioters, Cesare Concu was killed by the police, Domenico Di Bona committed suicide, while Everardo Levrero remained unharmed and was later tried in 1978.

Levrero’s voice is present in the docuseries in which the then mayor Felice Bordine also speaks. He lives outside Italy and has never made any statements so far. The author Alessandro Venticinque tracked him down and asked him to tell his version. «We want to try to illuminate those shadows that still prevent us from knowing the whole truth», explains Venticinque.

Also working with him is Enzo Governale, director of social communications of the Diocese. «I saw some faces change expression during the interviews – says Governale -. I hope for many of them it was an opportunity to soothe that pain and try to move on. And let the city do it too.”

On the occasion of the various anniversaries La Stampa, the Alessandria editorial office, has carried out in-depth studies.