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Paper short abstract

This paper traces the impact of secrets and silences surrounding perpetration and war experiences in neo-Fascist families in Italy from an intergenerational perspective. It analysis intergenerational transmissions of silenced perpetratorship, asking also how the researcher may affect these dynamics.

Paper long abstract

The proposed contribution examines the impact of secrets and silences surrounding perpetration and wartime experiences in Fascist families from an intergenerational perspective. It focuses on families within Italian neo-fascism, analysing the connections and interdependencies between the generation of Fascists active under the Mussolini regime (1925–1945) and their children, many of whom later became neo-fascist activists during the so-called Years of Lead (1970s–1980s), a period marked by political polarization and terror.

Many descendants of Fascist families share the experience of having been raised in households where fathers were portrayed as heroes and victims of the Second World War, particularly of violence committed by Italian partisans during the Italian Civil War (1943–1945). More broadly, Fascist veterans mostly silenced their own war experiences and acts of perpetration in favour of a shared narrative of victimhood that became central to post-war neo-fascist identity formation. Close-knit family structures, and the strong ties and dependencies they entail, have hindered children’s ability to critically engage with their parents’ pasts. Moreover, dominant public anti-Fascist discourses have paradoxically reinforced familial solidarity and alignment with parental worldviews, contributing to the preservation of a cohesive family identity.

By zooming in on Fascist families, this contribution traces the effects of silenced perpetration and examines the mechanisms and dynamics of intergenerational transmission, drawing on insights from psychological theory. In doing so, it also reflects on how anthropological research itself may impact such dynamics—particularly through the investigation of difficult pasts and the potentially unsettling presence of the ethnographer.