1971

04 February, Catanzaro
Giuseppe Malacaria, 35 years old, worker

On the night between 3 and 4 February an NSU Prinz 1000 stopped in front of the exhibition hall of the Province building, which at the time housed the Region’s offices, in Piazza Prefettura. A man, holding a bundle in his hand, gets out of the car, looks around with quick and nervous glances, approaches one of the columns of the building, places the package on the ground and quickly gets back into the car which speeds along Corso Mazzini taking the Wrong way.
A police officer, who is nearby, notices the movement, tries to approach but, after taking a few steps, is pushed back by the detonation. The bomb explodes and shatters the windows of the building and those of the nearby buildings, including those of the Post Office, the Credito Italiano and the INA. Tragedy comes close, the caretaker of the provincial palace and his family emerge miraculously unharmed.
The next morning it’s windy, as often happens in these parts, the day promises to be particularly cold; Catanzaro slowly wakes up with its noises, the shutters go up, and those who didn’t know find out this way, outside of school, buying bread or, simply, reading a mimeograph that appears on the walls of the city.
The leaflet, signed by the DC, PCI, PSI, PRI, PSIUP and PLI, is simple and essential, written quickly, it exudes disdain and calls for mobilization; the democratic forces of the city invite citizens to participate in an anti-fascist demonstration which will be held that same afternoon at 5pm in Piazza Grimaldi. Around 5pm, Piazza Grimaldi begins to fill with people: party leaders, militants and supporters, representatives of institutions, ordinary people who have come, some out of indignation, some out of curiosity.
From the stage, erected for the occasion, Franco Politano, secretary of the provincial communist federation at the time, announced that authorization for the demonstration had been denied, the official reason being failure to respect the three-day deadline for the request. It was thus unanimously decided to postpone the event to a later date and to hold a public meeting in the provincial halls in the evening.
The crowd takes note of the bureaucratic diligence but the movement of steps towards Corso Mazzini is interrupted by the noise of another microphone and the echoing of other words. From the headquarters of the Italian Social Movement, located about fifty meters away, fragments of speeches and rhythmic slogans begin to arrive. There are those who move away and those who move towards the lower part of the course, those who invite people not to accept the provocations and those who rant.
“From the headquarters of the Italian Social Movement we began to hear a speech. The speaker loudly attributed the blame for what was happening in Calabria, for the issue of the capital, to the government and the Christian democracy, accused of having postponed the decision on the most important problem for too long, that is, the choice of the capital of the region . Some young people wearing helmets and visors then looked out of the windows of the MSI headquarters. Mocking gestures and insults were exchanged between the MSI members and some passers-by. Stones were immediately thrown downwards from the windows and the crowd dispersed. The MSI then closed the windows and those who were in the street threw the stones they had picked up on the street again” (Il Corriere della Sera, 5 February 1971).
Some police officials break into the MSI headquarters. At this point the screams and the roar of the street are interrupted by explosions; the rest is screams, blood and people fleeing to which, shortly after, is added the sound of ambulance sirens.
Pino Malacaria and a significant number of wounded remain on the ground, hit by some hand grenades
Malacaria arrives at the hospital with deep wounds to his lower and upper limbs and is immediately taken to the operating room, the thumb and index finger of his left hand are removed but there is nothing that can be done, he dies from head trauma and haemorrhagic injuries caused by the pulping of the left thigh.
The investigations into Malacaria’s murder have never produced concrete results. Four fascist militants were accused of the crime and then fully acquitted, casting further shadows and divisions on a dramatic era in the pages of Calabrian history.