43/2 - Qualestoria. Rivista di storia contemporanea. Anno XLIII, N.ro 2, Dicembre 2015

The starting point of this article is a lecture (Émigration frioulane et Résistance) given by the author in Paris – March 2014 – on behalf of two associations of French people of Italian origin whose ancestors had come to France between the Great Wars from that part of Italy which at present runs alongside Slovenia and Croatia and is included in the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region. The text, duly elaborated and accompanied by foot-notes, focuses on the case of sixty-four individuals who shared that regional origin and all of whom got involved in the French Resistance. Within the limits of the existing literature, and the available evidence, the article brings to light their different destinies taking into account several factors: age, place of origin, residence in France, job, political or military experience (in the Spanish Civil War, for instance), family and village networks as well as their political allegiance, most of which was communist even if the ties with either the French or the Italian Communist Party greatly varied

The essay examines distortions in the memories of certain individuals who witnessed the Resistance and deportations to the concentration camps, according to the historical context within which the witness record was retold. Alongside variations in the «means of production» of the accounts, there are things which can and cannot be said, and therefore the accounts don’t simply recount past events, but also tell us about the historical and cultural circumstances of the time. It is possible to observe various stages in the evolution of female memory from the time when violence against women was perceived as a result of their own «loose behavior», up to the time when violence against women is roundly condemned both by international courts and by public opinion. The essay goes on to analyze the attitudes of the women of Eastern Friuli towards the use of violence and of firearms and towards their sense of ethnic and national identity, bringing into discussion certain historical stereotypes which would have women seen exclusively as a «homely figure». The story of the partisan Maria Antonietta Moro is emblematic of our need for more refined methods of analysis.

The following discussion focuses on the mass participation of women in the resistance movement during the occupation of Slovenia (1941-1945) and compares it with the women’s position in the anti‑communist and collaborationist political camp in the context of the civil war, which took place in certain areas of Slovenian territory during the occupation. It analyses the aspects of the liberation struggle activities which women took part in. These activities included the activist fieldwork in the context of various organisations (Liberation Front of the Slovenian Nation, Slovenian Anti‑fascist Women’s Association – a special women’s organisation), inclusion of women in the Partisan armed formations, intelligence operations, as well as cultural and educational activities. The discussion underlines the monopoly of the Communist Party, the transmissive role of the resistance organisation in the eyes of the communists, problems with the implementation of the equal position of women in the men’s world, as well as fatalities among women.