Fascism. Numerous museums had restricted their cultural antibodies necessary to prevent that past
focus to the last years of the regime, the war and from repeating itself. Certainly, in reflecting on the
the resistance, but not its genesis or its historical debate that has been opened among historians and
setting in the context of the twentieth century. intellectuals regarding the project of the “Museum
The project prepared by the scientific committee of Fascism”, we cannot deny that Fascism remains
has several cultural and historiographic strengths. alive in the collective European consciousness, and
It begins by depicting what was happening in in the Italian consciousness in particular. This is not
other European countries and, in particular, in due so much to the fact that the return of a “Fascist
Germany: totalitarianism – and Fascism, which is solution” is looming on the horizon of European
an integral part of it – is a historical phenomenon politics but rather the fact that “dealing” with
of contemporary Italy and Europe, which can Fascism, both in terms of its historical interpretation
and should be described above all to the younger and public recollections, has turned out to be a
generations, now separated from those tragic events more complex operation than expected, due to the
by almost a century. Documentation and exhibition weight of the divided and opposing memories. By
centres are the cornerstone of all memorialization helping to creation of a shared and mature approach
processes. The more controversial the past, the more to the past, our project aims to consign it to the
necessary they are, especially if, as is the case of all pages of history. The scientific committee knew
the important events in the twentieth century it has that in designing a centre for the study of Fascism
generated divided memories. it would have to state explicitly the perspective it
We have the historiographic knowledge needed
would apply, especially with regard to the exhibition.
to restore the complexity of that twenty-year No narrative is neutral, not just in terms of the
period of totalitarian dictatorship, to penetrate its point of view of the values to which it refers, but
power mechanisms and the reasons for its mass also, and above all, in terms of its historiography.
acceptance without risking a confusion between Our centre wants to propose a vision of Fascism
the historical and ethical-political judgment or that goes beyond the “anti-Fascist paradigm”, a
falling into an allegedly neutral objectivity. Today, framework created by anti-Fascist militants during
the anti-Fascist perspective, that of democratic and the fierce years of repression and exile, but whose
constitutional values, is no longer an obstacle to the flaws and conceptual doubts are now plain to see;
need to make the history of Fascism comprehensible but also beyond “revisionism”, which after achieving
to young generations; in fact, it represents the notable innovations at the scientific level, lost its
only possible way to understand it, as evidenced by way in the meanderings of a supposed “Fascist”
similar experiences that are multiplying in countries historiography and in the effort to reduce Fascism to
that have had totalitarian dictatorships in their “Mussolinism”, a personal dictatorship that oversaw
recent history. Telling the story of Fascism today an inoffensive, kind-hearted police state, without
is possible because we understand it much more the slightest connection with Nazism.
than we did: we can answer questions about its
Beyond the heated discussions of recent years,
meaning from people who want to know not only this project is hardly original: in Germany, Russia,
what the historical period was really like, but also Poland, Portugal, to mention just a few countries,
why the totalitarian regime prevailed in Italy and a similar path is being followed in which the
why it had the strength to spread internationally construction of sites of interpretation and research
as an alternative to democracy and Bolshevik is helping to activate a conscious memory, as an
totalitarianism. We live in a stable democratic society antidote to the temptations of nostalgia and any
that has the strength to confront its past freely and uncertainty about the judgment that a democratic
consciously, even if its past is tragic – not just to community should issue on that past. In fact, in
know where we come from, but also to produce the many aspects, the Predappio project fills a gap,
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Observing Memories
ISSUE 3