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Giorgio Marincola, an Afro-Italian partisan born under Italian occupation in Somalia. He was murdered on May 4th 1945 together with 20 other Partisans in the last massacre by the Nazis on Italian territory (Massacres of Ziano, Stramentizzo & Molina di Fiemme)
âSento la patria come una cultura e un sentimento di libertĂ ,non come un colore qualsiasi sulla carta geografica. La patria non è identificabile con dittature simili a quella fascista.Patria significa libertĂ e giustizia per i Popoli del Mondo. Per questo combatto gli oppressorâ
(in english) I feel that the homeland is a culture and a feeling of freedom, not as a random colour on a map ... The homeland cannot be identified as a dictatorship like fascism. Homeland means freedom and justice for the People of the World. Thatâs why I fight the oppressors..â
More photos of Giorgio
Giorgio was born in âItalian Somaliaâ to a Italian colonial officer & Somali woman.. he was then taken to Italy along with his sister (Isabella) where he grew up with his fathers family & Italian wife. Isabella wrote a biography âTimira. Romanzo Meticcioâ about their life.
Giorgio was just a student in university but he felt compelled to join the liveration struggle against the Nazis. He took part in sabotage operations & armed fighting & was known for his courage. In January â45 he was imprisoned by the SS & forced to spread propaganda on radio..
But he refused to, infact he did the opposite & as consequence he was beaten whilst still on air by SS officers. After 3mths the SS abandoned the prison, Giorgio had the option to go safety to Switzerland, instead he carried out his last operation that was deemed fatal...
On May 4 â45 along with comrades of the partisan faction in the Fiemme Valley. The locals feared reprisals from the retreating SS, they were right. On that day, the last massacre took place by the Nazis in Italy with 45 murdered, including Giorgio and 20 of his comrades.
The body of Giorgio, known as Tenente Mercurio (Lt Mercury), was the only black body found. The other 20 all white & easily idenfitable as Italians. This caused media stir at the time, as âBlack Italianâ was/still is perceived as an oxymoron...
...âItalianessâ is violently associated with whiteness. The violence of the Italian colonial legacy & with it, the children of white colonisers are forgotten & washed away from the collective memory of the country.
His body was âunexplainableâ due to his blackness. The people who found him first thought he must be African-American, or a South American doctor... how could a black man be a italian partisan? Italians are supposed to be white.
Even years later, the monarchist/anti-communist Partisan âEdgardo Sognoâ who fought beside Giorgio refers to him in his memoirs as âmulattoâ. Not as Lt. Mercury as his comrades called him, he is not even given his name.
Whilst studying medicine at uni, his sister recalls âif you only knew, when he had to go to university to take an exam, when be was forced to wear the blackshirt, if you only knew the swearing, his rageâ.
The writer of Wu Ming 2 points out, when Giorgio was asked why he was fighting on the side who colonised his country, Giorgio never said he was Italian. He was not moved by nationalism like other partisans. He said: âHomeland means freedom & justice for the people of the worldâ
