rivista anarchica
anno 40 n. 357
novembre 2010


Resistenza

Welcome to Sperongia of Morfa (Pc)
by Franco Sprega

A small museum, small for a big story as big as that of the resistance in the Piacentino.
Recalling the anarchist Emilio Canzi and along the partisans paths.

 

The museum lives on a kind of self-management from the bottom through the establishment of an Association of Friends of the Museum of the Resistance. It is the volunteers that keep it open on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, as well as on holidays, and to determine the initiatives undertaken and the most appropriate way to raise awareness of the provincial resistance to the visitors.
The computer and video part intercept a strong interest among young people, but also the exhibition (the boards, relics, pictures, disabled weapons) hits the mark. There is no rhetoric or posting in the solution that the museum has been proposed, but serious scientific depth and vivacity. The possibility afforded by the PNA to investigate between tabs the partisans recognized is a pleasant surprise waiting especially family members and friends of the partisans.


 
The initiatives of the Museum are open for another attempt at bringing together the world of the mountain and the city - through the plains factor R.

So it was for a series of films shown at the museum when snow was falling still out in March, or partisan festival created in May in collaboration with the Pro Loco of Sperongia of the anniversary of the liberation of Morfasso.

Also, since the museum is near a partisan area, it was prepared a course of 4-5 hours in the woods, along the paths traveled by the partisans of Giovanni lo Slavo, one of the first commanders of the area. A shorter path has been set up instead for the school children who have reached the Museum in the spring by bus: so, after the words they have proved the reality of the trek along the paths.

How will go on the experience of the museum? We rely on volunteers and those who support the values of the Resistance, and the management of the openings for the cash flow necessary for physical survival of the structure. There is also a card for membership we need just to weave relationships, but also to support the Museum.

We are waiting for you, the Museum is small but you will like it, as well as the high Val d'Arda with all its history. But especially for an appointment with history of the Resistenza.

Franco Sprega
 Translation by Enrico Massetti ("The other Fabrizio")

 

Among the mountains of Canzi

A "partisan party", a beautiful sunny day, excellent food, speeches and recalling the (anarchist) master in the Partisan Area XIII.

Sunday, August 29, on the top of the hill Peli di Coli, Piacenza Apennines, was held - as is now done regularly by six years - a "partisan party" sponsored by the PNA of Piacenza - and in particular the ANPI Youth Committee "Commander Wall" - and the City and the Pro Loco of Coli. At least two hundred people filled from morning to late afternoon, the space behind the small church of Peli, the one from which Emilio Canzi - between 1943 and 1945 - led to a period, the anti-fascist resistance, with the cooperation of the good people of the small village and in particular Don Bruschi, the anti-fascist priest with whom he worked closely.
The entire human and political route of the anarchist Emilio Canzi (Piacenza 1893 - Piacenza, 1945) is reconstructed in the “Emilio Canzi dossier. A quiet fighter for freedom” which we published four years ago.

Peli di Coli (Pc), Aug. 29 - The commemoration of Emilio Canzi in the small cemetery. Among the public, mayors (from left to right) Piacenza (Roberto Reggi) of Peli di Coli (Massimo Poggio) and Rivergano (Pietro Martini).

The day began with speeches by the mayors of Piacenza (Roberto Reggi) and Coli (Massimo Poggi), presented by the president of the ANPI of Piacenza Mario Cravedi. Discourses of circumstance, of course, but animated by the consciousness of the importance, especially in these times, to refer to the imperishable values of the anti-fascist resistance, with a strong call to the ethics policy and daily behavior. Significantly, in the speech of the President of the PNA, a reference to "ugly incident" and then also the defenestration of the provisional arrest of Canzi by a sector of the Communist Party.

On the left: Paolo Finzi, the editorial staff of "A". On his right Cravedi Mario, president of the Piacenza ANPI.

It then was the turn of Paolo Finzi, the editor of "A", remember at the tomb of Canzi the adjacent small cemetery, the figure of Canzi. Finzi talked about the presence (largely ignored) of the anarchists in the Resistance, of course not limited to Canzi. Beside the need - then as now – of anti-fascist unity, Finzi said the presence in the resistance movement - not just the anarchist - that pointed to a solution much more advanced than that then reached April 25, 1945. It invited the other anti-fascist forces not to forget this part minor by the number, but not by dignity.

Top left: Natale Grassi, the last surviving member of the group of inhabitants of the village of Peli that extends the safety and collaborated with Emilio Canzi, during the toughest resistance.

After lunch, there have been several people at the microphone, including the head of the Historical Institute of the Piacenza Resistance Sprega Franco (author of the brief written presentation of the Museum) and Natale Grassi, the last survivor of those inhabitants of the village 65 years ago that lived alongside Canzi most of that hard but hopeful season. Memories of Natale- among others, when on horseback accompanied from Peli di Coli to Bettola, the headquarters of the partisan - involved and moved those present: a lesson in simplicity and humanity, in line with the highest lesson of the Resistance to Fascism.

There followed music and dancing, crowning a beautiful sunny August day.

Be emphasized more than in past years, a large presence of anarchists and libertarians of various locations (from Val di Taro to low Lodi and Cremona, including Milan, Genoa and Savona), as always with tables of books and periodicals. A presence that the cover of this issue of "A" wants to honor.

The photos of the Museum of Sperongia and the day at Peli di Coli are by Gianni Alioti, Lucia Baldini, Roberto Gimmi and Paolo Ribolini.