crimes committed by totalitarian regimes - Ministrstvo za pravosodje

Crimes committed by totalitarian regimes
2.4. The press
When Fascists came in power, physical attacks on Slovene printing houses, censorship,
confiscation of Slovene newspapers, fabricated indictments and show trials were joined by persecution
based on legal norms. The Act No. 3288 of 15 July 1923 stipulated that editors-in-chief had to be
approved by prefects. The latter had the right to revoke their approval after they had issued a second
warning in the same year, which in practice meant that they possessed the power to suppress the
newspaper as they were not obliged to deliver a favourable opinion on a new editor-in-chief. 2122
The Order No. 1062 of 19 October 1923 issued by the Udine prefect required that since 21 October all
foreign language newspapers published in the Udine region were obliged to translate all headlines and
articles into Italian, with translations being published in the same font. Soon afterwards (i.e. on 22 October
and 23 October respectively), the Trieste and Pula prefects issued similar orders. 2223
The increasing limits imposed on the Slovene press were further strengthened by the Act No. 2307
of 31 December, 1925 stipulating that the owner and director of a newspaper were obliged to settle all
fines and administrative costs arising from violations of publishing rules, with their printing machines
and materials and other property serving as their guarantee. With the situation becoming more and more
intolerable, the majority of Slovene newspaper houses had to close down, while some transferred their
23 24
operation across the border to Yugoslavia as that was the only way of preserving it.
The remaining Slovene press was suppressed when the Royal Decree No. 384 of 26 February,
1928 came into force, stipulating that all editors-in-chief had to be entered in a special official register of
journalists and publicists. The registration was the prerequisite for occupying the position of director or
editor-in-chief. No Slovene could meet that requirement as the applications were viewed by the Fascist
trade union that turned down all Slovene applicants. 4 September and 17 November 1928 thus brought
the ban on publishing Edinost and Goriška straža respectively. By January 1929, the Fascists managed
to suppress all Slovene and Croatian periodicals, and in 1930 they also wiped out the Catholic press. 2425
Gorizia was the only town in Venezia Giulia where it was still possible to publish certain Slovene
books with Italian covers. In April 1934, the Minister of the Interior issued an order imposing preventive
censorship on non-periodicals. In accordance with it and another order of 28 December the printer and
the publisher had to submit several copies to the prefect and could not start selling them without his
written approval. As a result, many Slovene and Croatian books were confiscated. 2526
2.5. Violence and policing arrangements
Fascism brought about an increase in repression and physical violence. In March 1923, the Blackshirts
were replaced by the Voluntary Militia for National Security (Milizia volontaria per la sicurezza nazionale
– MVSN), which was in 1928 incorporated in the Fascist army. The MVSN squads were best organized
in Venezia Giulia. 26 27
Their most notorious act of violence was committed on December 27, 1936, when
they forced the Slovene conductor and composer Lojze Bratuž, who had taught children to sing Slovene
songs, to drink motor oil combined with petrol; he died on 16 February 1937.
In 1926, the Fascists established OVRA – special secret Fascist police for repression of anti-
Fascism. The Fascist regime engaged police, intelligence and security services in its anti-Slovene
campaign. Legislation enabled it to persecute and imprison political adversaries on the basis of no
evidence, merely “out of suspicion”. The Public Security Act of 1926 namely allowed the Fascists to
administer “preventive” punishment to or to carry out police measures against individuals who opposed
the regime even if they possessed no concrete evidence of their guilt. The following measures could
be taken: 1) diffida = warning (the aim of which was to warn an individual to stop pursuing certain
behaviour or action); 2) ammonizione = admonition (which followed “diffida” and indicated that
the individual was not allowed to leave his home without notifying the police nor was he allowed to
frequent public places, such as bars, and had to observe the curfew from sunset till dawn); 3) confino =
21
NŠK OZE, HI/Z, Seznam/3 and Področja/13; Čermelj, Slovenci, op. cit., p. 127.
22
NŠK OZE, HI/Z, Seznam/2 and Področja/13; Čermelj, Slovenci, op. cit., pp. 126–127.
23
NŠK OZE, HI/Z, Seznam/4 and Področja/13; Čermelj, Slovenci, op. cit., pp. 127–128.
24
NŠK OZE, HI/Z, Seznam/13 and Področja/13; Čermelj, Slovenci, op. cit., pp. 98, 132–133.
25
Čermelj, Slovenci, op. cit., pp. 140–142; NŠK OZE, HI/Z, Seznam/15 and Področja/14.
26
Kacin Wohinz, Prvi antifašizem, op. cit., p. 115.
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