It was not a dystopian film nor a grotesque return to the darkest years: it happened, once again, in the center of Cagliari, on Friday 23 May, in front of a classical high school.
Smoke bombs lit, a banner reading “Anti-fascism has been mafia since '43” and militants from Blocco Studentesco – the youth branch of Casapound – lined up as if in an out-of-time parade .
The target? The Siotto High School, guilty of being a living stronghold of historical memory, critical culture and democratic education.
All of this, of course, was filmed and spread on social media. The blitz seems to have been born with the intention of sowing "provocation and destabilizing the city's historic school of free thought."
And so, after a few days of reflection and concern, the school's teaching staff took a firm stance , condemning the action as a "dangerous attempt at intimidation", the result of an ideology that history has already condemned.
"Such despicable provocations," reads the official statement, "do not undermine the anti-fascist and democratic identity of our institute, which remains a training ground for debate and active citizenship."
The Siotto classical high school, a symbol of culture and civil resistance in the heart of Cagliari, is an institution that has made education in rights and memory its banner .
These are the words used in the teachers' statement: "Whoever tries to rewrite history to discredit anti-fascism will not find fertile ground within these walls."
Siotto – students and teachers assure – is not (and will never be) the stage for toxic nostalgia . «Freedom of speech and thought was conquered with the blood of those who resisted. And this freedom, today more than ever, needs to be defended».
