1941. Franco-Italian warThis small file, relating to war 39-45 in the Alpes-Maritimes, presents drawings of children, carried out in a school of Chin, in 1941.
Its interest is double:
it shows an aspect of the Italian propaganda of the time
it shows that, 50 years later, of the documents can cause litigation for “invasion of privacy”.
In the years 1990, our friend “Al”, large enlightened amateur of Maginot fortifications, are called by one of his knowledge: “we are emptying an old school mentonnaise and we have just found some drawings which certainly will interest you.”
He discovers thus, sleeping in an old dusty wall cupboard, five drawings going back to 1941, time to which the Italians had annexed Menton, following the armistice of June 1940.
Each drawing, carried out by schoolboys of the time, represents the attack of the outpost of the Saint-Louis Bridge.
“Al”, happy to have of so rare (and interesting) documents, cannot be prevented from making some profit the most possible world and exposes them, as found in this old school.
Bad idea!
Indeed, the name of each grass artist is reproduced on the drawings.
And then, will you say? Who wouldn't be proud to see his name posted in an exposure?
Answer: for example those which would claim to have been the French kids resistant having fled with all their family, their well liked city, to withdraw itself from the Italian yoke. They would have then great difficulty to explain their artistic exploits of the time.
“Al” was summoned by one of them to immediately erase each name under penalty of lawsuit. The drawings that we present to you thus became anonymous. They are not therefore uninteresting, in more than one way.
The Italian candidate Mario Lalli (Suction Ufficiale LED 21e Reggimento Fanteria) was killed in front of the casemate of the Saint-Louis bridge. In its memory, Italian of the time published a chart (drawing below) accompanied by a text specifying that while attacking with the grenade the machine-guns under concrete, it fell in front of the casemate while shouting: “Lives the King, Vive Italy”.
The absence of names was worth us some remarks of the type: without the names, verifiable, the drawings lose of their interest.
Exact! But the lawsuits for slandering or “invasion of privacy” multiply and we let us can nothing there. We thus do not have the choice, at least as long as the people in question or their children are alive.
One among you, of our mailing list, did us besides the following coloured comment: “It is with this kind of stupidity [publication of names] that the person with which you write is made transfer!” Then, prudence!
Click: to charge the play