Italian antifascism resistance in Switzerland after the 8th September 1943

For Italians in Switzerland, at least those who have a more mature antifascist political awareness, it’s time to put in place every effort to help the first refugees from the Peninsula. The “Federazione delle Colonie Libere Italiane” (FCLIS) settled at the end of 1943 by antifascists and exiles, refugee in Switzerland for years – especially in Geneva and Zurich areas – confirms to be “the enterprise of instrumentally innovating Italian antifascism”. The Federation, in fact, grafted on the experience of the Scuole libere and the Colonie of Zurich by Fernando Schiavetti – future deputy at the Italian Constituent Assembly for the Action Party – is configured as “the first truly democratic laboratory for Italian migration, looking hopefully to a new Italy modelled on the antifascist Resistance”. A branched mesh of opposition to the regime, a real unicum amongst migrants and refugees’ associations, which in Switzerland find fertile ground for a sure political maturation.