The names of the streets and squares in the cities we live in speak to us. In Ronchi dei Legionari, this awareness is strong, thanks to the insights and input of the Ronchi dei Partigiani group, which has put the issue on the agenda for a dozen years. ---- In Ronchi, not only the naming of the town, but also the street names the names of the streets and squares are rather confusing. Over the years, the municipal administration has chosen names that sometimes conflict with each other. From Piazza Oberdan-where the would-be regicide was captured-along Via Roma leads to Piazza Franz Joseph. From the victim to the executioner. Along the way, it passes Piazzetta dell'Emigrante, Piazzale Martiri delle Foibe, and finally Piazza dell'Unità, home to the town hall and the monument to the partisans. A great confusion: holding everything together, against all apparent logic, or rather, according to that idea of shared memory, so typical of contemporary single-track thinking that chews up and spits out every name from the past.
Ronchi is home to an association-Leali delle notizie-that focuses on journalism. It hosts an annual festival here and has long organized a "Walk for Freedom of the Press and Expression," which passes through the town's streets with signs commemorating the lives and deaths of journalists killed in the line of duty. This walk, too, contains some contradictions. Among the names are Enzo Baldoni and Vittorio Arrigoni, but also the neo-fascist from Trieste, Almerigo Grilz, press officer for Renamo, the criminal anti-government group that committed horrendous massacres of civilians in Mozambique.
Amidst the contradictions of these names, the Patatrac association of Monfalcone has put forward the candidacy of two journalists to be added to the list: Camillo Berneri and Carlo Tresca. Two prominent figures in the history of the labor and anarchist movements and journalism, shamefully forgotten due to their inconvenience: they opposed authoritarianism, fascism, and the establishment's dealings with criminals.
The proposal made last year was accepted, and on April 30th at 5:00 pm, the two plaques were officially unveiled, having already been physically installed behind the Ronchi library.
The acceptance of the proposal sparked surprise, but also enthusiasm among those in the area who identify with libertarian ideas. In 2021, a proposal to dedicate a space to the anarchist Giuseppe Nicolausig and Dioniso Rizzardini, on the centenary of their assassination by the fascists, fell on deaf ears in Monfalcone. Space for a plaque commemorating deserters from all wars was also denied by the Municipality of Monfalcone, intent on its narrative of the city as a truly Italian city, proud of its wartime past.
Including Camillo Berneri and Carlo Tresca in the "Walk for Freedom of the Press and Expression" is not only an important revival of the memory of two key figures in the journalism of the labor and anarchist movement of the 1920s and 1940s, but also the recognition of a public space for the entire anarchist and libertarian Ronchi area.
The dedication to Berneri and Tresca also offers the possibility of collaborations with other organizations in the near future, particularly with the Berneri-Chessa Archive in Reggio Emilia, which, through its curator Fiamma Chessa, has already expressed its full availability and welcomed this unexpected news.
Let's reclaim the streets, starting with these symbolic yet fundamental presences in building the identity of places and communities.
The person in charge
https://umanitanova.org/luoghi-che-parlano-danarchia-il-ricordo-di-berneri-e-tresca/
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Source: A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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