Nils Jochum: Von brava gente zu brutta storia? Die Ostfront und Jugoslawien in italienischen Geschichtsschulbüchern

Fascist Italy fought on the side of Nazi Germany on the Eastern Front and against Yugoslavia in 1941-1943, on whose territory it established its own occupational control. These events were distorted in the post-war years through a narrative of brava gente or ‘good people’ (referring to the Italians) and have only been readdressed through research in the last twenty years. The depiction of this period in Italian textbooks contrasts with that in memorial literature and has seen a shift since the end of the Second World War. Until the 1980s textbook authors paid scant attention to events in either location during the war. Many remained completely silent on certain aspects – such as the Italian occupation of Yugoslavia – and did not explain the ideological motivation behind the Italian actions on the Eastern front and in the Balkans. Since the 1990s and the end of the anti-fascist paradigm in Italy textbooks have examined both settings from a new, victim-oriented, perspective, which has further intensified this selective portrayal. However, this more recent period has also seen the publication of the first books that address war crimes that researchers have revealed were committed during the occupation of Yugoslavia. A comprehensive disclosure of the brutta storia, that is to say the inglorious history of Italy on the side of the National Socialists, is, however, still largely lacking in Italian textbooks.

Full text (PDF) (in German)