April 9 represents the Day of Remembrance for the city of Battipaglia.

It marks the anniversary of the unrest that shook the city in 1969 and led to the deaths of two citizens, Teresa Ricciardi and Carmine Citro. That episode became the prelude to the beginning of one of the darkest periods in the history of the Italian Republic born from the ashes of the war.

The event is based on the presentation of the performance “Ida e le altre”, created within the framework of the Avalanche project.

The story we chose to present, however, is not set in that April, but in another dark period for the city: the Second World War, and in particular the events of September 1943, when fire and destruction devastated Battipaglia.

The suffering of women

We sought to evoke these memories by focusing on the suffering of women, who are often innocent victims in times of turmoil, as in the case of Teresa Ricciardi, who was struck inside her own home. As Elsa Morante wrote, the pain of loss continues to dwell in those who suffer it: “All the sorrows of the world are the same, but those of mothers last forever.”

Unfortunately, history repeats itself: whenever violence escapes control, women are among its first victims—this was true in 1943, in 1969, and it remains true today in too many parts of the world.