The Togliatti amnesty ( it, Amnistia Togliatti) was an
amnesty
Amnesty (from the Ancient Greek ἀμνηστία, ''amnestia'', "forgetfulness, passing over") is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power offici ...
declared in Italy on 22 June 1946. Named after the then-
Italian Minister of Justice,
Italian Communist Party
The Italian Communist Party ( it, Partito Comunista Italiano, PCI) was a communist political party in Italy.
The PCI was founded as ''Communist Party of Italy'' on 21 January 1921 in Livorno by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) ...
member
Palmiro Togliatti
Palmiro Michele Nicola Togliatti (; 26 March 1893 – 21 August 1964) was an Italian politician and leader of the Italian Communist Party from 1927 until his death. He was nicknamed ("The Best") by his supporters. In 1930 he became a citizen of ...
, it pardoned and reduced sentences for
Italian fascists and
partisans alike. The amnesty covered common crimes as well as political ones committed during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. Fascists and their collaborators benefited more from the amnesty than the partisans.
Background
The
Italian Civil War, from 8 September 1943 to 2 May 1945, had ended with the German surrender. During this time, the
Italian resistance movement had fought German occupation forces and their Fascist Italian Allies, the
Italian Social Republic. It has been estimated that during this period 22,000 Italian Civilians were killed through
Axis war crimes in Italy
Two of the three Axis powers of Mediterranean and Middle East theatre of World War II, World War II—Nazi Germany and their Italian Social Republic, Fascist Italian allies—committed war crimes in the Kingdom of Italy.
Research funded by the G ...
and 30,000 Italian Partisans died in the fighting.
Beside widespread crimes committed by the German occupying army and the Italian Fascists, the Italian Partisans also committed acts that were considered crimes under Italian law. In particular, partisan forces killed some fascist supporters as well as soldiers who were held as
prisoners of war.
In June 1946, the
Kingdom of Italy
The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia was proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to an institutional referendum to abandon the monarchy and f ...
was abolished through an
institutional referendum. To mark this event, a general amnesty was proposed and Palmiro Togliatti was responsible for drafting the law. Togliatti was
Minister of Justice
A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...
from 25 July 1945 to 1 July 1946 within the government of
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
Alcide De Gasperi
Alcide Amedeo Francesco De Gasperi (; 3 April 1881 – 19 August 1954) was an Italian politician who founded the Christian Democracy party and served as prime minister of Italy in eight successive coalition governments from 1945 to 1953.
De Gas ...
.
The decree went through two drafts and was approved on 22 June 1946 by the
constituent assembly
A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...
. The amnesty was considered necessary for the rebuilding of the Italian nation after the war, and for the unity of the country.
On a practical note, the Italian prison system was overcrowded, holding 80,000 inmates in early 1946, twice as many as a decade earlier. Among those, 12,000 were Fascists and Partisans.
Amnesty
The text of the amnesty was a compromise between the
Italian Communist Party
The Italian Communist Party ( it, Partito Comunista Italiano, PCI) was a communist political party in Italy.
The PCI was founded as ''Communist Party of Italy'' on 21 January 1921 in Livorno by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party (PSI) ...
, the PCI, and the
Christian Democratic Party
__NOTOC__
Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...
, the DC. The latter wished to pardon as many Fascists as possible while the former wanted them to remain imprisoned. In order to achieve their goal, the Christian Democrats had to compromise and allow the amnesty to include the Partisans as well.
The amnesty consisted of 16 clauses and a foreword by Togliatti. The cut-off date for the amnesty was the 31 July 1945, whereas crimes committed after this date were not pardoned.
With regard to Fascist crimes, the amnesty excluded high ranking officials, crimes committed for material gain or carried out with excessive cruelty. The exclusion engendered controversy for it did not include rape or sexual torture, which were still pardonable.
The amnesty commuted death sentences to life imprisonment, life imprisonment to 30 years and reduced all sentences above five years by two thirds.
Paradoxically, the amnesty led to an increase in prosecution of Partisan crimes while Fascist crimes were treated more leniently. In practice, the Fascists and collaborators benefited far more from the amnesty than imprisoned partisans, who were treated as common criminals.
The amnesty was positively received by the
Allied Force Headquarters in Italy.
Later less publicised pardons and releases on parole between 1947 and 1953, further reduced sentences for political crimes committed during the war and, as argued by some, turned Italy's amnesty into an "amnesia".
References
Bibliography
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External links
Text of the Togliatti amnesty
{{Authority control
Amnesty laws
1946 in Italy
Nazi war crimes in Italy