«Una mattina, mi son svegliato, o bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao! Una mattina mi son svegliato, e ho trovato l’invasooor...»
You are probably humming it while reading because if there is a song that all know, it is this: Bella ciao. But who sang it? And why do we hear in every italian square on the occasion of the Liberation Day on April 25?
The anniversary of the liberation of Italy, also known as the Liberation Day (or simply April 25), is a national holiday of the Italian Republic, which is celebrated every April 25 to commemorate the liberation of Italy from Nazi-fascism, the end of occupation, and the final fall of the fascist regime.
“In 1943, during the Second World War, our Italian great-grandparents took up arms to free Italy from fascists and Nazis, giving life to the Resistance”.
It is a fundamental day for the history of Italy. Symbol of the Resistance, that is of the struggle conducted by the partisans, from 8 September 1943 (the day when the Italians learned of the Armistice of Cassibile, just signed with the Allies), it has taken on a strictly political and military significance.
After the war, the date to celebrate the Liberation was indicated that of April 25, or the day on which the Liberation Committee of Upper Italy proclaimed the general insurrection in all the territories still occupied by Nazi-fascist troops. Within a few days all the main cities of the North were liberated, with the Surrender of Caserta which was signed on April 29, 1945 where an unconditional surrender of the German armed forces and of the RSI was expected.
Among the events of the program of the feast there is the solemn homage, by the President of the Italian Republic and the highest offices of the State, to the chapel of the Unknown Soldier with the deposition of a laurel wreath in memory of the fallen and missing Italians in wars.