03-08-2025
My family witnessed fascism in Italy. It reminds me of what's happening today
For those with relatives living in other countries, you know when the phone rings in the early morning, it can usually mean only one thing: Bad news.
In March, my cousin called me in the early morning hours from Italy to share sad news; my favorite aunt had passed away in her sleep.
My Italian mother, Antonietta Bellicanta Fontana, survived the occupation of her family home by German soldiers during World War II. She lived in a small northern Italian village (about an hour from Venice) called Cavaso del Tomba. I not only grieved the loss of my aunt, I also grieved knowing that another important voice had been forever silenced, because my aunt's passing brought back stories my mother had shared with me about German occupation of her home during the war.
The German Army had occupied my mother's village for some time. Then, on September 24, 1944, around noon, German soldiers drove a truck with several partisan prisoners on board into the village. They were coming from a nearby village where they had already hung two of the partisans.
They stopped in the main town square, which was across from the tavern where my mother and her family lived. My mother's family was having lunch when two German soldiers and two Black Brigades (Italian militia fascists) entered with machine guns pointed at them. They told my grandfather to bring a ladder that would be used for hanging. They gathered the whole town to witness the executions.
My mother was 11, my uncle was 13 and my three aunts were ages 8, 6 and 4. The purpose of the hanging was to show the town's population what end came to those who rebelled against the fascist regime.
A German soldier placed the ladder on a light pole and tied the rope. Then, a partisan named Ermenegildo Metti climbed onto the side of the truck. He kept his gaze fixed on the people, but he looked serene and resigned.
The soldiers put the noose around his neck and then pulled the truck forward. His body dangled there as the truck was moved to another light pole. The next partisan to be hung was a small boy dressed in a sailor's uniform. There was also a priest on the truck; before he died, with the noose around his neck, he said, 'Goodbye brothers, long live Italy!' Then, the truck moved forward again.
Today, my mother, my uncle and now one aunt have passed. Another aunt has dementia. Only the youngest of the family is still alive today to bear witness to the final result of fascism. Fascism is described as a far-right form of government where most of the country's power is held by one ruler or a small group under one party. Sadly, this is now on the rise — and fascism has become a polarizing force in our own nation today.
We must look inside ourselves and stand up for those whose voices are being silenced. History has taught us that many societies believed that others would take action against fascism. Unfortunately, no one did.
Notably, there are dire consequences and dangers to bystander silence. A bystander is defined by the National Children's Bureau as 'a person who slows down to look at a traffic accident, but doesn't stop to offer assistance, the person who watches an argument on the street, and a crowd that gathers to watch a playground fight. They are the audience that engages in the spectacle, and watches as a drama unfolds.'
We cannot be bystanders. We must act as defenders — the people who fight to stand up for what is right.
Our democracy is now at serious risk. And we now have a government that appears to believe it can do anything it wants without consequence. We have a president that's been immunized by our Supreme Court of any criminal responsibility, who is immune from civil suit while in office and who believes he can ignore the courts at will. This is the exact definition of tyranny: an 'unlimited authority or use of power, or a government which exercises such power without any control or limits.'
Today, in Cavaso del Tomba, memorial markers commemorate each of the execution sites where those brave partisans lost their lives. My family and I solemnly walked that road last summer to honor those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for freedom. It is a memory that I will never forget.
April marked the 80th Anniversary of Italy's liberation from fascism. Those voices from the past should always speak loudly.
Together, we must stand in solidarity, become united and pray that 2025 does not become the year that history repeats itself in America.
Trish Fontana was born and raised in Sacramento. She is retired after spending nearly four decades in the California State Capitol, where she worked for two California lieutenant governors, two governors, two first ladies and two state senators.
