Conte in Sant’Anna di Stazzema: “We want to ban Nazi and Fascist memorabilia”

"At dawn on 12 August 1944, an SS company laid siege to the village of Sant’Anna di Stazzema in a tragic crackdown. Within a matter of hours, it became the scene of one of the most brutal massacres of the Second World War." These were the words of M5S leader Giuseppe Conte at the commemoration of the Sant’Anna di Stazzema massacre. In his official capacity, the former Prime Minister was entrusted with delivering the official address marking the 82nd anniversary of the massacre perpetrated by Nazi troops on 12 August 1944 in the small Tuscan village. Over 500 people lost their lives. Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani was also present at the ceremony: this is the first time a member of the centre-right government has taken part in the commemoration of the massacre.

“On that day in Sant’Anna, not even a glimmer of humanity survived; only the blind fury of barbarism raged,” added Conte. Alongside the German soldiers were also men and women with their faces half-covered; they spoke Italian – they were the collaborators, the Fascist accomplices in this massacre. It was not a military reprisal; it was a premeditated terrorist act, a massacre planned and carried out down to the smallest detail. And this is not merely an assessment by historians; it is now a definitive verdict of the courts of the Italian Republic.”

It is a commemoration of one of the darkest chapters of the last century, yet there are plenty of references to current affairs. “Anyone who claims to be a patriot should be here to honour the homeland,” said Conte, most likely alluding to General Roberto Vannacci, leader of Futuro Nazionale. “We cannot honour the homeland unless we remember those who refused to bow to the dictatorship and gave their lives for it. Those who do not bow before this civic memorial, those who shy away from speaking the truth, not only continue to wound an entire community but ultimately end up denying the very foundations of our republican history.” Conte also expressed his support for the citizens’ initiative bill promoted by the Municipality of Stazzema against propaganda and the dissemination of fascist and Nazi messages, which is still pending in the Chamber of Deputies. “I too, within the scope of my role in the opposition and on behalf of my political party, will press for a debate to be held in the Justice Committee on this citizens’ initiative aimed at banning Nazi and Fascist symbols and merchandise,” he said. “Democratic solutions must always be defended and protected today. Formal gestures or words of convenience are not enough.”

References also to the international situation. “Peace is never a surrender; it requires courage” and “compels us to strongly condemn the horror in Gaza, where over 20,000 defenceless children have been massacred by the Israeli army. This is the time for peacemakers to step forward”, starting by “disarming language”. This, he added, “is also the time for builders of hope”. 

“Defending the Constitution is not about dwelling on the past; it is a force for the future, one that extends into the future. Here at Sant’Anna di Stazzema, in this secular memorial, every citizen who identifies with republican values renews their oath to the Constitution,” concluded Conte. “It is an act of remembrance, but also an act of responsibility: to preserve the truth, protect democracy and honour those who gave their lives for these principles.” 

"We have a duty to remember the victims of Sant'Anna di Stazzema; I am here to reaffirm that this government and all the institutions of the Republic will do whatever is necessary to ensure that their sacrifice is not forgotten and was not in vain," said Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani in his closing address at the commemorative ceremony for the victims. This is the first time that a representative of a centre-right government has taken part in the commemoration of the Nazi-Fascist massacre at Sant’Anna di Stazzema.

“Nazism and fascism are tragedies of the past, which will not return in those forms, but Europe and the world are currently being haunted by the very same spectre of intolerance, extremism and ideological distortion,” said Tajani. “Within our own democracies, there are forces seeking to undermine the dignity and credibility of democratic institutions; there is systematic disinformation spread by modern mass media,” he added. 

“There are regimes in the world that attack sovereign states, such as Ukraine, by the law of the strongest; there are totalitarian systems that possess nuclear weapons or are seeking to develop them,” continued Tajani, who then linked this reference to contemporary conflicts to the duty to defend “freedom, democracy, peace”, recalling that these values must be safeguarded “from Europe’s borders to the Middle East, right through to the forgotten wars in Africa”. 

Elly Schlein also spoke out on Sant’Anna di Stazzema. "Remembering the Nazi-Fascist horror and the martyrs of Sant’Anna is a duty, because history cannot be rewritten or forgotten," wrote the secretary of the PD in a post. “The massacre at Sant’Anna di Stazzema is a wound in Italian and European history that serves as a reminder of the need for a daily effort to defend democracy, freedom and the anti-fascist principles of our Constitution and our Republic.”