Norma Cossetto

Norma Corsetto was not the only Italian victim of the foibe. On November 4, 1943, next to the "Foiba of Terli" (near Visignana) were found the corpses of Albina Radecchi (A), Caterina Radecchi (B), Fosca Radecchi (C) and Amalia Ardossi (D)

Norma Corsetto (Visinada, 1920 – Antignana, 1943) was an Italian student. In 1943, after the German occupation of Istria, the local population took control of the region and initiated a purge of local Italians with alleged fascist sympathies: her corpse was found in October, being precedently thrown into a foiba. It has been claimed she was killed by the communists of Tito,[1] although this is controversial.

Life

Norma was born in Visinada (western Istria) in 1920 to a family of Italian ethnicity of Istria. From a young age she was associated with Italian youth organizations of Pola and in 1939 she enrolled at the University of Padova to study Italian literature.

In September 1943 (after the armistice of Italy) Norma was preparing her graduate thesis (entitled "Istria Rossa"), when she was kidnapped by Tito's troops and imprisoned for refusing to cooperate with the "slavs" against the Italians. On October 5, 1943, after being tortured and raped repeatedly, she was thrown alive into a Foibe along with three dozen other Italians. As an act of extreme contempt, Norma's executioners amputated her breasts before leaving her in the Foibe.

The Foibe where Norma was thrown is near Pirano, in northwestern Istria. Other foibe were found nearby, with hundreds of murdered (including Albina Radecchi, Caterina Radecchi, Fosca Radecchi and Amalia Ardossi), both Italians and non, fascists and antifascists. .[2]

After the Second World War, this death has been remembered as emblematic of Foibe massacres and Ethnic cleansing of Italians by Yugoslavs in Istria. In 1949 the University of Padova conferred to her the laurea "honorary" and in 2005 the Italian President Ciampi awarded her the "Medaglia d'oro al merito civile". In February 2010 she was commemorated during the National Memorial Day of the Exiles and Foibe.

In July 2011, the cities of Trieste and Narni (Terni) dedicated one of their streets to her memory.

Notes

  1. ↑ Raoul Pupo, Il lungo esodo. Istria: le persecuzioni, le foibe, l'esilio. Rizzoli, 2005, ISBN 88-17-00562-2 (Italian)
  2. ↑ Arrigo Petacco. Istria, a tragedy revealed. (p.44)

See also

Bibliography