Book

From the mid of XIX century, important flows of migrants departed from Italy directed to different parts of the world, in order to find new opportunities and a better life condition. One of the areas where Italian people went mostly was Crimea, part of the Russian Empire. It’s estimated that at the end of the XIX century, the Italian population in the Crimea corresponded to 5% of the total. With the collapse of the Russian Empire and the Bolshevik Revolution, the Italians, as well as other minorities in the area, started to be mistreated. Initially, their lands were confiscated in order to create collective farms, called "Sacco and Vanzetti". Thus, a part of them came back to Italy. With the outbreak of World War II and the advent of Stalin as leader of USSR, the situation worsened sharply. During the period of the reconquest of the territories occupied by nazifascisms (1942 - 1943), the Italian population suffered a genocide. Accused of being spies in the service of fascism, the Italian immigrants were forced to abandon their houses and deported to labor camps in Kazakhstan and Siberia. Most died during the trip, many others because of the hard conditions under which they were daily subjected. With the death of Stalin and the beginning of the process of de-Stalinization, the Italians were able to return to the Crimea, in their homes. Terrified by the possibility of new persecutions, many decided to hide their origin, stopped to speak italian and eventually changed their documents. Today in Kerch, Crimea, there are about 150 families with Italian origins, desirous of recognition from the Italian government that never happened and that, today, with the Russian occupation of the territory of Ukraine formally, it becomes even more distant.
(Karl Mancini - Alessandro Lacchè)

“You only have power over people as long as you don't take everything away from them. But when you've robbed a man of everything, he's no longer in your power--he's free again.”
(Alexander Solzhenitsyn)

Hardcover: 120 pages
Publisher: GB Editoria (Ginevra Bentivoglio Edizioni) (June, 2015)
Language: Italian
ISBN-13: 978-88-98158-65-2
Product Dimensions: 0.8 x 7.5 x 10 inches (17x22cm)
Price: 25 Euro

Info & Orders: karl@karlmancini.com