{"id":9085,"date":"2015-04-27T17:46:16","date_gmt":"2015-04-27T15:46:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=9085"},"modified":"2015-04-27T17:46:16","modified_gmt":"2015-04-27T15:46:16","slug":"la-festa-della-liberazione","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/la-festa-della-liberazione\/","title":{"rendered":"La Festa della Liberazione"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the 25th of April 1945, Torino and Milano, Northern Italy\u2019s two biggest cities, were liberated from German occupation by Italian Partisans and the Allies forces. On the 28th of April Benito Mussolini was executed by the Partisans and by the 1st of May all of northern Italy had been liberated, thereby putting an end to the Fascist regime and the Second World War in Italy, a dark era in Italian history commonly referred to as il Ventennio Fascista<\/strong> (the Fascist twenty years). Every year, the 25th of April is celebrated as a national holiday: La Festa della Liberazione<\/strong> (Liberation Day), and memorial services take place throughout the country.<\/p>\n

When I think about this particularly dramatic period in our history, the words of one of Salvatore Quasimodo<\/strong>\u2019s most shocking poems always come to me. \u201cAlle Fronde dei Salici\u201d<\/strong> (On the Willow Branches) was published in 1946, and describes the violence and horror imposed upon the helpless civilian population by their invaders, a universal human tragedy that takes place in any war, and which crushes any form of creativity. Hence the poem’s opening lines: E come potevamo noi cantare, con il piede straniero sopra il cuore …<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"55aMilano\"<\/a>

Partisans in Milan, April 1945
<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

The poem\u2019s title refers to Psalm 136, in which the Jews, deported from Israel to Babylon, hung their lyres on the branches of willow trees in protest. \u201cAlle Fronde dei Salici\u201d<\/strong> is filled with biblical images, but the careful use of a few poignant details immediately transports us into the WWII era.<\/p>\n

Alle Fronde dei Salici di, Salvatore Quasimodo<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

E come potevamo noi cantare
\ncon il piede straniero sopra il cuore,
\nfra i morti abbandonati nelle piazze
\nsull\u2019erba dura di ghiaccio, al lamento
\nd\u2019agnello dei fanciulli, all\u2019urlo nero
\ndella madre che andava incontro al figlio
\ncrocifisso sul palo del telegrafo?
\nAlle fronde dei salici, per voto,
\nanche le nostre cetre erano appese,
\noscillavano lievi al triste vento.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Guttuso_Crocifissione\"<\/a>

Crocifissione by Renato Guttuso, 1942<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

On the Willow Branches, by Salvatore Quasimodo<\/u><\/span><\/p>\n

And how could we sing
\nwith the foreign foot upon our heart,
\namongst the dead abandoned in the squares
\non the grass hard with ice, to the children\u2019s
\nlamb like crying, to the black howl
\nof the mother who moved towards her son
\ncrucified on the telegraph pole?
\nOn the willow branches, in protest,
\nour lyres too were hung,
\nthey swayed lightly in the sad wind<\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

On the 25th of April 1945, Torino and Milano, Northern Italy\u2019s two biggest cities, were liberated from German occupation by Italian Partisans and the Allies forces. On the 28th of April Benito Mussolini was executed by the Partisans and by the 1st of May all of northern Italy had been liberated, thereby putting an end…<\/p>\n

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