On March 31 in John Cabot University’s Aula Magna Regina auditorium, the screening of a documentary
directed by Piero Melograni entitled "Hitler’s Visit to Italy-1938"
took place. The packed event was hosted by the Guarini Institute for Public
Affairs, Ottavia Criss writes.
This film showed Italy’s enthusiasm for one of the most notorious leaders in history, Adolf Hitler. Director of the film Piero Melograni said before the film was played, “I saw Hitler with my own eyes in Naples when I was only seven years old…A film at times can say more than a book, this documentary is like an essay with images.”
The film documents Hitler’s seven-day visit through Italy in 1938 accompanied by an entourage of 500 people. During his stay, he visited Rome, Naples, and Florence and was always greeted by huge crowds of cheering Italians, enthralled by Benito Mussolini, Hitler, and the fascist ideology. The documentary also reveals that 1 in 20,000 Italian school teachers refused to pledge to fascism in school and only 1 in 1,000 university professors would not support the ideology.
Escorted by King Vittorio Emanuele III and Mussolini, Hitler visited all the major sites in Rome: the Quirinale, Pantheon, Piazza Venezia, Colosseum, Ara Pacis, Villa Borghese, and the Diocletian Baths. As the film shows, Romans welcomed him with open arms, applauding him wherever he set foot on the streets. They even put on folk dancing shows, theater productions, and military demonstrations.
The film was followed by a panel discussion that included Professor Luca De Caprariis, Director Melograni, Professor Paul Arpaia, and Professor Federigo Argentieri. Argentieri said, “this film is extraordinary because it shows something few people know which is the enthusiasm to which Hitler was welcomed…it is not a popular documentary in Italian institutions.”
The film is an eerie reality check for many Italians, reminding them of the role they would playing in backing Hitler during World War II. Marynna Saatdjian, a junior at JCU said, “I consider this film a lesson about how important it is to speak out against something, even if it is not popular or consequences may follow.”
Correction:
The Matthew Online previously reported that it was 1 in 20,000 students who refused to pledge support to fascism in the schools. It should have read "1 in 20,000 school teachers". The Matthew Online regrets the error.
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