Partisan ‘Napoli’ being tortured

Partisan ‘Napoli’ being tortured

A man is tied to a wall with blood dripping from head wounds. Two soldiers in green and black uniforms are threatening him with weapons. One is shouting and pointing to a bludgeon, whilst the other soldier is kneeling down pointing a rifle at the man.

Inscriptions read “208”; signed by the author; caption reads “GENNAIO 1945. I MARTIRI DI PALMANOVA…legato grondante sangue, ma con l’occhio scintillante l’eroe fissa i suoi carnefici con disprezzo “come ti chiami” gli grida il carnefice “Napoli” risponde l’eroe, “sei partigiano” “sì” freddo e fiero esce dalla sua bocca, “quale attività svolgi”. A questa domanda il piccolo Napoli raccoglie in un supremo sforzo, tutte le sue esauste forze, ed ergendo la sua povera e macciulenta [sic] carne, a monito solenne contro i traditori del popolo, risponde: “sono gappista”, chi sono i tuoi compagni urla il fascista, “sono napoletano e non li conosco”. Quattro colpi di mazza lo abbattono, ma ha ancora la forza di balbettare “porco”. Immediatamente il piccolo martire, viene passato alle torture piu raffinate e crudeli “Napoli” si contorce, spasima, invoca la madre lontana ma non parla. Una scarica rabiosa lo abate, l’aureola del martirio cinge la sua fronte; e papa Garibaldi lo accoglie nel cielo degli eroi”.

Caption translates as: “January 1945 – The Palmanova Martyrs… constrained and dripping blood, the hero was staring at his torturers with contempt, maintaining his bright gaze. “What’s your name” yelled the torturer. “Napoli” answered the hero. “Are you a partisan?”. “I am”, said he, cold and proud. “What is your task?”. To answer this question, the little Napoli gathered his strengths with extreme difficulty, he was exhausted. He got up – his body was miserable and emaciated – and, as a reprimand against the traitors of the people, answered: “I’ with the Patriotic Action Groups”. “Who are your comrades?” yelled the Fascist. “I am Neapolitan, I don’t know who they are”. He was knocked over by a bludgeon, but he still found the energy to reply “pig”. The little martyr was immediately tortured using more refined and cruel methods. “Napoli” started writhing. He had spasms and ached. He invoked his long-gone mother, but he doesn’t give away any information. A furious rush of blows knocked him over. The halo of the martyrs on his head, Father Garibaldi welcomes him in the heaven of the heroes.”

One tempera on paper, pasted on mount board

This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.

PFilliputtiA16010081