In a few days, we will celebrate April 25th, which for many Italians is now simply “picnic day” but which should actually remind us of something very important: liberation from nazism! On this date in 1945, the Northern Italy National Liberation Committee (CLNAI) proclaimed a general uprising throughout all territories still occupied by the Nazis and Fascists, instructing all partisan forces active in Northern Italy to attack, thus encouraging the advance of the Allied forces and the end of the war. But if this is the epilogue of the Italian Resistance, one of the key chapters of this phenomenon was experienced…right here on Mount Etna, two years earlier!

After the Allied landing

After the Allied landing at Gela, southern Sicily, in the summer of 1943, the drama began for the Italian army who found themselves confused and no longer knowing who to fight and where. Taking advantage of this situation, many towns and villages began to liberate themselves from their oppressors, namely the German and fascist militias that had ruled the roost until then.

In August of that year, among the first resistance movements were those on Etna, specifically the uprisings in Mascalucia, Belpasso, Nicolosi, and Pedara, on the southern flank of the volcano, and those in Castiglione di Sicilia (northern slope) and Valverde (eastern slope). In all these towns, the Germans responded to the “betrayal” by capturing and shooting many citizens, but the population’s reactions were equally determined.

The Heroes of Castiglione and many others

Castiglione di Sicilia is the most famous martyred town of that period. On August 12th, 1943, the retreating Germans crossed the town’s territory, already upset because of the Italians’ new hostile attitude. A trivial altercation (perhaps a wrong word or a petty theft) between a farmer and a German soldier sparked a ferocious retaliation. The Germans entered the town, firing blindly and taking hostages. Two hundred people were taken prisoner, while 16 were killed in the street.

It was thanks to the courage of the parish priests, Father Giosuè Russo and Father Salvatore Savoca, and the help of Sister Anna Amelia Casini, that the mayor was first freed, then the doctor, and finally, two days later, all the other hostages.

Before Castiglione, other courageous towns had begun to repel the Germans. In Mascalucia, during the soldiers’ assaults, the Bonaccorso, Amato, and Nicotra families defended themselves with weapons, slowing the military attack on the town. In Pedara, a humble farmer, Mr Alfio Venturo, led the people’s revolt after his mule was robbed by a German soldier. Similar incidents, forgotten for years by Italian news reports, also occurred in Valverde, Belpasso, Adrano, Santa Maria di Licodia, and Acireale. In the latter city, four brave traffic police officers defused four German bombs that had been scattered through the city after the troops had withdrawn.

Not just picnics

So, even though we’ll all be going on vacation on April 25th and enjoy the sun in the many splendid locations of our volcano Etna, let’s not forget to look for those plaques commemorating the heroes of the Resistance in the villages we pass through. And let us all pay homage to these citizens with a thought and a smile, because our freedom to enjoy this holiday today was also achieved through their courage and sacrifice. (PHOTOS BY G. MUSUMECI)