WWII And the Rebirth of the Mafia

 

 

 

June 1943:

Allies invade Italy and land in Sicily with two armies (Eisenhower and Patton)

Charles Poletti appointed chief of the AMGOT

OSS-US MAFIOSI-ITALIAN MAFIOSI: Italian Mafiosi are used to keep order in Sicily and for logistic information

                                  

The rebirth of the mafia

Mafiosi came out of prison as antifascists; the mafia openly and compactly supported the Americans

The political reference of this rebirth is represented by SEPARATISM (49th star), whose leader is FInocchiaro Aprile; mafia and nobles openly supports this movement because they were scared of the developments in the North of Italy (Resistance: PCI-PSI); caution of the Americans

 

WWII Aftermath: Italian Politics

1945-1946: fight between the army (EVIS) of the Sicilian separatist Movement (MIS) and Italian troops sent to Sicily

1946: referendum + elections of deputies of a constituent assembly (for the first time in the Italian history women vote); Choice is between Monarchy or Republic

1946: Sicily given AUTONOMY

1947: First Sicilian Elections, victory of the PCI and PSI (Block of the People) versus DCI

          Counterattack of Mafiosi: PORTELLA DELLA GINESTRA (strategy of tension)

1948: First National elections under the Republic: a great success for DCI

De Gasperi supported by the US government + Pio XII in excluding PSI and PCI from the government

 

 

PORTELLA delle GINESTRE (Analysis) 

 

Mr. Colby: “direction on the US and Italian Secret Services; in case of a victory of the Left at the elections of 1948 there was a secret plan of the Pentagon to reoccupy Sicily with the military force”

Rosario Candela: “the aim of the massacre was to throw communists and socialists out of the legality” (strategy of tension)

Ciro Verdiani: officially the head of police in charge to arrest Giuliano, was in reality protecting his fugitiveness

Michael Stern: Us reporter who made Giuliano famous in the US with his articles and in reality was member of the American Secret Service

 

                                 Sociological Aspects: Women in the mafia

 

Cosa Nostra is formally mono-sexual

The mafia’s men chauvinism reflects the men chauvinism of its social context; if the latter changes, so does former (Ex: Giusy Vitale)

These patriarchal values are shared and approved by the greater part of the society

Women must not humiliate in their social environment; they effectively play a role

 

Women as Instigators

 There are moments when all women have left is crying, and all that men have left is killing

 

Women as Teachers

of the social values and codes of the behavior of the mafia such as:

           - Hate for the police

           - Refusal of the State laws

           - Contempt of politics and at the same time instrumental use of it

 

Mafia coscas break more frequently because of internal reasons rather than external

Women live at the boundary between the general society and the particular society of Cosa Nostra

Many women researchers have criticized the a tendency of the judges to acquit women even from heavy crimes because considered victims (and not accomplishes as they were) of a situation

    She could not say no…

 

In conclusion:

Even if the mafia is extremely male oriented, the word mafia is feminine… and, as writer Lucia Fornari wrote:

    “…the mafia is a female, I m sure of it;

    Like a Mom, she would never want her children to grow up, and forces them to not detach from herself…”