8/13/2019 Le Fosse Ardeatine Raccontate in India

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Le Fosse Ardeatine raccontate in India

Deccan Herald(Bangalore) 9.11.2013 Through the history of Rome o! 9" 2013" DH# History

lo!ers $ere in for a treat at a lecture and interacti!e session %y &talian scholar and oral historian

'lessandro ortelli" titled *!ent and +emory," at the ational -allery of +odern 'rt (-+')

recently. The e!ent $as organised %y -+'" along $ith the +inistry of ulture" -o!ernment of

&ndia" in colla%oration $ith the entre for u%lic History. /n his first !isit to the ity" 'lessandro

ortelli soe a%out the 19 incident" $here ai occuying forces in Rome e4ecuted 335 men as

a retaliation for a artisan attac. Discussing the history of the massacre" its sym%olic significance

to the historical image of Rome and relating it to the anti6fascist foundation of the &talian

democracy" 'lessandro ortelli raised the contro!ersies in!ol!ed and the myths that surround the

memory of the e!ent. 7&,m using a secific Roman incident to raise 8uestions mainly on ho$ u%lic

memory $ors. & am hoing that through the comments and 8uestion6and6ans$er round" this

session $ill turn into a learning e4erience for me" said the oral historian" adding" 7& don,t no$

much a%out &ndia or more lie" not enough that & can tal a%out. He added" 7&m trying to find my

$ay around the ity since it,s my first time here. But & ha!e found that eole here are sho$ing a

lot of interest in my $or. #eaing during the e!ent" 'lessandro ortelli ointed out that thecold6%looded massacre, is a highly sym%olic e!ent. 7Ha!ing taen lace in Rome" $hich houses

the head of the atholic hurch" it $as %ound to ha!e a greater resonance than if it had taen lace

in a smaller lace. The massacre has a long history and is highly sym%olic" he said. &ndira

ho$dhury" director of entre for u%lic History said" 7&t,s taen a $hile to organise this e!ent. But

$e felt that there $ould %e many $ho $ould %enefit %y listening to this lecture. The aced

auditorium listened in rat attention. 7+y een interest in history is $hat %rings me here. & am an

a!id reader and am aticularly fond of non6fiction. &t $ill %e interesting to hear different

ersecti!es. But it,s not often that & get to attend a lecture of this ind" said rashanth" a mem%er

of the audience. +any $ho made their $ay to the lecture after $or $ere hoing that it $ould %e

$orth the effort. 7& $ant to understand the history of Rome of $hich & don,t ha!e much of an idea.

This is a great oortunity for me to do the same" said 'run" another mem%er of the audience.History student #o$mya" $ho en:oyed the e4erience" shared" 7& didn,t no$ $hat to e4ect $hen &

came in. But it $as really interesting and that :ust sho$s in the sheer num%er of eole $ho are

here. The Hindu o!em%er 1" 2013 The right to remem%er #R';'#T& D'TT' T'osse 'rdeatine +assacre held at

ational -allery of +odern 'rt (-+') %y the entre for u%lic History of #rishti #chool of 'rt"

Design and Technology. Reno$ned oral historian" $riter and musicologist" 'lessandro ortelli

soe a%out his %oo The /rder Has Been arried /ut " $hich e4lores the >osse 'rdeatine

+assacre. /n +arch 2" 19" 335 men $ere illed %y ais in Rome. 7The attac $as suosedlyin retaliation for a artisan attac" an attac that the &talian li%eralisers had $aged against the

ais" says 'lessandro. 7Rome %ecame the head 8uarters for the ais fighting in the front. 's

soon as the ais occuied the city" an underground li%eration mo!ement %egan. &t $as an entirely

!oluntary mo!ement and all the olitical anti6fascist organisations :oined them. &t $as a hard time

for the eole in Rome. They had to sur!i!e hunger and air raids" $hich illed thousands of eole.

To affirm that Rome $as not entirely under the ais" the artisans %egan to attac the ais in

different arts of the to$n. /n +arch 23" 19" a grou of artisans attaced a grou of ai

soldiers attached to the ##. 7&t $as an e!ent that seemed to sho$ that the ais did not control the

city" that they $ere not in!ulnera%le. 'nd" therefore" it %ecame immediately necessary for the ais

to terrorise the city. #ignificant The massacre %ecame sym%olic for a num%er of reasons. 7The first

$as the location of the massacre. Rome is not :ust any lace. &t is a highly sym%olic city. &n fact"throughout @@&&" in *uroe" this $as the only ma:or cold %looded massacre that too lace in a

%ig city. This $asn,t the $orst massacre in the history of -ermany6occuied &taly. There ha!e %een

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others in $hich more eole $ere illed %y the air raids of the 'llies. +ost ai massacres too

lace in rural laces. &n most other mass illings" the social comosition of the !ictims $as

relati!ely homogenous as the oulation of a rural !illage or a small to$n is. &n Rome" $hat you

had $as a cross6section of the oulation of the %ig city. The stories 'lessandro has chronicled in

his %oo are of the eole $ho $ere in!ol!ed in the e!ent. 7The !ictims $ere all men" $hich means

the story of the sur!i!ors $ere mainly memories of $omen. 'nd it $as in seaing to and

understanding the stories of those $ho $ere directly affected %y the massacre" that 'lessandrorealised that oral history goes %eyond $hat society considers 7rele!ant to %e recorded. 'lessandro

says the massacre $as a comlicated rocess. 7&t $as !ery $ell organised. They dre$ u lists" they

had logistics. 7/ften in the commemoration of the e!ent" eole tal a%out it as a %ar%arous"

sa!age massacre," & thin this is a serious mistae. This $as a highly ci!ilised massacre. &t could not

ha!e %een erformed unless you had all of state and %ureaucracy $oring to mae it ossi%le. &t is

imortant to understand that if $e say it $as a %ar%arous massacre" $e are saying $e ha!e had

nothing to do $ith it" $e,re ci!ilised. &t $as our ci!ilisation that made 'usch$it ossi%leA it could

not ha!e %een done $ithout chemical industries" $ithout the modern state. 7That raises the meaning

of the e!ent in terms of our heritage" our ci!ilisation. Ho$e!er" $hat maes this e!ent esecially

contro!ersial is the $ay it,s %een remem%ered" says 'lessandro. 7The anti6artisan narrati!e goes

lie this? the artisans attaced those oor -erman soldiers and they illed them and then the aisosted %ills all o!er the city saying unless the eretrators turn themsel!es in" $e shall ha!e to ill

10 eole for e!ery -erman illed" so that in the end the %lame falls on the artisans" $ho are guilty

of not turning themsel!es in and therefore" forcing the oor -ermans to ill 335 eole. 7#o $ho do

$e %lame @e do not %lame the ais %ecause they did $hat they had to do. But $e %lame the

artisans for attacing the ais and for allo$ing them to %e illed. 'lessandro says $hat actually

occurred is different from $hat is remem%ered of the e!ent. 7The ais didn,t ost any %ills and

didn,t loo for artisans. The massacre too lace less than 2 hours after the artisan attac. #o it,s

clearly a false narrati!e. Ho$e!er" it has taen roots in u%lic imagination due to a num%er of

reasons.

#R';'#T& D'TT'