https://www.corrieredellacalabria.i...ndrangheta-nella-strage-di-pizzinni-fotothe memory
The memory of Antonio and Bartolo Pesce, the two children killed by the 'ndrangheta in the Pizzinni massacre – PHOTO
The municipal villa in Jonadi was named after the two brothers killed by a bomb at the ages of 10 and 14. The 1982 massacre is still unpunished to this day
Published: 08/31/2024 – 21:27
VIBO VALENTIA Bartolo Pesce, the older brother, was 14. Antonio was only 10. They were playing in the streets of the small village of Pizzinni, a few kilometers from Vibo Valentia. Then a sudden roar and the laughter of the two little brothers can no longer be heard. The streets are covered in a painful silence, broken only by the screams of pain of their mother Fortunata . That evening of October 24, 1982, Bartolo and Antonio do not return home, and will never return. In that attack, the two children lose their lives, brutally killed by the 'ndrangheta . "It was not addressed to them, but to some members of the Soriano family," the repentant Andrea Mantella will explain thirty years later, indicating some members of the Mancuso family as responsible. But today, 42 years later, there is still no procedural truth for the Pizzinni massacre . There are no guilty parties. Only the memory of Bartolo and Antonio remains, the tears of mother Fortunata and father Francesco, the courage of sister Immacolata.
parents antonio and bartolo pesce
The municipal villa named after Bartolo and Antonio
Above all, there remains the commitment to keep the memory of Bartolo and Antonio alive. To remember that the 'ndrangheta violence does not stop even in front of women and children. Their names, from today, will be the first thing that the children of Jonadi , the town bordering Pizzinni, will see when they enter the municipal villa named after them. The one to unveil the plaque is their sister Immacolata. "On behalf of myself and my parents, I thank the mayor and all of you who came here," she says with a voice broken by emotion. A long round of applause accompanies the embrace with mother Fortunata and father Francesco under the names of Antonio and Bartolo . "We really wanted this day. Today we spoke little about the work we did in this villa, but because more important than the cement is the community. The aspect we wanted to give most value to was the dedication to Antonio and Bartolo." The mayor of Jonadi Fabio Signoretta also says little , before taking off his sash and losing himself in a long embrace with his mother Fortunata. "I did what we all wanted to do in that moment."
Victims without justice
A long hug with the parents as if to gather some of the pain they have been carrying on their shoulders for over 40 years. But also to inherit the desire for justice for Bartolo and Antonio, whose murder remains unpunished: « The truth, even today, has not arrived. We have the duty to search for it » adds the mayor. Also present at the meeting were the mayor of Filandari Rita Fuduli , the parish priests and the authorities. Also present was Libera, with the regional representative Giuseppe Borrello who recalled how «the myth that the 'ndrangheta does not kill women and children is an absolute falsehood. Someone might think that Antonio and Bartolo were in the wrong place, but that is not the case. They were playing near their home. In the wrong place and at the wrong time are always the 'ndranghetisti and the mafiosi ». ( Ma.Ru. )
