Franceschini's first outing as minister: let's start antifascism again. There is too much hatred, let's re-establish civil coexistence

The newly appointed minister of cultural heritage, Dario Franceschini, chose the Historical Museum of Liberation in Via Tasso in Rome for his first outing in his official capacity. Exactly as he did in 2014, when he was first invested in the post: in fact, Franceschini considers the museum, set up in the Nazi-Fascist prison where many political prisoners were imprisoned and tortured, a highly symbolic place.

“I think it is right that those who deal with culture begin with this museum,” he said during his visit. “There are more than six thousand museums in Italy, but this in some way is the most symbolic, it is the place where innocent people were tortured, anti-fascists, people persecuted because of the color of their skin, their religion, their political beliefs. So I think it’s important to start from here in order not to lose memory, especially in a time that sees many dangerous elements.”

There was no shortage of considerations on the current situation: “In a speech in 1919,” Franceschini recalled, “Mussolini says exactly these words: ’we must succeed in transforming fear into hatred.’ It seems a phrase, exactly a century later, dramatically relevant, because fears are there among Italians are there, it is natural that they are there. Italians want security, they want to be protected by the state, they want to live quietly in the streets, but to turn these fears into hatred against others is an unbearable thing. In the period when the Ministry of the Interior was unfortunately led by Minister Salvini we saw how much hatred was sown. I think the first thing this government has to do (and will do) is to re-establish a climate of civil coexistence.”

To questions about what his predecessor did, and in particular about the reform of the ministry promoted by former minister Alberto Bonisoli, Franceschini did not respond as he said there will be the appropriate time to address these issues.

Pictured: Franceschini at the Historical Museum of Liberation

Franceschini's first outing as minister: let's start antifascism again. There is too much hatred, let's re-establish civil coexistence

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