Modica, the memory of soldier Brancati in the initiative promoted by Unitre

The meeting organized by Unitre in Modica at the Grimaldi Foundation during which Giovanni Brancati from Ispicia (in the photo below) spoke about his uncle Antonio (in the photo above), a victim of the resistance, shot in 23 years old together with 10 other young people, mostly reluctant, on 22 March 1944 in Maiano Lavacchio in the province of Grosseto. An initiative aimed at coinciding with the eightieth anniversary of the massacre and in view of 25 April, the national day of the liberation of Italy from Nazi-fascism and the end of the Nazi occupation and the definitive fall of the fascist regime.

After the greeting of the president of Enzo Cavallo, the works were introduced by Uccio Barone with a historical reference to the period 1942/1945 and to the succession of events not always made known not only to the populations but also to the military themselves who, as in the fact specific, they did not receive orders, directions and instructions and remained in disarray. Which is why a group of soldiers, which included Antonio Brancati, convinced that they had to fight for peace, decided to flee and hide, but they were caught. Giovanni Brancati, speaking, spoke about his uncle, his family background, his school attendance, his sporting and football activities in particular, his enrollment in the faculty of medicine at the University of Catania, his call to arms in Merano and of his transfer to Vittorio Veneto, first and, in July 1943, to Maiano Lavacchio. He then focused on the reconstruction of what, due to the general confusion, led the group to flee and take refuge in one of the farms in the area and to hide in a hut until, following a betrayal, they are arrested to be judged, condemned and shot despite the resistance of the civilians who witnessed. This is a very sad fact whose drama reaches its peak in the heartbreaking letter that Antonio Brancati had prepared for his parents and family and which he managed to modify before the execution. A letter published in the volume “Letters from death row inmates of the Italian Resistance”. In Ispica, where he was buried in 19464, a square and a sports field were named after him.

“For a few years now I have started an activity that was first of research and then of dissemination regarding the short life of my uncle Antonio – declared Giovanni Brancati – This not only to better know everything possible about this unfortunate relative of mine myself , but also and above all to make those who listen to me understand what “living” in times of war can mean (yesterday as today) for an absolutely normal person like my uncle Antonio, for example. A young man full of life who liked studying and playing sports, but who at just 20 years old was called to arms in the middle of the Second World War and who at just 23 years old found himself at a crossroads: to join the fascist republic of Salò or not. He made the courageous choice not to do so and within a few weeks this led to a tragic end at the hands of the Nazi-Fascists. After several initiatives carried out in my city of Ispica, also with the students of the last year of high school, I had the opportunity to talk about my uncle also in Modica. And for this opportunity I thank Unitre who wanted to dedicate an afternoon to recalling what happened to my uncle”.