“A small Italian town can teach the world how to defuse controversial monuments”
An article by
Carlo Invernizzi-Accetti on The Guardian
“The small northern Italian town of Bolzano may provide the model for a
better way of dealing with such thorny issues. For several decades, what
are now the town’s financial offices have been housed in a fascist-era
building displaying a massive bas-relief of Benito Mussolini on
horseback, bearing the slogan “Credere, Obbedire, Combattere” (“Believe,
Obey, Combat”) on the side. Although Italy’s fascist past is officially
condemned, the monument stood untouched until a 2011 directive from the
national government formally required the municipal administration to
do something about it.“
