In Memory of Niccolò Giani, Disciple of Arnaldo Mussolini
By Fernando Mezzasoma
Niccolò Giani belonged to that category of mystics who believed it is good to live if life is nobly spent, but that it is easier to die if life is given to the Idea. Arnaldo Mussolini was his master: from Arnaldo he learned that before acting and building it is necessary to elevate yourself, purify your own spirit, refine your character; only then can you be assured that your actions will be fruitful and your building safe. From Arnaldo he learned that before knowing, judging and guiding others, it is first necessary to know yourself well, to inexorably punish your faults, to incessantly refine your virtues; only then can one aspire to the honor of commanding.
From Arnaldo he learned that only sacrifice can arouse great and good works and destroy small and vile things. That which has no cost has no worth; that which does not bring hardship and suffering does not last; that which is outside of us does not matter; honors, positions and riches are ephemeral and perishable things. What matters is what's inside of us, because it's ours and no one can ever take that away, not even by tearing off our flesh. To be yourself at all times, to always remain yourself: that is the highest achievement of men.
Niccolò Giani was a man of faith. And his faith was the kind which never faltered, and which remained in tact in good times and in bad, and which in fact derived strength from difficulties and misfortunes. His faith was of those whose crystalline sources draw the clear minds and transparent souls of pure men who know that if you want to reach the last summit, you need to climb many peaks and sometimes even come down from some in order to climb other higher peaks. Giani's faith was born from an inexhaustible spiritual torment, from an uncontrollable anxiety of elevation and of conquest to become, as the Poet says, "a dear joy upon which all virtues are founded".
He believed in God, in the God of us Catholics and Italian Fascists to Whom we owe not only the mysterious gift of life but also the privilege of being called to continue the mission of civilization and justice which our people have been doing in the world for more than two millenia. He believed in the political doctrine proclaimed by Mussolini, derived from action, fueled by faith, consecrated by sacrifice, and in its ability to establish a new system of life, to educate men to a vast and humane view of things, to create a new type of Italian and European civilization. He believed in Mussolini because he considered him the man of Providence, the exponent of a chosen race, the founder of a universal civilization, the protagonist and creator of a new history, the leader of the young generations, the Duce, whom we do not need to ask when the march will come or where it will take us, because the goal was already in his eyes and victory already in his grip from the day when destiny placed him at the head of his people.
He believed in the youth, born and raised with the rise of Fascism, educated at the strict school of the Fascist Party. He wanted them to be revolutionaries in spirit and in blood, generous and bold, ready to fight and to sacrifice. He dreamed of a ruling class which would demonstrate by example, by works and by sacrifice how to be worthy of our great people and our great leader; a ruling class made up of integral men, strong in their moral independence―the only human wealth that has no measurable monetary value―and endowed with all the spiritual, intellectual and physical virtues that are indispensable for exercising a commanding mission with dignity and effectiveness.
He conceived the family in the most traditional sense; he loved the large and healthy Italian family, rich in honesty and numerous in children, blossomed by the love between a man who lives by working or fighting for the Fatherland and a woman who lives in that small but great kingdom called the home, serenely and eagerly awaiting her husband's return. And if he does not return, the woman sheds no tears because she knows the man will survive through the children, who will proudly continue his work and follow his example.
He believed in the Fatherland as the toughest, the largest, the most humane of reality; he loved the Fatherland more than his own soul. All for the Fatherland: that was his mission. Nothing was worth anything to him if it did not serve the Fatherland. Because the Fatherland is everything and everyone; yourself and others; the generations that were, that are and that will be: the history of yesterday, today and tomorrow. The Fatherland is the synthesis of all the noblest aspirations. It is comprised of men who can always become more worthy, and territories which can always became more vast. It is for the Fatherland that one works, suffers, hopes, fights, wins or dies.
Niccolò Giani was a journalist of the Revolution. He saw journalism as a school of life, as a tool for education and training. From the agile columns of his newspaper "La Cronaca Prealpina", and from his magazine "Dottrina fascista", he fought tirelessly for the creation of a revolutionary, dynamic and courageous journalism; a journalism capable of playing a constructive role in disclosure, propulsion and control; a journalism worthy of being considered a sharp weapon of the Revolution.
But above all he was a master of the youth. His teaching was consecrated by religious fervor, which he used to devote himself to all activities aimed at the young. At the University of Pavia, at the Center for Political Preparation and at the School of Fascist Mysticism he contributed his beautiful culture of knowledge and action, enlightened by faith and warmed by sentiment.
"All that is good and worthwhile in our School" – said Vito Mussolini, our president – "comes exclusively from him. We must never forget this. On the contrary, we must present it as a wonderful example to young people, who will be able to see in him the most sublime expression of obedience to the Duce's commands."
He was the best among us: the most limpid, the most generous, the most pure. He was the most ardent flag-bearer and the brightest apostle of our mystical faith. He wanted missionaries – bearers of our political creed – to come out of our School, and he himself was the most tenacious and most convincing asserter of those principles which form the foundation of our doctrine.
The School arose with him by the will of a handful of believers whom he called the "Desperados of Fascism", just as the Squadristi once liked to be called "Angry Fascists". At first, the school was an activity of the Milanese Fascist University Group (GUF), then became an activity of all the Fascist University Groups. Today it has earned the respect and attention of all Fascists. Its work is aimed at young people, but its action is also joyfully followed and intimately loved by the comrades of the old guard who see within the students of our School a renewal of the two most valuable virtues of squadrism: loyalty and intransigence.
The comrades of the Milanese old guard know that the name of Niccolò Giani is linked to the reopening of the "Covo" on Via Paolo da Cannobio, the first seat of "Il Popolo d'Italia", the first trench of Fascism, which the Duce wished to entrust to the youth of the School of Fascist Mysticism because the younger generations, drawing on the genuine sources of our Revolution, will raise the spirit and excitement of the vigil from the humble grandeur of its origins.
Niccolò Giani was above all an intransigent believer. Some might call him a fanatic, but only fanatics can move the wheel of History with blood.
His spirit rebelled against any form of compromise, because his faith did not permit any plea bargains; the beautiful, the good and the true are on one side of the wall; on the other side are the bad, the ugly and the petty.
I would like to recall the conference of Fascist Mystics in February 1940: we were on the eve of our war of liberation and within all of us there was a feverish impatience of decision. The theme of the conference was looming: "Why are we mystics?" The problems of intelligence and culture were examined in light of faith. Those lacking in faith were expelled and Giani declared open war against those who had a spirit which was too rationalistic, against those who love cold research and mechanical reasoning.
The doctrine that conquers is that which arises from faith and not that which comes from arid and idle investigation; the culture that builds is the one that penetrates and transforms, not the one that remains icy and inert.
The conference was very heated and the answer to the subject of our enthusiastic debates was given by Giani himself: "Fascism is equal to spirit, equal to mysticism, equal to combat, equal to victory". Because you can not believe if you are not a mystic, you can not fight if you do not believe, and you can not win if you do not fight.
O young comrades of the School of Fascism Mysticism, it was at that conference that the youth of the Fascist generation solemnly declared their right to fight.
Niccolò Giani was among the first to leave for the Western Front. Inside of him there was a morbid preoccupation with establishing a perfect consistency between thought and action. He had already participated as a volunteer in the war against Ethiopia, he repeatedly asked to fight in Spain and his request was denied, but finally his long-awaited test came to fruition.
Those who saw the lieutenant of the Aplini on the Western Front remember him as an example of discipline and bravery. But the interlude was too short: he returned unsatisfied. He went to North Africa as a war correspondent for "Il Popolo d'Italia"; but when he learned that his regiment was already on the Greek Front he asked to join them. He could not keep away from his beloved Alpini, for it seemed to him like a betrayal to do so.
He left, never to return. Three times he offered himself for risky missions, three times he was satisfied, the third time he was the last. His men loved him, they would go anywhere with him: the unsurpassed power of the example!
With a handful of 25 alpine soldiers, he reached a high peak in order to carry out a reconnaissance mission on enemy positions; he fulfilled his task happily and quickly, but he went on further: his mission was another. He had just met a comrade from Milan along the way and had entrusted him with the task of greeting all his friends here at the School of Fascist Mysticism and informing us that he had left for a special mission he wished us to know about. The man kept his promise. At the head of his troops Giani reached another summit, upon which he glistened in the light of glory, and with grenades in hand he assaulted a Greek garrison. Surrounded on all sides, he fought heroically until a bullet severed his throat, shattering his life and stifling the song of his youth.
So fell Niccolò Giani. He died as he had lived: not for himself, but for others. It is sad not to be able to live near him anymore, no longer able to refresh our spirit at the most pure spring of his faith; but he has ended his earthly life in a way worthy of him. Arnaldo taught him that the secret of life is this: knowing how to live and how to die in the most dignified manner. Niccolò Giani wanted to teach the youth of his generation how to live and how to die as an Italian disciple of Mussolini.
O mystical comrades, our School will not honor him with tears, which he would disapprove of. Our eyelids are dry even if at the same time our heartbeats rapidly accelerate. But we do not feel that he has left a void in our ranks, because his restless spirit still lives on with us today as never before, to show us the path that leads to victory, to warn us that his torment must also be our torment, his anxiety also our anxiety, his love also our love, today, tomorrow, always.
And we feel that Arnaldo, his master and ours, welcomed him as the best of his disciples into heaven, beside his beloved son and the other Martyrs of our School.
