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Georgo� li, a street a massacreRita Borsellino Lisa ClarkPreface Translation
FEGATO LIBRI EDITORE
Saverio TommaSi
Georgofili,
a street, a massacre
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Georgofili, a street, a massacre
Interactive English translation.
Dear English-language reader,I have done my best to provide a translation of this text. Obviously, for those who know little about Italian recent history, some parts may be difficult to understand. The aim of the English version, however, is to be of use especially to those who know little about Italy (most of the others can presumably read the text in Italian, anyway).I am asking for your help. I did not want to fill the text with footnotes, or to disrupt the rhythm and style by giving too many explanations within the text. May I ask you, our readers, to request explanations where things are not clear? And, of course, to offer suggestions as to how to make this text understandable for a broader audience. As an example here are some of the explanations I could provide:Mafioso: a mafia boss, but also simply a member of a Mafia family (Cosa Nostra, ‘Ndrangheta, etc.)Pentito: literally this means “Repentant”, but the meaning has noting to do with the religious notion of repenting one’s sins! The Italian law, guaranteeing more lenient treatment (and sometimes protection) to those who give useful information on their erstwhile accomplices, calls these collaborators “Pentiti”.41bis: the article of the Penitentiary code assigning harsher prison conditions to persons convicted of Mafia crimes.
Lisa Clark
IndroductIon
A short while after the massacre, a group of students from the Faculty of Architecture in Florence (inclu-ding my daughter) painted a mural at Santa Verdiana, on the university premises. Dario Capolicchio had been part of that group.
The mural included a quote from Her-mann Hesse, which I want to suggest as a dedication for this play. Hes-se’s words will be a tribute to all those who lost their lives, or had their lives destroyed by the bomb attack in Via dei Georgofili. It is also my way of expressing my grati-tude to Saverio, and to all those who so tenaciously are committed to finding the truth.
Giovanna Maggiani ChelliAssociation of the Families of the Victims
Georgofili, a street, a massacre
Where have all his drawings and designs gone?
He died young, in tragic circumstances,
and I learned of it only after he had been buried.
Often, when I think of those joyful and good years,
I can see him, standing in front me, and hear his
impassioned voice: I have the feeling that he was
the real genius amongst us.
Still today, when I am tired and about to drop, and
tempted to think that our hopes in those years were
merely dreams ... all I need to do is think of him.
And I become once again certain that we were
right, that it is better to stay faithful to yourself and
your ideals, to dream of a city of the future, rather
than to build houses in isolation.
Hermann Hesse
Prefaceby Rita Borsellino Member of the European Parliament)
The mission, the purpose of this play
is declared quite clearly by Save-
rio Tommasi. It is the “effort to
remember”. The effort, I would add,
to transform memory into future, to
make it into something that belongs
to us, a common heritage that we can
fight for. To demand that the truth
be finally uncovered. And also the
effort “to connect the dots, link up
all the facts and the data,” as Sa-
verio writes. “Not allow anyone to
put us to sleep by their careful
stage-management of memories, with
all their disinformation, partial
reconstructions, half truths, big
lies, ...”
The truth which we are still seeking,
putting together facts and events,
Georgofili, a street, a massacre
is the truth about the massacre on
Via dei Georgofili, in Florence, on
27 May 1993. But the very title of
this booklet, “A Street, A Massa-
cre,” suggests all the other stre-
ets, all the other massacres per-
petrated in Italy over the years.
Saverio goes over these, pointing to
the red line that links them all to
each other, in different places and
times in our country: the common ele-
ment is that no one has ever found
the truth on who commissioned these
crimes. So, while we talk about Via
dei Georgofili, we are also talking
about Via D’Amelio, and also about
Piazza Fontana, Via Fauro in Rome,
Piazza San Giovanni ... A sequen-
ce of violent attacks about which
we still do not know the truth. The
evidence collected by years of Pro-
secutors’ investigations has shown
links to the Free Masons, to obscure
Preface
elements in the secret services, to
rightwing terror groups, to the Red
Brigades. Each of these links has
appeared on the horizon, and then
disappeared. Constantly, over the
years. Like a curse, throughout our
20th century history: “from Portella
delle Ginestre to the Bologna Rail-
way Station, to Genova, Milan, Rome,
Brescia, etc.”
Saverio’s style is gripping. He has
put together the words of witnesses,
extracts from trial documents, new-
spaper articles. He reconstructs and
presents to his audience a vision of
Italy with all her mysteries: from
the Mafia bosses’ papello, delivered
to 39 members of Parliament – none
of whom has ever confirmed having re-
ceived it – to the disappearance of
Paolo Borsellino’s red diary, to the
terror attacks that failed, to the
hypothesis of a coup d’état to in-
Georgofili, a street, a massacre
state a dictatorial regime in Italy
or, as Pietro Mannoia would have it,
“to separate Sicily from Italy, cre-
ating an independent State.”
The narrator blends wisdom and iro-
ny, provides the audience with evi-
dence on crucial elements of the in-
vestigation, as well as information
on the Prosecutor who worked himself
to death on this case, Gabriele Che-
lazzi. But he also assigns each one
of us a task. To keep the tension
high, to demand that the truth be
found, uncovering all those hidden
facts that buried our First Republic
and on which the Second is founded.
To heal the wounds of our country.
To be able to truly start building
our future.
Saverio Tommasi
THE ACTOR IS ALONE ON STAGE. TO HIS RIGHT, A TABLE WITH A GLASS OF WINE
MUSIC
“Incontrovertible logical arguments lead us
to conclude that the criminal actions that are the
object of this trial were thought up and decided
by persons who were organically included in the
criminal organization known as ‘cosa nostra’.
DISSONANT CHORDS ON A GUITAR
In particular, the persons belonging to this orga-
nization who are to be considered responsible for this
massacre are: Salvatore Riina, Bernardo Provenza-
no, Leoluca Bagarella, Matteo Messina Denaro, Gio-
vanni Brusca, Giuseppe Graviano, Filippo Graviano
and, only partially, Giuseppe Ferro.”
THE ACTOR SWIRLS THE WINE AROUND IN THE GLASS, LOOKING AT IT INTENTLY. WHEN THE MUSIC ENDS HE DRINKS THE WINE AND PLACES THE GLASS ON THE TABLE
12
GeorGofIlI, a street, a massacre
From the verdict of the Court of First Instance
in Florence.
This evening I shall try to recount to you a pie-
ce of Italian history. Actually, I shall be obliged to
tell you only a part of a part of this history, since
time is limited and I shall not be able to share
everything with you. Time is tyrant and many
parts of the story will remain untold. Actually, I
shall be forced to recount only a piece of a pie-
ce of the story, since we do not know the entire
truth. There are parts of the truth - and we do not
even know how large those parts are - that are
still unknown to us.
The story will take about an hour.
Diego, Giacomo and Lorenzo have composed
the music that will accompany our story. BLUES MUSIC. THE ACTOR POURS MORE WINE INTO THE GLASS
13
Saverio Tommasi
It may not be necessary to ask, but I shall do
so nonetheless. I ask you to listen to the story in
silence, trying to grasp the details and the nuan-
ces. Turn off your cell phone, if you have one.
We shall give you an overview: the historical pe-
riod, the massacres of 1993-’94. And we shall con-
centrate on the massacre in Via dei Georgofili.
MUSIC. THE ACTOR ROLLS UP HIS SHIRTSLEEVES
Let’s start with a name: Gabriele Chelazzi
(who?). The prosecutor investigating the massa-
cre in Via dei Georgofili. He said he was satisfied
with the verdict – I just quoted a piece from it –
and he said this also in his hearing in front of the
Parliamentary Anti-Mafia Committee.
“As far as the organization, the preparations
and the execution of the massacre is concerned;
14
GeorGofIlI, a street, a massacre
and also as far as the involvement of Cosa Nostra
is concerned: I believe that all those responsible
have been identified, one by one.”
GUITAR MUSIC
Chelazzi was a man who loved his work. The
last ten years of his life were spent, in his own
words, living “on bread and massacres”. That is
not a rhetorical statement: he died of overwork,
of fatigue.
GUITAR MUSIC
Giovanna Maggiani Chelli, Vicepresident of
the Association of the Families of the Victims of
the Via dei Georgofili Massacre, in a public mee-
ting in Genova revealed that in October 1997 Pro-
secutor Chelazzi confessed that he had not given
her any answers. In other words, he said that he
had succeeded in getting the material executors
15
Saverio Tommasi
of the massacre convicted. But, he added, they
were merely the men caught with the smoking
gun. In other words, they were the front line, the
ones easiest to catch and convict. That was not
a private confession, since Gabriele Chelazzi also
stated in public:
“Our main objective must be to establish the
motives ...”
THE ACTOR STOPS, STARES AT THE AUDIENCE AND REPEATS
What did I just say? “The motives”!
HE CONTINUES QUOTING FROM CHELAZZI:
“... the motives behind these massacres: what
is usually called the causal element. This still ne-
eds to be understood. We must delve deeper, to
understand how these motives dictated that cer-
tain targets be hit and not others, that the massa-
16
GeorGofIlI, a street, a massacre
cres be perpetrated not in Sicily but outside Sicily.
These details may appear of minor importance,
but since they are the motives behind massacres
none of them are of minor importance or insigni-
ficant. We need to learn why, in some instances,
only a few days passed between one incident and
the next; whereas much longer periods went by
between other events. Why the attacks that fai-
led were not re-attempted. And, further, why all
of a sudden the massacres came to an end.”
The causal element, that’s what we’ve got to
determine. The causal element.
ROCK MUSIC
Salvatore Cancemi, who collaborated with
investigators, was being questioned on 8 March
1994. He stated: “When Gangi told me about
contacts that Riina had with important people,
17
Saverio Tommasi
there was no doubt that these important pe-
ople were outside Cosa Nostra, since obviou-
sly the most important person inside Cosa No-
stra was Riina himself, along with Provenzano.”
And he continued:
“Cosa Nostra does not have the sophistication
needed to plant a car bomb such as the one used
in Florence: I am fully convinced that the target in
Florece, like the others, was suggested by people
outside Cosa Nostra.”
And Piero, too, was convinced of this. Piero,
who? Luigi, who? Vigna (Piero Luigi Vigna). Piero
is not another former mafioso collaborating with
the investigators! Piero Luigi Vigna is the National
Anti-Mafia Prosecutor. In his opinion, “the Mafia
18
GeorGofIlI, a street, a massacre
had become a partner in a project devised and
managed in collaboration with a different, and
more sophisticated and widespread criminal po-
wer.” Which he called “integrated criminal po-
wer”.
“The investigators,” said Vigna, “have noticed
that very sophisticated evaluations of the effects
of a terror campaign – as well as the exploitation
of psychological conditioning deriving from such a
campaign – do not appear likely to be the product
of the mindset of a Mafia criminal. These opera-
tions of analysis and assessment reveal clearly a
knowledge of the dynamics and mechanisms of
mass media, and an ability to read the mood of
political spheres and interpret their signals. One
might think of a horizontal aggregation, in which
each component is a stakeholder for a specific
19
Saverio Tommasi
sector within a more complex partnership, and in
which different goals converge.”
On 12 June 1996 Judge Giuseppe Soresi-
na said: “Clearly, behind those massacres there
must have been brains with greater intelligence
and sophistication than Mafia mobsters ...”
Yes! He really said so.
Judge Soresina really appears to have got it
right: the Accademia dei Georgofili, just like the
Church of San Giorgio al Velabro in Rome, is a
highly sophisticated target even for a top level
Mafia boss like Giovanni Brusca. Just to give you
an example: when referring to Piazza della Signo-
ria, Brusca described it as “that square full of old
statues.”
20
GeorGofIlI, a street, a massacre
GUITAR
Even the Court of Appeals described the con-
victed Mafia bosses as uncouth and ignorant, and
Totò Riina as a man with a low IQ. DISSONANT SOUND
Prosecutors Gabriele Chelazzi and Giuseppe
Nicolosi explained: “The object of the terror cam-
paign was to influence and steer the history of
this country. This verdict provides a starting point.
We have never stopped working, aiming at iden-
tifying what lies beyond these convicted criminals
and this organization.”
MUSIC
Why do the two Prosecutors speak of a terror
campaign?
Because there was not only one massacre, but
21
Saverio Tommasi
several. Some succeeded, some failed. Seven in
all. Between 1993 and 1994. And two in 1992:
Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, magistra-
tes of the highest moral calibre.
Massacres surrounded by myriad smaller epi-
sodes, warnings. 1993: let’s start our war bulle-
tin, because that is what it is.
MUSIC. FOLLOWING THE TEMPO, THE ACTOR DECLAMES.
14 May 1993. Rome. A car bomb explodes in
Via Fauro. The intended target is the journalist
Maurizio Costanzo. 24 injured.
Thirteen days later, 27 May 1993, Florence.
250 kilos of dynamite explode in Via dei Georgo-
fili. 5 killed and 48 injured. We will come back to
this event, later this evening.
22
GeorGofIlI, a street, a massacre
Two months later, 27 July 1993, Milan. 5 killed
and 12 injured.
On the same day, 27 July 1993, Rome. A car
bomb detonates in Piazza San Giovanni in Late-
rano, 22 injured.
Just a few minutes later, after midnight, so it
is 28 July 1993, Rome. A car bomb explodes near
the Church of San Giorgio al Velabro.
Grand total: 10 persons killed, 106 injured.
Buildings reduced to a mass of rubble, roofs
collapsed, houses no longer inhabitable. Incalcu-
lable damage. Incalculable injuries, especially the
emotional wounds, the loss of loved ones.
THE ACTOR RAISES HIS GLASS, THEN SLOWLY POURS THE WINE ONTO THE GROUND. THE MUSIC STOPS
The First Instance Court also identified a fai-
led attack against the Olympic Stadium in Rome.
23
Saverio Tommasi
Listen carefully.
31 October 1993: a car bomb was set to go
off at the end of the Lazio-Udinese football match,
near some buses that were carrying the Carabi-
nieri to police the event. 60 Carabinieri’s lives –
presumably – were spared.
And another attack also failed, on 14 April 1994,
in Formello, near Rome. The target was Salvatore
Contorno, a mafioso who was collaborating with the
investigators, a pentito. Heard of him? Contorno is
the pentito par excellence, the Mafia has so far killed
twenty members of his family.
(NINETEEN DRUMBEATS, THE ACTOR COUNTS THEM, SHOUTING)
one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight,
nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thriteen, fourteen, fif-
24
GeorGofIlI, a street, a massacre
teen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen
(CYMBALS CRASH)
twenty!
Public Prosecutor Gabriele Chelazzi thought
that these terror attacks shared another element
in common: they were international. SOFTLY, ALMOST AS THOUGH EXCUSING HIMSELF
Not because a Moroccan citizen was killed in
the attack in Via Palestro in Milan, or because an
Indonesian citizen and an Egyptian were injured
in Via Fauro. No. And not even because a French
citizen was injured in Via dei Georgofili, an Argen-
tinian and a Brazilian were wounded in Via Pale-
stro, or because a Belgian and a Dutchman were
wounded in the church massacres.
25
Saverio Tommasi
At least, not only because of this.
THE ACTOR’S TONE BECOMES HARSHER, ALMOST ANGRY
International, Supranational, because as well
as targeting human beings – taking their lives –
the attacks caused irreparable damage also to the
world’s cultural heritage. The 250 kilos of dynami-
te detonated in Via dei Georgofili, in that narrow
street, caused an explosion of such violence ...
(THREE DRUMBEATS STRESSING THE SYLLABLES VI-OL-ENCE, WITH THE ACTOR STOMPING HIS FOOT ON THE GROUND)
... that three paintings in the nearby Uffizi Gal-
lery were damaged beyond repair:
(SWEET MUSIC, THE ACTOR RELAXES, MODULATES HIS VOI-CE, DESCRIBES THE PAINTINGS)
Bartolomeo Manfredi’s ‘The Concert’ and ‘The
Card Players’, in the first room of the Vasari Cor-
ridor (remember them?); and ‘The Adoration of
26
GeorGofIlI, a street, a massacre
the Shepherds’ by the Dutch artist Gerrit van
Honthorst, whom the Florentines called Gherar-
do delle Notti, on the main stairway of the Vasari
Corridor.
In 2003 expert restorers attempted to repair
the canvas: they decided to leave the lost sections
untouched – almost two thirds of the painting. Ir-
reparable damage, to remain visible for posterity,
as a Memento. The same was done for Bartolo-
meo di Manfredi’s ‘The Concert’, only a few frag-
ments of which have survived.
DISSONANT SOUNDS
In Florence 173 paintings were damaged by
the explosion, as well as 42 busts and 16 statues.
And in Milan, damage to the Contemporary Art
Pavilion and the Gallery of Modern Art. More.
SHORT PIECE OF MUSIC
27
Saverio Tommasi
Intenational, Supranational, because attacks
against the symbols and sanctuaries of a religion
– any religion – are attacks against humanity as
a whole. I am thinking of the attacks against the
Roman churches of San Giorgio al Velabro and
the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano, with da-
mage caused to the architectural structure, even
affecting the nearby Palazzo Lateranense. Art is
part of world heritage; so is the spiritual dimen-
sion of place of worship. There can be no private
ownership, nor any national ownership, of Histo-
ry, which by definition is history of humanity as a
whole, and every human life is obviously part of
humanity, in itself intrinsecally a work of art (and
a work of the Spirit, if you are a believer): THE MARTINELLA RINGS OUT, SIX TIMES; THE ACTOR, KNE-ELING, FILLS HIS GLASS
In Florence, every year on 27 May, at exactly
28
GeorGofIlI, a street, a massacre
1.04 a.m., the Martinella rings out. It is a bell. The
same bell that rang out, summoning all Florenti-
nes onto the streets when the Nazis took over the
Ponte Vecchio. Thanks to the Martinella many –
so many! – citizens rallied together to withstand
the invaders.
Since the massacre it has rung out every year,
lest we forget ...
THE ACTOR WALKS ACROSS THE STAGE AND LOOKS AT THE AUDIENCE, SPEAKING TO THEM ONE BY ONE, IN A DIALOGUE
How could we forget? Easy! Time slips by, we
all have a thousand little daily worries, we per-
form a natural selection on the news we hear and
remember, taking care to store away only me-
mories that are not destabilizing. Only memories
that help, that console. That’s how we get used to
war – and how! One really does get used to war!
29
Saverio Tommasi
(SHORT MILITARY MARCH, WITH THE ACTOR ATTEMPTING A PARODY)
That’s what Tiziano used to tell us. Tiziano,
who? Terzani, in his last interview. And yet we
forget.
How can we remember? This is a more difficult
task. By feeling outraged, by being horrified. Not
horror before you run away, but horror together,
in our reflections, in our efforts at understanding.
Remembering, if it’s not a sterile mnemonic exer-
cise, is an effort.
To connect the dots, link up all the facts and
the data. Not allow anyone to put us to sleep by
their careful stage-management of memories,
with all their disinformation, partial reconstruc-
tions, half truths, big lies, ...
30
GeorGofIlI, a street, a massacre
(MUSIC)
... “STATE SECRETS” HUSSSHHH!
(MUSIC ENDS)
For those massacres really were ugly
business. Ugly business. For some, me-
rely ‘ugly’, for others merely ‘business’.
What might happen if one morning all Ita-
lians woke up, having realized that the histo-
ry of this Republic consists of a Via Crucis of
massacres, distributed throughout the na-
tional territory? From Portella delle Ginestre
to Via dei Georgofili, from the Bologna Sta-
tion to Genova, Milan, Rome, Brescia, etc. etc.
Massacres for which, for the most part, not
even the material executors have been convic-
31
Saverio Tommasi
ted. Massacres without culprits. But with a huge
number of victims. THE ACTOR LOOKS AT THE AUDIENCE
You, too, are victims of these massacres. Do
not consider yourselves lucky, although we are
certainly luckier than all those who lost their lives
in the attacks. People who had only been christe-
ned the week before, like Caterina Nencioni, who
had not been baptized the week before because
she had suddenly converted ... but because she
was only fifty days old!
We are luckier than them, but we are equal-
ly victims. On 27 May, in Florence, we were all
attacked, in our dignity as human beings, in our
civil conscience. We are victims, too, because the
dynamite that detonated that night wanted to
32
GeorGofIlI, a street, a massacre
prevent us all from living as free human beings in
a free country.
But, do not be sad. May the gravity of the si-
tuation make us all more aware, so that we can
be vigilant and ensure that this fucking country
not be devastated by more masacres. ROCK MUSIC.THE ACTOR OFFERS THE AUDIENCE A DRINK
To remain vigilant we must think about Che-
lazzi’s puzzle, or “mosaic” as he called it.
(The mosaic? What was that?) It was the me-
taphor that he used in his summing up to the jud-
ges in the first trial.
Chelazzi explained to the judges that they had
in front of them a vast frame, and that each piece
of information needed to be placed inside that fra-
me, almost like putting together a puzzle, a mo-
33
Saverio Tommasi
saic. But, for a variety of reasons, said Chelazzi,
the pieces of the puzzle could not be placed next
to each other from the beginning. They had to be
positioned in different parts of the overall picture.
As one piece of the mosaic was put in place it
would be lit up; but then, when the next one was
positioned, light would be shed on the new piece,
leaving the previous one in the dark.
The final operation, the most important one,
would be to light up the entire mosaic, checking
whether each piece had really been put in the
right place. Did everything match? The bounda-
ries, the outlines, the colours, the tones? What
figures emerged? What was the final image like,
what was the story ...
Gabriele believed this, since “an investigation
34
GeorGofIlI, a street, a massacre
always starts from the bottom, from the small
clues, then it grows. The opposite never works,
never fall in love with a thesis,” he would say.
Seven massacres, surrounded by many
events, warnings.
A FEW BARS OF THE MUSIC PLAYED EARLIER
That’s what we were saying a little while ago,
remember?
Let’s start from the events themselves: this
evening they will be the first pieces in our mosaic.
We start from 5 November 1992, in Florence,
with the antecedents of the 1993 massacres.
In the Boboli Gardens, which you may know,
in an area called “Le Scesine” – which you may
not know – an artillery projectile from World War
35
Saverio Tommasi
II was found. Someone planted it there, to ensure
it was found. It was 12 cm long and 45 mm wide,
loaded with 70 grams of explosive and wrapped
up in a black sack, sealed with scotchtape. Let
me be clear on this! Unless you happen to own
a cannon to fire it with, this ammunition will be
more useful to you as a paperweight, or as an
iron. Wrapped up in a bin-liner, it was left at the
foot of the statue of Marcus Cautius, a Roman
magistrate who gave his name to cautionary re-
lease, what today we call bail on guarantee (in
Italian cauzione).
At that time not much importance was given
to the artillery shell, since no one really under-
stood its meaning. A mistake. The following year
was 1993, the year in which the Mafia devastated
the country with that terrible series of attacks.
36
GeorGofIlI, a street, a massacre
The artillery projectile was taken into the Boboli
Gardens by Santo Mazzei, from Catania, a mob-
ster working for the ‘Cursoti’ who take their name
from the Corso, or main street in Catania. They
were affiliated to the Santapaola Clan. Mazzei, the
man from Catania, appeared to be a man of no
importance; during the trial they said that, when
he gave the information of where the bullet had
been left, he mumbled rather incomprehensibly,
and the threatening message was not understo-
od. They did not understand. And yet this event
was the antecedent to the 1993-’94 massacres.
When Santo Mazzei went to the foot of the
statue of Marcus Cautius, he had only just be-
come a member of Cosa Nostra, one might say
he had been affiliated especially for the task, in
July 1992, through the initiation rite knows as ‘La
37
Saverio Tommasi
Santina’.
Let me explain this rite in a few words: those
of you who already know about it will forgive me,
but I think it is interesting for the rest of you. MUSIC. THE ACTOR SPEAKS AGAINST A MUSICAL BACKGROUND
The initiation rite called ‘La Santina’ is used
by Mafia bosses (sorry, they never use the word
‘Mafia’, only the expression Cosa Nostra) to affi-
liate a new member, who thus becomes ‘a man
of honour’.
The rite varies from province to province and,
if needed, can be shortened. But usually – always
– at the moment of the initiation the candidate (or
candidates) is led to an isolated room, in the pre-
sence of the representative of the Family and of
other ordinary ‘men of honour’. The latter are lined
38
GeorGofIlI, a street, a massacre
up on one side, while the candidates for initiation
are on the other. On some occasions the candida-
tes are locked up for several hours beforehand in
a room and only allowed out one at a time.
When they are led to the presence of the
Family representative, they are given by him a
detailed explanation of the rules governing the
organization, as well as being reminded of their
obligations. Including: do not covet the woman of
another man of honour; do not kill another man
of honour, except in cases of absolute necessity;
avoid grassing to the police; do not side against
another man of honour; always behave respec-
tfully and honestly; keep absolute secrecy about
Cosa Nostra; never introduce yourself alone to
other men of honour, since there must always be
a guarantor ensuring that both are members of
Cosa Nostra who will use the following phrase:
39
Saverio Tommasi
‘This man is the same’.
Having explained the commandments, the
candidate must reiterate his intention to join the
organization (You want to join? Yes, I do. Are you
sure? Yes, I am. Are you joining? Yes, I join.). The
representative then invites him to choose a god-
father from among the men of honour present at
the ceremony.
The oath ceremony then takes place: each
candidate will be asked what hand he uses to
shoot with. A small cut is made on the index fin-
ger of that hand, a drop of blood is drawn and
used to smear a holy image, usually the image
of the Virgin of the Annunciation, whose feastday
is 25 March ... and who is considered the patron
saint (the Patron Saint!?) of Cosa Nostra!
THE MUSIC CHANGES. THE ACTOR FOLLOWS THE TEMPO,
40
GeorGofIlI, a street, a massacre
HIS TONE IS SURPRISED, AMUSED
The index finger is pricked with a pin, the
same pin always. Or with the thorn of a bitter
orange tree, which does not always have to be
same one!
The representative of the Family, while the
candidate’s finger is being pricked, warns the
candidate in a grave tone – remember, the grave
tone! – that he must never betray the Family. The
warning goes: you enter into Cosa Nostra throu-
gh the shedding of blood ... and you can only lea-
ve through the shedding of more blood. Then the
drop of blood is smeared on the holy image.
The image is then set on fire and the candida-
te holds it, as it burns, passing it form one hand
41
Saverio Tommasi
to the other, while solemnly swearing that he will
never betray Cosa Nostra, that he will obey the
rules, and vowing that, should he betray the Fa-
mily, then “may his flesh burn like the holy image
in his hands” ...
THE MUSIC STOPS. THE ACTORS CATCHES HIS BREATH, LOOKS AT THE AUDIENCE ONE BY ONE, SPEAKS SLOWLY
Why did I need to explain all this to you?
Mafiosi base their power on fear, but also
on ritual. On mystery. I believe that explaining
some of these aspects will help us reduce Mafia
power, exorcize it, as it were. I am convinced.
To show the murderers naked, stripped of their
accoutrements, as idiots who have their fingers pri-
cked, who smear their blood over a piece of paper
on which an image of the Virgin has been printed,
and who then set the paper alight and cry out ‘ouch,
ouch! My fingers are burning!’ passing the burning
42
GeorGofIlI, a street, a massacre
paper from one hand to the other.
Idiots, clearly. And muderers. To show them
in their naked childishness, stripped of the thre-
atening sight of their ‘coppola’ (traditional cap),
makes them less magical, because there is no-
thing magical, nothing at all!, about killing Caterina
Nencioni, the fifty-day old infant killed on 27 May
1993, or her nine-year old sister (and no one ever
dare say again that the Mafia does not kill chil-
dren!), or their parents, father and mother both.
Or Dario Capolicchio, a student from Sarzana.
HARMONY
The trials showed that during 1993 the Ma-
fia had toyed with the idea of poisoning sweet
snacks in supermarkets (remember, the Mafia
and children …)
It really must alarm us, every time we hear
43
Saverio Tommasi
about plastic (plastic?) mineral water bottles, ap-
parently still sealed, which have been tampered
with and sold to the public. Acquabomber, the
Unabomber given a new name. Or rather. Re-
christened.
Still, we don’t know for sure about any of
this.
Let’s continue with all the pieces of the mosaic
that were, in fact, warnings.
2 June 1993: six days after the Via dei Ge-
orgofili bomb, in Rome a Carabinieri patrol fin-
ds a cardboard box full of explosives in an old,
blue FIAT 500 parked on Via dei Sabini, not far
from the Prime Minister’s office at Palazzo Chigi.
A few minutes later the entire capital is under sie-
ge: imagine, the bomb disposal unit, staggering
44
GeorGofIlI, a street, a massacre
around in their underwater diving gear, a robot
advancing squeakingly on its wheels, hundreds of
Carabinieri and policemen lined up to prevent by-
standers, journalists, nosey-parkers from getting
close. Helicopters hovering over the crowds ...
(GUITAR MAKING SIREN-LIKE SOUNDS)
... an endless howling of sirens, an incredible
traffic jam immobolizing all nearby streets.
Rome is paralysed by a terror attack which the
official version says was thwarted by the expe-
rienced and highly trained observation powers of
the two Carabinieri.
Experts will later discover that the cardboard
box contained 500 grams of ammonium nitrate,
sealed inside a bottle, and placed next to a further
5 kilos of ‘Anfo’, a chemical fertilizer, mixed with
45
Saverio Tommasi
diesel fuel.
A mixture with the equivalent explosive po-
wer to two kilos of dynamite: if someone had just
been walking by he would have been unlikely to
survive. The bomb was connected to an electric
detonating device operated by remote control.
It was a professional job, although the explosive
mixture itself was put together in an amateurish
way, using cheap materials which anyone could
have bought in a specialized shop. And the remo-
te control itself was rather like an antitheft device
for cars, a very simple little booby-trap. The ove-
rall organization, however, revealed skill and pro-
fessionality: the choice of the place was crucial, in
a central area closed to private traffic during the
day, meaning that someone had placed the car
there either during the night or at dawn.
46
GeorGofIlI, a street, a massacre
A gesture. A demonstration of the ability to stri-
ke. But the date is 2 June, the anniversary of the
foundation of the Republic of Italy. The symbolic
value is enormous.
And more. (SHORT PIECE OF BLUES)
Three months later. The switchboard of the
Ministry of the Interior receives a phonecall: “The-
re’s a trick in store for you at the central Police
Station in Florence.” Minutes later some officers
find a plastic sack under the loggia in Via San Gal-
lo, near the entrance to the Questura, the central
police station. In the bag, electric wiring connec-
ted to a few cylinders containing a putty-like sub-
stance. Semtex, the devastating explosive? No.
Stucco, of the kind builders use. A trick, as they
had said. But the packaging is professional, fabri-
47
Saverio Tommasi
cated by someone who knows what he’s doing.
And more. (LONGER PIECE OF BLUES)
On 13 August 1994 an explosive ordnance is
found in Via del Giglio, also in Florence, near a
Standa supermarket. Just a few hours before the
planned arrival in town of Roberto Maroni, the Mi-
nister of the Interior.
And more. (LONG PIECE OF BLUES)
The bomb in Via Palestro in Milan had blown
up 55 minutes earlier.
The bomb outside San Giovanni in Laterano, 10
minutes earlier.
The bomb outside San Giorgio al Velabro, a
48
GeorGofIlI, a street, a massacre
mere 3 or 4 minutes earlier.
A black-out strikes the Prime Minister’s offi-
ces at Palazzo Chigi. Not a metaphorical black-
out: the switchboard goes on the blink, all the
extensions are dead. Unexplainable, although it
does not totally isolate Palazzo Chigi, since the
ministers were still able to communicate using
the outside lines. The black-out lasts two hours.
The private phone company Italtel, the provider
of the switchboard service, issues a press rele-
ase: “A breakdown, absolutely unpredictable.”
We shall learn later that, at that very moment,
on the second floor of Palazzo Chigi, in his private
meeting room, the Prime Minister Carlo Azeglio
Ciampi was chairing a top level, highly restricted
meeting of the Committee on Order and Securi-
ty. Present at the meeting: the Ministers of the
49
Saverio Tommasi
Interior and Defence, Mancino and Fabbri; the
Head of Police, Vincenzo Parisi; the Commander
of the Carabinieri, Luigi Federici; the Chief of the
Department for Anti-Mafia Investigations (DIA),
Gianni De Gennaro; the Head of the Executive
Committee for Information and Security Servi-
ces (CESIS), Taormina; the Directors of Civil and
Military Secret Services, Finocchiaro and Cesare
Pucci.
Closed in the meeting room, in the midst of
the black-out. What were they saying to each
other?
OFF-STAGE VOICE
“We know something!”
It’s true. Prime Minister Carlo Azeglio Ciam-
pi was demanding explanations. The weekly
L’Espresso wrote later that Ciampi stated he was
convinced that the three bombs that had shaken
50
GeorGofIlI, a street, a massacre
the country had a political goal. The target was –
without a doubt – his government, he stated. But
whoever had armed the terrorists, according to
the Prime Minister, had acted in order to stop the
planned electoral reform; or the Enimont affair
investigations; or the enquiries into the Masonic
Lodges.
In his initial considerations, in the heat of the
moment, Ciampi did not rule out a Chilean-style
terror attack, a coup d’état in other words, a Latin
American style GOL-PE ...
(TWO DRUMBEATS ONE ON EACH SYLLABLE)
... like the one that brought General Augusto
Pinochet to power. Ciampi’s analogy was careful-
ly chosen: just a few days before the Rome and
Milan massacres, the truckdrivers had confirmed
their intention to strike and block all deliveries na-
51
Saverio Tommasi
tionwide. The idea was that the terrorists had ho-
ped to trigger a devastating escalation of events,
with the bombs killing and creating panic in a
country paralyzed by the truckdrivers’ strike, all
deliveries cancelled, including fuel. Just like Chi-
le in 1973. And, even when the truckdrivers had
called off their general strike, the terrorists had
decided to go ahead with the bombings.
On 3 September 1993 the Chief of Police re-
ceived an official document from the United Sta-
tes containing a statement by Pietro Mannoia: in
this declaration, Mannoia claimed that the Mafia’s
plan was to depose the Italian Government, re-
placing it with a dictatorial regime, or at the very
least to “separate Sicily from Italy, establishing an
independent State.”
And Mannoia’s statement concluded: “Cosa
52
GeorGofIlI, a street, a massacre
Nostra cannot change Italy by killing all Pentiti
and their families, but it can achieve change by
destroying the Government, and this can only be
done through a coup d’état.”
The words may have been the blathering of
a Mafia boss. But – remember – Prime Minister
Ciampi said something very (very, very, very) si-
milar.
What was it that the Mafia wanted? Were they
really planning to overthrow the Government?
Let’s be clear: you don’t send someone a warning
without being sure that that someone is able to
understand the warning. Or without giving them
the means to understand to it.
What were the Mafia’s objectives?
VOICE OFF
53
Saverio Tommasi
“Had we only known ...”
Had we only known ... what?
In 1992 Salvatore Riina sent a series of de-
mands to 39 people (and, yes, including mem-
bers of Parliament!). Riina ensured that these 39
men received what he called his “papello” – at
least that is what Giovanni Brusca tells us in his
testimony. In Sicilian dialect, “papello” means
a bill, an invoice. The demands included: Aboli-
tion of 41bis and other requests relating to de-
tention conditions, Abolition of law confiscating
Mafia property, Review of trials, Law on Pentiti.
The Papello was received. Senator Nando Dal-
la Chiesa said so on the TV programme Omnibus,
on Channel La7 on 22 February 2004.
54
GeorGofIlI, a street, a massacre
We don’t know who these 39 people were sin-
ce – so far – none of these nice gentlemen has
come forward, and it’s now been 15 years! The
Mafia frightens people, but so do people like the-
se 39 gentlemen, who appear to keep secrets like
this, who are de facto accomplices. Maybe they
didn’t understand the significance of the Papel-
lo. Maybe. But – then again – maybe they did.
Perhaps they didn’t fully understand at first: let’s
be realistic, it’s possible. Someone sends you a
package of papers containing a list of Mafia de-
mands. I find it difficult to believe that they didn’t
understand, but let’s just say that it is possible...
So these gentlemen just threw the papers away.
39 of them. All 39 of them just threw it in the wa-
stepaper basket. But then, later, when the word
“negotiations” was first mooted, in the deposi-
tions given by the former mafiosi collaborating
55
Saverio Tommasi
with the investigations as Pentiti ... and when the
word “negotiations” got out of the trial chambers
and we read it in the newspapers ... the State
negotiating with the Mafia, striking a deal... How
can it really be ... that none of the 39 gentlemen
understood, not one of them came forward ...?
Nobody has said: “Yes, I was sent the Papello.”
One year, two years, three years, fifteen
years. Nobody went to the investigating magi-
strates. And in this list there are Senators, Par-
liamentarians, well-paid people, people who
are protected with police escorts. Not one of
them went to the investigating magistrates.
“Negotiation.” The First Instance Court in Flo-
rence, in its verdict, used the following expres-
sion: “It sends shivers down our spines to think of
negotiations, of a deal being struck between Cosa
56
GeorGofIlI, a street, a massacre
Nostra and the State.”
After all, we have no evidence of a deal.
Maybe the Mafia bosses were merely led to
believe that a deal had been struck. Maybe so-
meone went overboard with promises to them.
Certainly, the 1998 law that prohibited the use
of phone records over five years old, in the name
of privacy!, is revolting.
Or we may use slightly more elegant langua-
ge: it is horrifying.
We could also say that “it went against what
public opinion wanted”, or that “it was a proce-
dural mistake”, or we might say ... a lot of other
things ... But the truth is that, in the case of ex-
tremely serious crimes such as massacres, to
57
Saverio Tommasi
prohibit the use of phone records to identify the
accomplices – the very same phone records that
had enabled the Court to convict the Mafia of the
crime and to uphold the sentence in the first place
... Well, this can really only be called “revolting”!
If none of the recipients of the Papello come
forward as witnesses, then there is a lot that is
difficult to understand. For example, how come
on 31 October 1993 – just five months after the
Georgofili massacre and less after the massacres
of Rome and Milan – how come the 60 Carabinieri
at the Olympic Stadium in Rome survived?
Well! Of course, this is good news. But it would
be wrong to say that it was merely a question of
good luck. It would not be correct to say that their
lives were saved merely because the remote con-
trol did not work ... although, don’t forget!, that is
58
GeorGofIlI, a street, a massacre
what the final sentence of the Court states.
So, why are we so suspicious?
A few days later (as many as the fingers on
one hand!) 130 Mafia bosses, in detention in va-
rious Italian jails under 41bis conditions, were re-
moved from the 41bis wards and transferred to
ordinary detention conditions. And, remember,
the abolition of 41bis conditions was one of the
demands of the Mafia. Regardless of what we
may – personally – think of those heightened se-
curity conditions.
To each his own duty: we ask the questions,
you give us the answers!
DRUMBEAT
In the midst of all this, the massacre of Via
Georgofili. How was it organized? Where, when?
The first step was to find a base in Florence
59
Saverio Tommasi
or nearby, they declared. Right, near Florence, in
Prato, where Vincenzo Ferro’s uncle lived. An ex-
cellent base.
True: at first Antonino Messana, the uncle,
was not at all keen, he hummed and hawed (as
we say). He didn’t want any strangers in his hou-
se, especially if there was no one there to guaran-
tee for them, someone he knew and respected.
Understandable. So he convinced Calabrò, the
first person who had contacted him, to send a
member of the family to Florence.
Vincenzo Ferro, therefore, came to Florence,
to his Uncle Antonino’s home, as a guarantee.
Who had originally got hold of the explosive
mixture? And how long before?
We know something about how it was proces-
60
GeorGofIlI, a street, a massacre
sed: ground down and packaged. This was done
in a run-down farm in the countryside that belon-
ged to Antonino Mangano, near Palermo.
The Pentito Salvatore Grigoli revealed that,
adding that he had learned this later, while he
was involved in the processing of explosive mix-
tures that were used on successive occasions (at
the Olympic Stadium and against Mr Contorno).
So the Mafiosi talked about it among themsel-
ves, without fear.
“I am an expert in fabricating explosive mixtu-
res, I have prepared lots!”
“Oh? And when?... Really? Would you teach
me please? It’s my first time, you see, even thou-
gh I have already done ...”
“And what about you?”
61
Saverio Tommasi
“I am ...”
And so on and so forth.
They called it ‘Dash’, like the detergent, be-
cause according to Mr Grigoli it was a flaky
powdery mixture and looked like Dash. And
he added that it had been retrieved some
time earlier from the bottom of the sea, from
sunken wrecks dating back to World War II.
But not all of the components of the mixture
had been retrieved from the sea-bed, and cer-
tainly not the T4, which could only have been
found amongst military supplies.
From the run-down farm near Palermo the
explosive was divided into four packages: two
larger, two smaller, all wrapped up and sealed
with scotch tape and loaded onto an Ape (a three-
62
GeorGofIlI, a street, a massacre
wheeler motor-van used by smalltime building
firms). The packages were covered with fishing
nets. The Ape drove all the way to the ware-
houses of Coprora Srl. There the explosive was
unloaded and hidden in a secret compartment,
especially prepared beneath the floor of a truck
semi-trailer and loaded onto the “Freccia Rossa”
ferry that sailed from Palermo to Livorno, on 25
May 1993 at 1.34 p.m.
The semi-trailer truck on which the explosi-
ve was loaded is the same vehicle that reached
the Cemetery of Galciana (in the municipality of
Prato). From there the explosives were loaded
into Antonino Messana’s Fiat Uno car (remember
Messana? the base is in his house) and driven all
the way to his garage. Uncle Antonino turned out
to be very hospitable.
63
Saverio Tommasi
The 250 kilos of dynamite would leave the ga-
rage on the night of the massacre, in a white Fiat
Fiorino van.
I was forgetting: Antonino Messana, in order
to ensure that his friends and relations did not get
bored, bought a TV set. With their money. Ho-
spitable and criminal, indeed ... but not stupid!
A Seleco colour TV, 14 inches, for 380,000 Lire.
THE ACTOR STOMPS ON THE GROUND, JUMPS AND FALLS NOISILY TO THE GROUND.HE CONTINUES HIS STORY
That night Cosimo Lo Nigro and Giuliano dro-
ve a Fiat Fiorino (stolen only four and a half hours
earlier) to the street at the foot of the Pulci Tower.
Giuliano followed Lo Nigro in a Fiat Uno. Before le-
aving, Lo Nigro asked Messana for a cigar. Which
Messana gave him. The cigar was to be used to
light the fuse that set off the bomb at 1.04 a.m.
64
GeorGofIlI, a street, a massacre
on the morning of 27 May 1993: it was the me-
ans used by the Mafia to carry out the worst act
of war perpetrated in Italy after World War II.
250 kilos of explosive, made up of a mixture
of pentrite, T4, dynamite and small parts of nitro-
glycerine, connecting up the blocks of explosive
wth a very accurately made triggering system.
Severe damage was caused to the artistic he-
ritage: apart from the Uffizi Gallery, also dama-
ged were Palazzo Vecchio, the Church of Santo
Stefano e Cecilia near the Ponte Vecchio and the
Science Museum and Institute.
48 people were injured. Some more, some
less severly. Five people were killed. Cateri-
na and Nadia Nencioni, their mother Ange-
la Fiume and their father Fabrizio Nencioni.
They lived in the Pulci Tower: the tower collap-
65
Saverio Tommasi
sed and buried the entire family in the rubble.
So now you know who they were.
And Dario Capolicchio also died in the attack.
He lived in Via dei Georgofili, opposite the Aca-
demy of the same name where the documents
relating to the Pontine Marshes, drained by Mus-
solini, were kept.
HANDS ON HIPS, DECLAMATORY TONE (DECREASING AFTER THE FIRST WORDS)
The pride of Fascism, the Pontine Marshes
drained and the construction of a new city, Litto-
ria - today’s Latina – all achieved in a mere five
months. Where Mussolini himself, the Duce, had
himself filmed wearing sunglasses and a white
cap, bare-chested, as he harvested wheat. On
the cine-newsreel. Remember that image?
I mentioned this since not everyone believes
66
GeorGofIlI, a street, a massacre
in the version “bomb at the Uffizi”. And in any
case it wasn’t the Uffizi, or Dario would still be
alive. No, he lived at number three, on the third
floor, with his friend Diego and his girlfriend Fran-
cesca (known as Checca). That night he was still
awake, he was still studying for an exam the fol-
lowing morning, 27 May, an exam in his Architec-
ture degree course. He and Francesca were both
architecture students: they shared their studies
as well their private lives.
MUSIC
THE ACTOR TAKES ANOTHER GLASS AND PLACES IT NEXT TO THE FIRST ONE, FILLING IT WITH SAME AMOUNT OF WINE
At 1.04 a.m. ... the blast. An explosion so
strong that the flames travelled so quickly that
not even paper burned. True, but Dario burned,
and yet no in-depth technical investigation.
67
Saverio Tommasi
Strange. Strange how Officer (Marshall) Amo-
roso on 7 June 1997, giving evidence in the top
security Court room at Santa Verdiana, remem-
bered having handed over to the explosives’ ex-
perts in charge of the investigations “a sort of”
(his words) “large, probably 5-litre, metal contai-
ner, in tin or iron, dentellated at the top.” No ex-
pert examination. The Marshal, in Court, expres-
sed a very simple opinion. The pieces of metal, or
iron, that turned into projectiles at the moment of
the blast, were from objects that had been lying
around. Road signs, pieces of the Fiat Fiorino it-
self, and so on. But that piece, that strange pie-
ce which he found, did not appear to belong to
anything of the sort. And, in fact, Marshal Amo-
roso declared that it was unpainted, not chro-
med, and he called it “raw material”. He found
it in front of the small alleyway called Vicolo delle
68
GeorGofIlI, a street, a massacre
Carrozze, on the Uffizi side of Via dei Georgofili.
A second bomb in Via dei Georgofili? We don’t
know. Yet, one thing we do know: in this type
of blast, where there is practically no open flame
effect due to power of the blast, Dario Capolicchio
burned alive.
And this is not just a turn of phrase. They exa-
mined his lungs.
There was not enough carbon monoxide to al-
low him to faint, because he (his body) was the
only thing burning, on the third floor of Via dei Ge-
orgofili, from the flames that burst up through the
stairwell. It was from his body in flames that the fire
spread. And his body was consumed by the flames.
It was a terror attack.
(DRUMBEAT)
69
Saverio Tommasi
They confirmed it at 11 a.m. on 27 May, after
the city policemen identified the bomb crater, th-
ree meters wide by two deep.
(DRUMBEAT)
Prime Minister Ciampi, President of the Senate
Spadolini, and a multitude of Ministers and politi-
cians rushed to Florence. The day of the funeral
was declared a day of general mourning in the en-
tire city. Friday morning Florence was a closed city,
white sheets hanging from the windowsills, the of-
ficial Banners of all the cities in Tuscany. People in
the streets. Crowds of people in the streets. Cleri-
cal workers, shopkeepers who closed their shops,
more than 2000 students, including some from
Bologna (a sister city in having already been struck
by a terror attack), the workers from the factori-
es, the Partisans from Resistance in World War II.
70
GeorGofIlI, a street, a massacre
Draped across the facade of Santa Croce
was a white sheet on which someone had writ-
ten “Who did this?” This was the question the
hundred thousand people in the streets were all
asking themselves.
Who did this? Certainly the Mafia, and the
trials have handed down sentences on this.
And who else? And someone else.
Three days after the massacre, at the
foot of the memorial to Lando Conti, a docu-
ment was found: it was full of names and dra-
wings, almost like a riddle to be solved, signed
“European Extreme Right Armed Phalanx”.
Lando Conti had been the Mayor of Florence
when, in 1986, the Red Brigades gunned him
71
Saverio Tommasi
down, accusing him of being involved in the arms
trade.
On 27 May 1997, on the fifth anniversary, a
hand grenade (pineapple type) was found in the
morning in Borgo Santi Apostoli. Someone had
put it there so it would be found on the anniver-
sary of the bomb attack. It bore the label of an
important arms factory. This gesture was later
claimed by a mysterious message: “We are the
ones who wanted the bomb in Via dei Georgofili
– Signed BR, Red Brigades.”
What was the name of the factory? I can say
this, can’t I? (THE ACTOR LOOKS AT THE AUDIENCE WITH A QUESTIONING LOOK, AND IRONICALLY ASKS FOR THEIR CONFIRMATION.)
This, at least, is not a secret: Oto Melara is the
factory. Just for your information, Oto Melara is
72
GeorGofIlI, a street, a massacre
world leader in artillery for armoured vehicles, in
naval munitions and anti-aircraft systems. They
boast of this on their website. Its products are
used in about 60 countries on all five continents.
For twenty years now, Oto Melara has been desi-
gning, developing and producing tanks and com-
bat vehicles – very successfully, the world over!
And they market their products through a highly
efficient partnership with Iveco, a company of the
Fiat Group. (Congratulations!)
In this case, too, no evidence emerged. After
all, we must remember that our history is full of
diversionary manouvres, of deliberately mislea-
ding trails.
One can’t help but think of Giuseppe Ferro –
one of those found guilty and convicted – who
73
Saverio Tommasi
collaborated with the investigation, as a Pentito,
when he said: (IN A HISSING VOICE) “We in the Ma-
fia were not interested in those massacres.”
We don’t believe that they “were of
no interest to the Mafia”, but rather that
they were of interest to others as well.
Let’s move on. Another Pentito.
At the end of a statement in which he had
just mentioned the involvement of the Venerable
Grand Master of Palazzo Giustiniani, the Grand
Orient Lodge (we are talking about Free Masons),
the Grand United Lodge of England and the Duke
of Kent, Gioacchino Pennino confirmed the invol-
vement of the Free Masons but added, “not only
the Masons, but also other international sectors
and circuits.”
On 14 April 2005 Vigna took part in a public
74
GeorGofIlI, a street, a massacre
meeting on justice collaborators and their role in
the fight against the Mafia. On that occasion he re-
ported that the Prosecutors investigating the 1993
massacres also collected the statement of a right-
wing extremist, convicted and serving his senten-
ce in jail, who said that the purpose of the 1993
massacres was to cover up the motives behind all
the previous massacres, starting from Piazza Fon-
tana (1969). Prosecutor Piero Luigi Vigna descri-
bed this person as “educated and well informed.”
That there was something amiss was imme-
diately clear. The declarations that I shall now
read to you date from 1993, late July, after the
bombs in Milan and Rome on 27 and 28 July.
“A powerful enemy who has not been identi-
fied,” Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, Prime Minister, 29 July;
“No trail will be neglected, either domestic or
international,” Nicola Mancino, Minister of the In-
75
Saverio Tommasi
terior, 29 July.
ROCK MUSIC, VOLUME INCREASING, TILL THE END OF THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH: THE ACTOR, HAVING TO RAISE HIS VOICE TO BE HEARD ABOVE THE MUSIC, WILL END UP SHOUTING THE LAST WORDS
“I was never convinced by the Mafia, and Ma-
fia only, theory: these were acts so full of symbo-
lic value that my mind goes to out-of-control of-
fshoots of the clandestine and occult elements of
the old system, who still refuse to accept the fact
of their collapse,” Giuseppe Ayala, former Prose-
cutor of the big Palermo Mafia trial, known as the
Maxi-processo, 29 July;
“Obscure aspects and elements difficult to in-
terpret are accumulating,” Bettino Craxi, 29 July;
“There are many forces whose interest
it is to oppose change. The Mafia is one of
them. But we also need to investigate other
forces,” Ugo Pecchioli, President of the Se-
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GeorGofIlI, a street, a massacre
cret Service Control Committee, 29 July;
“I would not rule out the role of men who
were in the past in our secret services,” Nico-
la Mancino, 5 August; and Bruno Siclari, Na-
tional Anti-Mafia Prosecutor, on 31 July said:
“I am very much convinced that this massa-
cre is also the work of the Mafia. But not only.”
Our story is coming to an end. We hope that
the search for the criminal minds behind the mas-
sacre does not end. At all levels. Politicians, Free
Masons. Because the difference between he who
shoots and he who orders someone to shoot ... in
some cases, is little more than a rhetorical artifice.
I would like to conclude with the words of Zo-
ran Music, an artist who depicted Nazi deporta-
tions. Zoran believed that to commemorate was
77
Saverio Tommasi
acceptable only in the noble sense of the word, as
summed up in the title he gave to an exhibition of
some of his clandestine drawings, done during his
internment in Dachau. The exhibition was called
“We are not the last.”
It does not mean that “after us, there will be
more,” but rather that “we are not doing enough
to ensure that there are no others after us.”
MUSIC
THE ACTOR TAKES THE GLASSES, JOINS THEM TOGETHER AND POURS THE CONTENT OF BOTH BACK INTO THE BOT-TLE, THEN CLEANS THEM WITH A WHITE HANDKERCHIEF AND SETS THEM DOWN OFF STAGE
In any case, a massacre, like a war crime, is
not subject to statute of limitations. We are late,
but we are moving. We shall not stop.
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GeorGofIlI, a street, a massacre
There is no justice, without truth. There is no
peace, without truth.
I bid “Good memory” to all. May you conduct
a good struggle.
Keep your applause, you will need all your
energies.
79
This is the story of the massacre of Via dei Georgofi li in Florence. A detailed and tragic story of one of the seven massacres that were carried out in 1993 and 1994, after the murders of Judges Falcone and Borsellino. It is the story of bombings, of the Mafi a, of the trials, of the accomplices, of the perpetra-tors already in jail and those who have not yet been identifi ed. It is an attempt to uncover the truth.
“The massacre of Via dei Georgofi li was the bloodiest act ofwar in Florence since the end of the Second World War.”
Gabriele Chelazzi - Public Prosecutor
Saverio Tommasi is an actor, a writer and at least a hundredother things, not all of which interesting.Read more about him at www.saveriotommasi.it.
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