In Bologna, in via del Saliceto, 81 lights hang from a ceiling, turning on and off at the rhythm of a breath. And 81 mirrors reflect the image of the remains of a DC9. The one shot down on June 27, 1980, between the island of Ustica and that of Ponza, while heading towards the Palermo airport. Two images to remind the Museum for the Memory of Ustica, - permanent installation of the recently deceased artist, Christian boltanski - the massacre that cost the lives of 27 people on the night of June 1980, 81: 64 adult passengers, 11 children between two and twelve years old, two children under the age of 24 months and 4 crewmen.
A tragedy that immediately after the accident disappeared at sea along with its victims. And that only six years later began to re-emerge from that sea thanks to an appeal addressed to the President of the Republic, and thanks to theAssociation of Relatives of the Victims which was established on February 22, 1988. And that since then she has never tired of fighting to do justice to her loved ones.
A massacre without those responsible
Why, explains the historian president of the Association, Daria Bonfietti, "It was becoming clearer and clearer that those who fought against the truth had… existed in the moments following the disaster". The worn-out structures of DC9 were not the cause of the disaster. And not even its structural failure. But, and they are words that il Judge Rosario Priore wrote in 1999 in the longest investigation in the judicial history of our country, "The DC9 incident occurred as a result of military interception".
"So there was war - teacher - that night of June 27, 1980 in the sky of Ustica. And the DC-9 was shot down, the lives of 81 innocent citizens were broken with an action, which was properly an act of war, de facto and undeclared war, a covert international police operation against our country, of which borders and rights have been violated. No one has given the slightest explanation of what has happened". The Association of Relatives of the Victims of the Ustica Massacre explains: "We consider the truth about the Ustica massacre conquered. DC 9 ITAVIA was shot down in an episode of air warfare". Which, however, has no responsibility. The trial ended in fact in 2006 without guilty.
Daria Bonfietti: "The search for truth is also a search for dignity, for the victims of that time and for Italy today"
42 years have passed since that night in 1980, public and private stories have intertwined around the Ustica massacre. Stories of tragedies and pains that have never subsided which have seen the relatives of the victims on the front line in the search for the truth. Stories of complex and unclear investigations. To confirm that in many passages the truth was not what you wanted and what you were really looking for.
42 years after the massacre, the search for truth and for those responsible has also become a search for dignity. "For the victims of that time and for Italy todayHe explains Daria Bonfietti. "14 years after the reopening of the investigations after the heavy declarations, in 2008, of the former President of the Republic Francesco Cossiga who was Prime Minister at the time of the massacre, we ask that these investigations be closed. To tell the parties that perhaps it is necessary to pass the ball to politics and diplomacy".
"That civilian plane with 81 passengers on board, shot down in peacetime"
Because? "Because we are tired, as a country, of not having dignity. Things had to be done immediately, looking for those responsible and not liquidating everything, as was done at the time, with the motivation of the structural failure. This is an offensive statement, because a civilian plane was thrown down in peacetime. Of course - adds Daria Bonfietti - saying what really happened was unspeakable. That night in the skies of Ustica there were many planes, and in this context the killing took place. Obviously it would never be claimed. And so they invented structural failure. Unfortunately, all this is part of similar events, for example I am thinking of the Regeni case ".
Until September 16, many appointments to remind who was there and to involve those who were not there
Today, June 27, the 42nd anniversary of the Ustica massacre, will be a day to remember once again. Reminding those who were there and involving those who were not there, that is, the younger generations.
From 27 June to 16 September many events in Bologna. Art installations, shows, insights, conferences, will question themselves with the question that gives the title in memory of this year: "Was it the aliens?". A question full of meaning. Daria Bonfietti again: "With this title we wanted to be provocative, bad, disgusted. It indicates the ability to accept but not to know a piece of truth. In 1999, Judge Prior wrote that it all happened in a war action. That the borders and rights of our country have been violated. If this is the truth, how can anyone think and accept that a civilian plane was shot down in peacetime? Here, in the question 'Was it the aliens? " all this is also contained".
(photo credits: Association of Relatives of the Victims of the Ustica Massacre, Ustica Massacre site)
