Part I – Foibe Massacres: Historical Disinformation Techniques
Justificationism and denialism are two sides of the same coin
When Parliament passed the law establishing Remembrance Day in 2004, it immediately caused the agitation of those political and cultural organizations which for 60 years had managed to “conceal” the massacre perpetrated by Tito's Communist partisans.
Ever since then, new interpretations have been born every year, new “historical re-readings” (often in conjunction with Croatian and Slovenian universities) have been brought forth to deny the Italian holocaust. Two theses, above all, are put forth: the first one argues that the Foibe Massacres were not a crime against humanity but rather a “justified revenge” of the Slavs against the Fascists; and the second one denies that any terrible massacre took place, but only a few executions.
They are known as “Justificationists” and “Deniers”.
We talked about the subject with Silvano Olmi, a journalist, historical researcher and member of the national directorate of the February 10th Committee (Comitato 10 Febbraio).
Silvano: The former are people who justify the Foibe Massacres as the revenge of the Slavs for the alleged suffering inflicted upon them by Fascism; the latter even go as far as to deny that the Foibe Massacres were a crime, claiming that it is a hoax invented by anti-Communist propaganda. Then there are also the “reductionists”, i.e. those who do not deny the tragedy but limit its scope.
Who are these disinformation professionals?
Silvano: The national ANPI falls into the first category, that of the “justificationists”, and it never invites radical members such as Alessandra Kersevan, Claudia Cernigoi and Sandi Volk to its official conferences. Instead, they host them only at the local level. In fact, as we speak, the provincial sections of the ANPI are organizing blatant “denialist” events.
This division of roles is also reflected within the Democratic Party (PD), with national representatives reiterating the words spoken in the past by Giorgio Napolitano and also by the current president, Sergio Mattarella. Then, however, at local level, cases occur – such as in Lecce – where the municipal councilors of the Democratic Party reject the request to name a street in honor of Norma Cossetto, the Istrian girl who has become the symbol of the Foibe Massacres. Or in Pavia, where other PD councilors tried to prevent the presentation of the graphic novel “Foiba rossa” which tells the story of Norma Cossetto.
What are the main points of justificationism?
Silvano: There are three cardinal points upon which the justificationists work. The first pertains to the “eastern borders”, the second to the concept of “Italiani brava gente” and the third to “ethnic cleansing”.
Let's start with the “eastern borders”…
Silvano: The question of Italy's “eastern borders” (mentioned even by Dante) is very complex and has a long history that begins with Rome, continues with the Byzantines and culminates with the more than seven centuries of Venetian presence. The “justificationists”, instead, frame the story only from the end of the First World War, when Istria, Fiume and a small part of Dalmatia were assigned to Italy, completely ignoring everything that had happened before that time.
Why do they not talk about it?
Silvano: For two reasons. The first is to keep silent about the centuries-long Italianity of those lands, where the cities were born on the coast as colonies of Rome and then developed under Venice until 1797. Cities where, as a well-known song says, “even the stones speak Italian”. The second is to keep silent about the tumultuous events under the Austrians, who favored the Slavic component to the detriment of the Italian one. This found expression in Emperor Franz Joseph's decision of November 23, 1866, during the middle of the Risorgimento period, in which he called for the “Slavicization” of Italian surnames and toponyms. However, the purpose of all this is to make people believe that the Italianization of those lands was something imposed by Fascism.
Let's move on to the second point: “Italiani brava gente”…
Silvano: It has now become a slogan used in a derogatory manner with reference to what Fascism and, later, the Italian army supposedly did during the Second World War, starting in 1941, when the territory of the Kingdom of the Yugoslavia was occupied. However, many details are ignored. First: the military action was the consequence of a coup d'état which attempted to install a pro-Allied government in Yugoslavia (which posed a serious risk to Italian troops engaged in Albania and Greece). Certainly, mistakes and horrors were committed by the Italian side during the war. There is a lot of emphasis placed on this point because they think this would justify the Foibe Massacres as a reaction of the Slav Communists against the Italians, who are all depicted as Fascists. Yet, they are silent about the actions of Italian soldiers in Dalmatia who saved thousands of Jews. They are silent about the Croats (Ustasha) and Serbs (Chetniks) who were allies of the Italians. Finally, they are especially silent about the fact that the crimes of the Yugoslav Partisans were committed above all at the end of the war.
The third point is to deny that the Foibe Massacres were an “ethnic cleansing”…
Silvano: The Slavs and the Communists deny the terms “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing”, claiming that there was “only” a killing of Fascists and those who opposed the new regime. In reality, the Foibe Massacres occurred in two waves. The first took place between September 8 and October 10, 1943 when the Italian army was overwhelmed by the Armistice and Istria was occupied by Tito's partisans. It was in this period that Norma Cossetto was killed, for example.
The second “wave” of executions began after May 1, 1945, therefore after the war, when Slavic troops arrived in Trieste. For the Julian capital the massacres ended after 45 days (with the arrival of the British) but for Istria, Fiume and Dalmatia there was no end. The revisionist thesis is even denied by Mattarella, because the Yugoslavs killed people who were never Fascist; even partisans and exponents of the non-Communist CLN were thrown into the foibe. These are facts which the justificationists do not want to remember, precisely because the presence of Italian anti-Fascist exponents and anti-Fascist fighters among the victims confirms that “ethnic cleansing” was involved. The intent was clearly to eliminate the Italians, killing them or forcing them to flee. And, unfortunately, they succeeded...
Part II – Deny or Justify: The Strategies to Conceal the Truth
Most of the bodies were never found... therefore they “do not exist”; the Exodus, then, almost does not exist and we try to talk about it as little as possible in schools
We saw yesterday the arguments used to counter the emotional impact of the genocide and ethnic cleansing carried out by the Yugoslav Communist partisans in Julian Venetia at the end of the Second World War.
On the one hand, there is the aim of “justifying” what happened (as if the elimination, abuse, torture and rape of more than 10,000 people could be justified). Then there are also those who deny these figures.
We therefore asked Silvano Olmi – a journalist, historical researcher and member of the national directorate of the February 10th Committee (Comitato 10 Febbraio) – to clarify these points.
Silvano: In every part of the world, Communism acts like the Mafia: it makes people disappear. Not finding the corpses of the victims, and not being able to consult Yugoslav source documents, the denialist historians can claim anything. Unfortunately, there is no precise number of martyrs, because it was not possible to recover the bodies from all the foibe, as for example the most famous one, Basovizza, a national monument on the Carso of Trieste. The bodies of those killed in 1943 were recovered. But for those of 1945 it was more difficult. Most of the foibe are located in Yugoslavian territory (today Slovenia and Croatia) and therefore have remained unexplored.
So we must rely on estimations. The victims of Trieste are at least 5 thousand in number (4,122 names are found in the list published by Mayor Gianni Bartoli); another 500 in Fiume; in Gorizia the gravestone in Memorial Park shows the names of 695 people killed in the foibe, of which about 200 were white partisans (i.e. anti-communists). To these must be added the victims of Pola, Zara and more than 100 towns and villages of Istria and Dalmatia. For this reason, at least 10-12 thousand victims are calculated.
However, what is important is not the exact numbers, but their intention to annihilate the Italian presence.
Another disinformation technique concerns, the Internet and social media where incorrect photos are sometimes posted...
Silvano: Yes, it sometimes happens that images are posted that have nothing to do with the Foibe Massacres and the killing of Italian citizens. Such images have also deceived television programs such as “Porta a Porta”. The best known fake images are those of the shooting of some Slavic citizens by Italian soldiers and the recovery of the remains of Polish officers massacred by the Soviets in the Katyn Forest. One has to be very careful when posting images, because in this case the misinformation is based on a theorem: if the photo is false, then according to them everything that is written in the article or post must also be false.
Those are the disinformation techniques pertaining to the Foibe Massacres. What about the Exodus...
Silvano: They try not to talk about the Exodus or else they reduce it to just a few lines. There, too, they contest the official figure of 300-350 thousand exiles, but for the most part they tend to ignore it, mainly for two reasons. The first is the shameful hostility manifested towards the Exiles by the Italian Communist Party, especially in Ancona and Bologna, to cite the most egregious cases.
It is worth remembering – for those who do not know – that the Italian Communist Party (PCI) has always been in favor of every concession to the Slavs. Let's recall Togliatti's proposal for the transfer of Trieste or the the 2,000 workers of Monfalcone who were sent to work in Yugoslavia and who, after the split between Tito and Stalin, ended up deported to the concentration camp of Goli Otok.
The second reason is precisely the enormous extent of the Exodus, with cities like Pola abandoned by 90% of the population, entire towns remained almost deserted. A fact which demonstrates the Italian character of those lands and populations. A drama which Simone Cristicchi, with his recital “Magazzino 18”, has managed to make known, and to divulge effectively. It is no coincidence that Cristicchi was challenged by the far Left and by partisans, precisely because his show was terribly uncomfortable for them.
What do you think of the initiatives of the ANPI?
Silvano: We always hope to be able to arrive at a peaceful and unprejudiced dialogue with the national ANPI. Unfortunately, however, especially at the local level, the “denialist” initiatives which focus on disinformation are pervasive, as are their opposition to initiatives such as the screening of the film “Red Land – Rosso Istria” or the graphic novel “Foiba rossa”, both centered on the tragic story of Norma Cossetto.
And yet, not all partisans are Communists.
Silvano: True. It would suffice to refer to the publications of the Istrian CLN, such as as “Foibe. La tragedia dell’Istria” or the clandestine newspaper “Il Grido dell’Istria”. The collection of the 53 issues published between August 1945 and February 10, 1947 was reprinted in facsimile a few years ago by the National Dalmatian Association and, by leafing through it, interesting discoveries are made which demonstrate that the facts which today they wish to deny or downplay were already very well known at that time.
How often is the Committee invited to speak in schools?
Silvano: Rarely. There are still very few schools which adequately celebrate Remembrance Day in Italy. Every year you have to search for principals and professors who are aware of the importance of making known to students this forgotten tragic page of Italian history (a page which has even been torn out). But, for the most part, they are not interested, or else are obstructed by red rape. Often, however, it is the students themselves who invite us to talk about what is not written in the textbooks and what their teachers do not want to explain.
