Audio tour 5. The twentieth century: Fascism, the Resistenza, the emigration.

The twentieth century: the Fascism, the Resistenza, the emigration.

Between the two wars and after the Second World War, Calvene again experienced a large flowing of population traveling to Europe and to overseas countries. The few who remained were employed in rural activities or as “recuperanti”*, while the women raised silkworms and worked the straw.

During the twenty years of the Fascism, Calvene, thanks to its secluded position, became a meeting point for the anti-fascists of the area. Anyway, a great part of the inhabitants of Calvene adhered to the Fascism because they were forced or driven by other interests.

With the Second World War, the conditions of the inhabitants of Calvene became even harsher: hunger and whooping cough weakened the population, who also deprived themselves of wedding rings for collecting metals for the military needs.

Despite this suffering, the Second World War was experienced through battles far from the native country, but with the drama of the departure of the men to the front.

It was after the fall of the Fascism, in 1943, and with the Constitution of the Republic of Salò, with the support of the Nazis in the Italian territory, that the population had been suffering for a long period the roundups: the raids were aimed at finding those who had chosen not to join the newborn Republic and those who escaped, hiding in the woods and in rural structures, such as stables and granaries.

The town also became a cantonment for the Partigiani**; the brigades of the Altipiano and of the Pedemontana installed their garrisons, hidden from view by the thick woods and by the natural ravines that the mountain offered. After the war, the town experienced a further loss of inhabitants, who went overseas to seek for a job and their fortune: they moved mainly to America and to Australia, but they also arrived in North Europe, notably in Belgium.

Anyway, this is another story….

Notes.

*The term “recuperanti” indicates the people that, after the war, went to the battlefields, especially in the trenches, and recovered the war residues to sell them as scrap or as explosives.

**The term “partigiano" (partisan) indicates the individual that took part to the movement of the Resistenza in Italy (Resistance).