Busto Arsizio celebrates April 25th without being affected by the controversies that accompany the important anniversary every year, even in our province.
Mayor Emanuele Antonelli, in his speech in front of the town hall, said he was tired of the divisions: “For once, let’s try to silence the controversy over the Liberation Day,” he said.
«No sensible person would want to go back and relive the tragic period of fascism», underlined Antonelli, who also hummed “Bella ciao” when the band sang it.
But he also added: “I am worried that people think that in the province of Varese we are surrounded by fascists of the worst kind, as it would seem when listening to television.” Probable reference to the investigation of the La7 program “100 Minutes” on the far right in our territory.
After the official celebration, the demonstration of the Antifascist Committee and other associations began, with an appeal for the release of Ilaria Salis.
The freebies
The day opened with the laying of a wreath at the civic Temple of Sant’Anna, in front of Palazzo Gilardoni, and the mass celebrated by Monsignor Severino Pagani. At the end, on the proposal of the Alfredo Di Dio-Fivl Patriotic Divisions Group, the “Rebel’s Prayer”, written by the martyr and blessed Teresio Olivelli, was affixed to the walls of the church.
The demonstration then moved to Piazza Trento e Trieste for the raising of the flag and the laying of the wreath at the War Memorial. Then the procession, with the Borsound 1919 band, the political and military authorities, the associations and citizens, returned to via Fratelli d’Italia for the laying of the wreath at the Monument to the Resistance and Deportation and the speeches of the speakers.
Waiting for him, the anti-fascist associations with banners and a sign calling for freedom for Ilaria Salisthe activist detained for over a year in Hungary.
The memory of Aquilina and the appeal
Mayor Antonelli’s first thought went to Vincenzo Aquilina, former officer of the Guardia di Finanza, survivor of the Nazi concentration camp in Moosburg, always present on this occasion. Aquilina passed away last December: «We miss him – said Antonelli -. From above he will be following this ceremony». In the front row was Adelio Borlandelli, a bustocco partisan born in 1925.
«History has been able to highlight this emphatically wrongs and reasons for the conflict – highlighted the mayor –. We are raising a generation that believes in freedom, which has no direct knowledge of the tragedy of war and dictatorship. And he certainly doesn’t want to go back to the times of fascism, just as no sensible person would want to go back and relive a tragic period that marked the entire society.
We are debtors towards those who sacrificed themselves to free Italy from the oppressor. We must pass this experience on to the younger generations. But while democracy is strong in Italy, we are paying attention to what is happening in the world, with conflicts whose outcome we cannot see.
Instead, let’s look at it distinctly return to anti-Semitism, which we thought had been eradicated; a climate of revenge, which we thought had been overcome; a violence that we believed was confined to the years of lead. It is for these reasons that the memory of an Italian tragedy that we do not consider current is fundamental.”
Antonelli then said he was tired of the controversy, «of what I read and heard a month before and a month after April 25th. I am worried that people think that in the province of Varese we are surrounded by fascists of the worst kind, as it would seem when listening to television.” Probable reference to the La7 broadcast “100 Minuti”. «I’m tired of people only talking about those who are fascist or anti-fascist, communist or anti-communist, whether Mussolini, Hitler or Stalin was worse. And of those who side with Russia or Ukraine, those who side with Israel or Palestine. Once upon a time we argued about ideals, today about those who hate more than others. But they are all tragedies.”
Then the appeal: «For once let’s try to silence the controversy over the Liberation Day. It would be the best way not to tarnish the memory of those who sacrificed themselves to allow everyone to live a free life. In Busto we can forget the ignoble controversies of these days, thanks also to the president of Anpi Liberto Losa who, like me and like the representatives of the partisan and combatant associations, believes in the need to teach young people based on the sacrifice of those who preceded us and not on hatred. This is the April 25th that I would like to read on the front page of the newspapers.”
The other interventions
Losa himself then intervened, recalling the sacrifice of Don Giovanni Minzoni and Giacomo Matteotti. Also focusing on the Constitution, “architrave of our democracy”: «Any intervention on the text can alter its balance. The invitation is to be very cautious.” Citing Article 11, he recalled «the wars that are spreading throughout the world, in particular in Ukraine and the Middle East. A defeat for all humanity. The Anpi calls for an immediate cessation of fire. A just peace is not impossible.”
Antonio Maria Orecchia, associate professor of Contemporary History at the University of Insubria, then took the floor with a reflection on the theme “April 25th in the construction site of memory: survival in memory and the time of pacification”.
The associations for Ilaria Salis
After the official ceremony, the initiative dedicated to “liberation from the chains of yesterday and for liberation from the chains of today” began. The reference is to the treatment of Ilaria Salis in the Hungarian courts, but also to the “gag on information and dissent” and the “capitalist-financial economy”. The appeal of the Ilaria Salis Committee was also read.
Adl Varese, Associazione il Quadrifoglio, Antifascist Committee, Rete Antifascista Altomilanese, Rete Studenti Medi Varese, PCI, Rifondazione, Sinistra Italiana, Verdi took part.
