I bombardamenti di Palermo (1940-1943)

Abstract

The purpose of this work is to contribute to the reconstruction of the social context during the Second World War and particularly linked to the air raids suffered by the city of Palermo between 1940 and 1943. After a brief introduction to the different stages about the bombing on the whole Italian territory and military strategies used, the focus moves to Palermo and the chronicle of the raids on the city. The last section of the paper aims to verify what the memory has retained about the Second World War, after half a century, through the instrument of the interview. Especially for what concerns the bombing and the everyday life of that conflict. The memory, as the protagonist of this essay, allows us to analyze the bombing as a political tool and the effects on the moral of the population, the ineffective response of the fascist regime and the perception of the enemy by the civilian population. The essay will try to enrich a field not largely explored by historians, about the Second World War in Sicily in the years preceding the landing, referring to the oral stories about major events which affected Palermo and comparing them with the official paper archives, such as monthly reports of the prefects.