Fate of Italian Refugees in Russia

...While he was speaking, tears filed the eyes of most of the listeners...

...Not *»» than 200 accepted the offer...

...The emotion which was evoked by the presence of young Matteotti, reports the correspondent of La I'arola, New York Italian Socialist Weekly, is beyond description...

...In September, the disappointed Germans sent their Breton prisoner* to the labor camps of Pomerania and Western Prussia...

...Thou shalt aid our Allies by undermining German morale...

...Thia man, now become a member of the Italian cabinet, betrayed his colleague on the Executive Committee, Angelo Taaco, who waa expelled, and line* then he haa obediently toed th* Una...

...Among the name* on the list of those who secured his freedom I find those of Romain Koland, ¦rust Toller, Georges Duhamel, Panait lstrati, Kaethe Kollwitz, Leon Werth, Boris Souveraine, Heinrirh Mann, Fernado de Rosa, Luigi Fabbri, Henri Barbusse, Jacques Mesnil...

...Several men reached him, carried him on their shoulders through the throng...

...Othello Gaggi, Tuscan workingman, trade, unionist, condemned by the court of Arezzo to 30 years in prison for having defended hi* village of San Giovanni di V*ldsmo against the Black Shirts, found asylum in Russis, lived there 14 years and was seized during th* mass arrests of 1935...

...In 1936 he asked in vain from the depths of his prison for the privilege of going to fight against the fascists in Spain...

...During hi* stay in Moscow, Togliatti served a* a member of the Executive Committee of th* Communist International...

...Ho directed the secretariat of the Latin countrie* and frequently had occasion to visit Spain...

...As a worthy descendant of the great anti-fascist leader, Giacomo Matteotti, and as leader of the Socialist Youth of Italy, young Matteotti has transmitted a message to the youth of America in which he pleads for understanding and appreciation of the terrible catastrophe into which Mussolini plunged Italy...

...Baring the time of the bloody Moscow trials in l!i:i7, be disappeared again—thi* time completely, leaving nothing but silence...

...Liberty, for which for about a year we have fought under most desperate conditions, in the partissn war and in the underground activity, atiast illuminates a great part of our country which today see* th* dawn of a new era in the sphere of democracy...

...Thousands of patriot*— peasants, workmen, craftsmen—came from all parts of Brittany to fight with these parachute troops, to receive arms, equipment, advice, and orders...

...But the American war correspondents must have been too busy with military developments to note the great political event which took place on June 10th, the anniversary of the murder of Giacomo Matteotti, the great Socialist leader...

...He served a sentence of five years on the notorious island of Lipari (1926-32), fled from Italy, found refuge in Moscow, was arrested in 1936 without any definite charges and deported to the northern region of Shenkoursk...

...During hi* deportation he came hear dying of hunger...

...Luigi Calligaris, a Trieste militant, Socialist, then Communist, was publisher of a clandestine newspaper Under the fascist regime...

...First of all, there was Francesco Ghezzi...

...Each one was Ikon furnished with civilian clothe*, 100 francs, and tracts printed in Germany which they were to distribute t* the population...

...From many villages, the entire population, men, women and children, sailed to England...

...His only "crime" was a request to be allowed to leave the U.S.S.R...

...Signed: Matteo Matteotti, Secretary, young Socialist Federation of the Italian Socialist Party...

...Nazaire, French patriots came out of hiding to fight beside them in the streets, houses, and cafes...

...M. Palmiro Togliatti (alia* Ercoli), minister in the Bonomi cabinet, knows the stories of these eases down to tha laat detail...

...I happened to meet him at the lime of hi* release and found him more devoted than ever t* the Soviet cause but still true to his own convictions...

...If in the cities and in the countryside of Italy, destruction, death and misery- sad heritage of tha regime which has plunged the country into catastrophe— cruelly strikes our people, we, the youth, know how to face thi* hard ordeal which the future haa in store for u* with a new-born faith In our force* and in the fraternal help of the free people that are waging war against Nazi-Fascist barbarism...

...As a child, he was forced to assume another name, for the name Matteotti for a long time continued to sound "doom" in the ears of the dictator who ordered his murder...

...Today hia plain duty ia to inform Italian ami-fascists and decent, honest persona everywhere of tho fate of the Italian refugees who have diaappeared in Ruaeia during these long years of persecution...

...When he had finished, Pietro Nenni, editor of the Socialist daily "Avanti," which re-appeared in Rome shortly after that city's liberation, embraced and kissed him...

...Letters addressed to him were returned...

...Most of them were men dis-a|*jtd*h*d for ide*li*m and strength of character...

...The GPU intercepted some of his correspondence and gave him the choice between exclusion a'nd persecution or collaboration...

...Thou shalt pall tight thy belt to humor oar Lord Darlan...

...BrETON resistance song* are full of grim humor, and it was these same patriot* who gave France the "Seven Commandments for Occupation": "1...

...Following is the text of the appeal: "For the first time after 20 year* of slavery and oppression, we the young Socialists of Italy can semi you, young people of America, the fraternal greeting that unites all free men...

...It depends on fa alone and on.our determination in the days to come whether Brittany may again be free and happy or may disappear forever...

...The first manifestation waa the tremendous exodua of seamen and fishermen from' the coastal areas...

...One group of parachute troops, under tha command of Lt...

...If they still live, what ar* the reason* valid to any anti-totalitarian mind, why they ar* not allowed to return to their own country, a country which they never wished to leave, which they served in dangerous combat, and which now ha* begun painfully to liberate itself after 22 year* of fascism...

...Many of these I had 'net personally either in jail or out...

...All the male population of the Sein Island, except the mayor and the priest, went <o England to join de Gaulle...

...Bretons who possessed firearm* hid them...

...Thou *h*lt ignore tho invaders that thoa mayst enjoy long life...

...Unimpressed by the prospect of autonomy, the Bretons started to reaist on the very day of the Germans' arrival...

...He himself came within the shadow of prison doors, having been in 1930-31 head of a clandestine opposition group connected with the Bukharin "deviation" which had tha ambition to modify the internal administration method* of the Executive Committee of the Comintern...

...Passive resistance infuriated the Germans, who raged futilely when official notices wefe defaced or when all French passenger* left street car* upon entrance of a German soldier...

...Jeanne d"Arc to protect oar soldiers...

...Two year* later, international protest brought about his liberation...

...I could ¦seer forget their sterling character and their devotion to the great ideas which we sum up under the word tbatoeraey...

...I cherish the hope that the question will be put to him: What has become of Francesco Ghezzi, Othello Gaggi, Liuigi Calligaris and many other* T If they are dead, how and why did they diet Waa it in captivity...

...That was seven years ago...

...ThESB men are not the only ones...

...As soon as the announcement was made that the son of Giacomo Matteotti was present, the great crowd was deeply moved...

...Those who stayed behind soon began to haras* the invaders...

...in 1938, banished by order of $*»!>" la crossing the frontier, I took a vow to defend (be live* and rights of the Socialists, trade unionists, ¦eertariana and the opposition Communists whom I left behind me hi the prison*, the concentration camps and at the various deportation points...

...On this day, more than 20,000 people gathered on the very spot where the beloved anti-fascist martyr was kidnapped, on the l.ungotevere Arnaldo da Brescia, to pay homage to his memory...

...The militant Spaniard* who supported his request never received any reply to their petitions...

...In August, 1940, Breton prisoner* **ld in Germany were offered the same choice...

...Despite heavy losses, this group successfully attacked numerous German detachments and destroyed telephone network*, munitions dumps, and communication lines of great importance to the enemy...

...Wp CAD put hope that some of them have survived...

...Among them were a number of Italian eeasrsdes...

...Loaded with anti-tank machinery, bazooka*, mines, and explosives, they have bean working with the patriots snd serving as liaison between the Bretons and the Allies...

...hotels, and exposed to indoctrination...

...Matteo Matteotti wants the youth of America to see to it that "the solidarity which spring* op from the common sacrifices for the common cause, may bring about a fraternal collaboration aiming at the establishment of a great community of free and friendly nations in which Italy would be allowed to make her contribution of labor and spirit towards the creation of a reign of equality and social justice...

...Such propaganda was soon being distributed by the Cermaaa themselves...

...But en* Would think that'Cabinet member Togliatti would bow acknowledge other duties toward hi* fallow citizen* than those which Mated on the shoulder* of Comintern functionary Ercoli...

...6 Thoa ahalt keep faith in thy own heart under and against all difficulties...

...7, And victory shall come to us If thoa doest all thia to the letter...

...If they ere dead, we have the right mad d*<f (* aeic when and how they died...

...Matteo Matteotti Appeals to the Youth of America The Allies entered Rome on June 5th...

...If he is liiieg he must be about 50 years of age...

...Colonel Bourgoin, was the first French unit to fight on French soil after the start of the Invasion, and formed a nucleus for some 10,000 members of the resistance...

...He is now Secretary of the Young Socialist Federation of the Socialist Party of Italy, and editor of its official organ "Socialist, Revolution," of which there is a clandestine edition being published in Northern Italy...

...Entire fleets of fishing vessels P"t to sea...

...Thoa shall prsy to St...

...Young Matteotti then delivered a brief address...

...The thousands present did not even know that he was still alive...

...Since **en there ha* been no news of him...

...Meanwhile the "autonomist" leader Debeauvais returned to Rennes to set up a Breton militia ^or distribution of propaganda and protection of his colleagues...

...For the future, we have faith In you, young people of America, who have lost many on th* Italian battlefields, to see to it thst the solidarity which springs up from the common sacrifices for the common cause, may bring about a fraternal collaboration aiming at the establishment of a great community of free and friendly nations in which,Italy would be allowed to make her contribution of labor and spirit towards the creation of a reign of equality and social Justice...

...Thou shall compile Hats of all those who have sold their seal* to the devil*, list* to be uncd on the beautiful dsy of judgment...

...our efforts and our daring spirit will support the liberating troops, to th* conclusion of this savage battle for civilization...

...As director of tha Italian section of th* Comintern, he must more than once have been informed or consulted about them...

...Workers were given a choice •Mween joining the "movement" and working for their •sptora in Brittany or refusing to join and being deported to Germany...

...A native of Mian, a worker, a militant trade unionist, an anarchist from his eighteenth year, police persecutions forced him to dee to Moscow in 1921...

...In any case, we cannot fjsget the** men...

...The event had profound significance, for, present at the historic ceremony, was the son of the martyr, Mat-teo Matteotti...

...They geaii perform important services in the new Italy...

...Voung Matteotti, who had participated in the patriot struggle behind the lines, has revealed himself a brilliant orator and forceful writer...

...j Hft the U.S.S.R...

...Be continued to live the hard life of a factory worker...

...When British commandos struck at St...

...True to his convictions, he refused to join the Communist Party, turned down all offers to occupy important posts and preferred to remain a mere worker in a factory...

...Today our energies are concentrated on th* hard struggle for the liberation of that section of Italy which is still under the yoke of the invader, and where many of our comrades are daily sacrificing their live* in the torture chambers, in the street* of th* cities and in the dark alley* of the prisons...

...Save Brittany from disaster by proclaiming her secession from France...

...These Sglpteo—or aa many of them as have survived—could Wjyt* repatriated...

...Fate of Italian Refugees in Russia By Victor Serge WHAT has become of tha Italian political refugee* received in Russia during tha revolution T For tho moat port they have diaappeared in GPU prisons, Relationa have been re-estlblzihed be-u- i it* Soviet government and liberated Italy...

...Tfjet country has groat need of such men now that it |pn keen freed from fascism...

...Assassinations, sabotage, clandestine propaganda—all the weapons of th* Underground army were effectively used...

...French parachute troops, trained in Great Britain, have been active in Brittany line* June...

...For every patriot who died, another waa ready to take his place...

...An elaborate labor system was developed jn Brittany...

...As a matter of course, the Germans shot hostage*, singly or in groups, in reprisal, but executions had no effect on tha resistance...

...In 1929 the GPU seized him and, without any trial, threw him into jail...

...As a general rule —With very few exceptions—tha Italian refugee* were either imprisoned or deported...

...He was highly regarded by all who knew him...

...Others stole from the Germans...