Francesco and Luigi Manfroni were 32 and 28 years old when they were shot at the wall of the urban cemetery on 21 March 1945. Shot by the fascists to avenge the death of the federal of Piacenza Antonio Maccagni. Today they risk “eviction” from that same cemetery.
The tomb of the Manfroni brothers is in fact among those with an expired concession: the family members, notified by the managing body of the Piacenza cemeteries, turned to the ANPI also because the amount for the renewal is quite large.
“It amounts to 4950 euros to be exact – explains Angelo Milani, who is the nephew of the two patriots – Luigi and Francesco were my mother’s brothers. She said that they were incarcerated and one of them had tried to escape at the time of the shooting: it was all in vain, they killed them with the others. I learned about their story, their commitment as partisans when I was a kid, but it has always remained in my memory.”
AT LEAST ONE HUNDRED GRAVES AT RISK
Today that tomb is at risk: it is not the only one, in recent days, in fact, Libertà has also reported other historically important burials with the tag of the expired concession. There are over a hundred partisans buried in the urban cemetery and the expiry of the concession weighs like the mythological “sword of Damocles” on their tombs.
THE MUNICIPALITY WILLING TO SUSPEND THE COLLECTION OF THE CONCESSION
“The Municipality could also be willing to suspend the collection of the concession – outlines the councilor Matteo Bongiorni – but there is a question of maintenance and care that remains uncovered: what do the associations that claim an interest in these tombs?”.
To find an answer by mid-May the Municipality will convene the ANPI but also the other associations that could be called into question for various reasons. “We cannot remember these burials only around April 25th: maintenance and care must be done all year round – warns the councilor – and precisely on this point we will need to understand what the associations intend to do”.
ELISABETTA PARABOSCHI’S ARTICLE ON FREEDOM
