Reading the chronicles, it almost seems like you're in another world: "the Commission carefully explored all the places where the fighting had taken place and a body was chosen for each of the following areas: Rovereto, Dolomites, Altipiani, Grappa, Montello, Basso Piave, Cadore, Gorizia, Basso Isonzo, San Michele, from Castagnevizza to the sea. The eleven bodies were first admitted to Gorizia, from where they were then transported to the Basilica of Aquileia on 28 October 1921. Here the choice was made for the body destined for glorious repose on the Altar of the Fatherland. The choice was made by a commoner, Maria Bergamas from Trieste, whose son Antonio had deserted from the Austrian army to join the Italian ranks, and had fallen in combat without his body being able to be identified. The chosen coffin was placed on the carriage of a cannon and accompanied by veterans decorated for valor and wounded several times". Behind this archaic, pompous and now unusual lexicon lies a fundamental moment for the cementation of the unitary State, which moved millions of Italians and was followed with emotion and enormous devotion. The First World War had ended a few years earlier and the strong frustration for the huge number of fallen soldiers had to be transformed into a sense of belonging and construction of the Nation.

Hence the idea of ​​celebrating the Unknown Soldier, with which to honor a young generation literally swept away by the horrors of war. Everything was studied in the smallest details, with the train carrying the coffin that - traveling slowly from the eastern border to the capital - was honored and paid homage throughout the journey by thousands of citizens in tears. The memory of this month - it was October 1021 - faded over time and what was a moment of national sentiment fell into sad oblivion. Certainly historiography had an influence, which appropriately emphasized the horrors of a conflict that had tragically devastated inexperienced young people, and the Second World War, which was closer in time and had extremely significant geopolitical and value effects, also had a great influence. A hundred years later, with a country still tied to the contrast between fascism and anti-fascism, in a paradoxical vicious circle that often seems unable to free itself, it could be useful to recover events, such as that of the Unknown Soldier, with which belonging to the Nation was solidified. Perhaps free from rhetorical elements, it could be an important opportunity for the younger generations to recover a sense of community, Italian but now also European, from which to start again and overcome divisions and distances. After all, even the smallest municipality has a plaque in memory of the fallen of the Great War, and there they could find the names of their grandparents and of many unknown people, whose death cannot be forgotten. Looking to the future, but without forgetting the past.

Davide Rossi

Source: Corriere della Sera – Verona Edition – 23/10/2021