CULTURE – Those stamps commemorating Fascism
“It is a strange country where stamps are dedicated to individuals who were closely involved with the activities of a the Fascist government, which we know caused so much damage.” Thus, the President of the Provincial Council of Bolzano (South Tyrol), Arno Kompatscher, recently revisited the issuing a commemorative stamp for Giovanni Gentile, who is considered the philosopher of Fascism. Poste Italiane issued the stamp in April, coinciding with the 80th anniversary of Gentile’s death, and the move has been widely contested.
Similarly controversial is the decision to dedicate a stamp to Italo Foschi, the Secretary of the Roman Federation of the National Fascist Party and founder of the football club Associazione Sportiva Roma. In this case, the stamp was issued in June, and the Union of the Italian Jewish Communities (UCEI) mobilized to demand its immediate withdrawal. “The decision to honor Foschi with a stamp seems incomprehensible and unacceptable, given his well-known role as a Fascist militant and organizer of squadrist violence in Rome. His loyalty to Mussolini and his support for the murder of Giacomo Matteotti (the Italian socialist politician and anti-Fascist assassinated in 1924) represent painful and unacceptable episodes in our country’s collective memory. Such a choice can only be offensive and damaging to the historical memory and democratic values that we must all defend,” emphasized UCEI President Noemi Di Segni in a letter to the Minister of Enterprises and Made in Italy Adolfo Urso.
It was his ministry that decided on the issuance, without consulting the competent body, the Philatelic Commission, beforehand. This was immediately clarified by former minister Carlo Giovanardi, a member of the Commission, who was the first to call for the withdrawal of the stamp. “I only learned about this issuance because I received an invitation to the official ceremony. Since the Philatelic Advisory Committee was unaware, the first thing I did was to try to understand who this person was. First, I consulted the Treccani encyclopedia and then contacted the Historical Institute of Resistance in Belluno. A terrible portrait emerged, not only of a violent squadrist, but also of a persecutor of Jews and an ally of the Nazis,” Giovanardi had denounced in the pages of the daily Riformista on June 5.
Recently, UCEI has renewed its request to the Ministry of Enterprises to reconsider the stamp honoring Foschi. Additionally, as proposed by Giovanardi, UCEI has suggested “considering the issuance of commemorative stamps for the victims of Fascism rather than for the persecutors as a tangible sign of respect and recognition for those who suffered the most under the Fascist regime.”
(Picture :Arno Kompatscher, President of the Provincial Council of Bolzano, South Tyrol)