The title of the Army's 2024 calendar, 'For Italy always... before and after 8 September 1943', "is in line with the attempt to rehabilitate the Twenty Years and the amnesia about the responsibilities, all Italian, of the fascism".
This was stated by Avs deputy group leader in the Chamber
Marco Grimaldi in a question to Defense Minister Guido Crosetto,
underlining how "it is true that by scrolling through the names of the Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers and Soldiers awarded the Gold Medal for Military Valor shown in the calendar, in most cases it deals with figures who distinguished themselves in the struggle for Liberation and largely adhered to the Resistance but the name of Giuseppe Izzo also appears, who in September 1938 volunteered for the Spanish war alongside the Francoists".
In the question filed, Grimaldi asks Crosetto "if he does not intend, within his jurisdiction, to ensure that the title and description of the calendar are modified by removing any reference aimed at diminishing the period of the fascist dictatorship and that the copies of the calendar available in trade".
Furthermore, the Avs deputy recalls in a note that "there have already been editions" of the calendar "dedicated to re-enactments of historical events, clearly coinciding with anniversaries (in 2023 the armistice of 1943, in 2017 the outbreak of the Great War in 1917). This time however - he adds -, the anniversary is not there and the intent to normalize the historical period of the fascist dictatorship appears evident and arbitrary. And one cannot help but say that winds of revisionism are blowing around the highest offices of the State and reverberate at every level. It is a fact that the calendar is sponsored throughout Italy by Undersecretary Isabella Rauti, daughter of Pino Rauti".
All the soldiers celebrated in the 2024 Army calendar "after having fought in the ranks of the Royal Army in the Second World War, instead of surrendering or deserting, they all - let's say, all - took part in the Liberation War, being awarded the highest honors , the Gold Medal for Military Valor, precisely in 1943-1945".
Thus
the Minister of Defense, Guido Crosetto, who defines today's controversies as "specious and ridiculous".
In a note, the minister publishes the biography of all the officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers honored in the calendar and attacks the opposition by stating that "in order to invent a political attack on a representative of the majority" he is not concerned "with tarnishing the Army, the armed forces, the Defense, but above all soldiers and officers who were indisputable heroes and whose memory we just need to continue to honor, as the Army wanted to do. Heroes for their entire military lives, regardless of the political leaders."
"These - he concludes after the list of gold medal soldiers - could they be the 'fascists' that some political forces point to? We are going mad. We are talking about true heroes who, almost all at the cost of their lives, fought for the freedom of Italy, faithful to their oath and to the institutions they served. I do not accept that the shining and exemplary memory of these people is tarnished for a sterile political controversy".
Army Video Calendar, the 'before and after 8 September 1943' causes discussion
Anpi: 'Withdraw the Army calendar'
"The ANPI requests that the 2024 Army calendar be withdrawn, even though unfortunately it is already in circulation".
The president of the partisans' association, Gianfranco Pagliarulo, told ANSA.
"We note - he adds - that there is a pro-fascist minority that wants to rewrite the history of Italy".
"It is unacceptable - highlights Pagliarulo -. It is an act that hides a double political operation. On the one hand it wants to represent institutional continuity when in fact there was a radical break between the fascist regime and the anti-fascist republic. Obviously no one forgets the soldiers, indeed. No one forgets that they were also sent into battle on 8 September when the King went to Brindisi. However, the soldiers are one thing and the institution of the Army is one thing. We must not forget the criminal generals of war never tried, or if tried, never convicted or if convicted never gone to prison. On the other hand, the new Italian army is put on the same level with the army of Salò".
The Ministry of Defense: 'The Army Calendar 2024 does not rehabilitate fascism'
"The 2024 Army calendar does not intend to 'rehabilitate fascism' at all, on the contrary."
This is how the Ministry of Defense responds to the controversy over the publication.
"The calendar - continues via XX Settembre - is part of a historical trilogy that aims to highlight exclusively the commitment and value of the Italians and our soldiers in the War of Liberation, in the awareness that, like those of then, also the soldiers of today , with the oath they take, they undertake to serve the country and its republican institutions".
"Many soldiers, who survived three years of very harsh war, had no doubts, after 8 September 1943, about what their duty was and what position the Italian Army had to take - specifies the Defense -. Not surprisingly, all the soldiers present in the Calenda Army 2024 were chosen because their courage was an example both before the armistice and, with equal commitment and determination, during the War of Liberation, fighting in the ranks of the Royal Army or of the partisan formations, until extreme sacrifice. Just read the reasons for awarding the Gold Medals for Military Valor".
"The 'before and after' of 8 September 1943 therefore indicates the coherence and value of the courageous commitment of those who chose to serve the homeland, honoring the oath taken, to the point of sacrificing their lives or continuing, despite the danger, to fight for the rebirth of Italy. This is the spirit of the Army Calendar 2024! - concludes the note -. Political controversies and ideological prejudices are foreign to the armed forces. It is no coincidence that, in the calendar, those who were decorated before the armistice received an even more important and prestigious honor for what was done after 8 September; the ideals and values that animated them were the same: those of the oath to the homeland and to the institutions".
The text of the controversy
"For Italy always... before and after 8 September 1943".
This is the claim that accompanies the 2024 Army calendar. Thirty-two pages in memory of the soldiers who took part in the Second World War 'honoring the oath they took', as the Chief of Staff, Pietro Serino, writes in his introduction to the volume.
"Through the re-enactment of those tragic events, we wanted to pay homage to the men who participated in those events with the absolute awareness of serving the homeland - highlights the general -, both before and after 8 September 1943. We wanted to tell you a before and an after: the same men, the same Heroes".
Officially presented last October in Rome - also in the presence of the Undersecretary of Defense, Isabella Rauti -, and subsequently in almost all the regions of Italy, the Army calendar, in its 27th edition, pays homage to some of the military , officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers, awarded the gold medal for military valor "for heroic acts carried out after the armistice and which particularly distinguished themselves also in the previous period", as stated in the abstract published on the Army website.
"Recalling and recounting the episodes that have marked the history of our Republic means honoring those who fought for the homeland; it means reconstructing and passing on the memory. And it also means remembering the great sensitivity that the Italian Army demonstrates every day in keeping alive this shared ideal heritage. Being aware of our history, as an active memory, is essential to understand the present, to plan the future and to best interpret the moment we are living in".
The volume tells the stories and careers of twelve soldiers, one for each month, and their exploits before and after the armistice of 1943. Also remembered are four students defined as "too young to fight before, however educated to love their country".
The backdrop to their photos is a tricolor flag and military awards.
Published by Giunti Editore, the calendar is on sale both in bookstores and online.
Sponsors of the publication are the institutional partners Leonardo Spa, Idv (Iveco Defense Vehicles) and Beretta.
A portion of the proceeds from sales will go to the national assistance service for orphans and career soldiers of the army.
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