The Italian city of Salò, the capital of Mussolini’s puppet state backed by Nazi Germany, will house the Museum of the Italian Social Republic, featuring fascist posters, photographs, busts and recorded speeches by the dictator.
The museum, which will open in the fall, will be housed in a former bombproof shelter that has been rebuilt, an undertaking estimated to have cost $235,000.
The Associazione Nazionale Partigiani d’Italia, an association founded by members of the Italian resistance against the fascist regime and Nazi occupation, is not against the museum, but asks that the collection on display be contextualized with the crimes committed at the time .
Anti-fascists and defenders of historical memory warn that the new museum could become a pilgrimage site for fascists.
In return, supporters of the project claim the museum will serve to illuminate a controversial period of Italian history that was not adequately taught in schools.
“We are not interested in demonizing or defending the fascist era,” said one of the supporters, Lisa Cervigni, director of the Museum of Salò, which traces the city’s history.
Salò was the capital of Benito Mussolini’s puppet state between 1943 and 1945, in the midst of World War II.
The puppet state called the Italian Social Republic was created in September 1943 after the Armistice of Cassibile in the northern part of Italy not controlled by the Allies, after it was overthrown by the Italian resistance.
Italy is currently ruled by the far right, with Giorgia Meloni as prime minister, leader of the Brothers of Italy party, direct heir to the National Fascist Party.
Senate President Ignazio La Russa was recently filmed in his home next to busts of Mussolini.
Source: DN
