1956: Terrorism in South Tyrol

A series of attacks pervaded South Tyrol between 1956 and 1969. It can roughly be divided into two phases. The first lasted until about 1961, which functioned on the principle that no human life should be endangered. The second phase lasted until 1969: there were deaths, injuries and major material damages. The first attacks took place in September 1956, carried out by South Tyroleans who were disillusioned by the policies of the South Tyrolean People’s Party and organised themselves into the “South Tyrolean Liberation Committee” (BAS). Before long, they received political, financial and organisational support from sympathisers in Austria. The series of attacks reached its pinnacle with the so-called “Night of Fire”: on the night of June 11 to 12, 1961, 37 electricity pylons were blown up. Electricity supply to northern Italian industries as well as to the Bolzano industrial zone was interrupted.

The Italian state took decisive action. South Tyrol changed into a military camp. Dozens of people were arrested and were sometimes subjected to brutal prison conditions. However, the allegations of torture against the Italian carabinieri and prison staff did not prevent long prison sentences. To this day, some of the assassins who had fled abroad to Austria have not been pardoned and still cannot return to South Tyrol. For this reason, the topic remains a sensitive matter. In the self-perception of the former actors, it was these attacks that contributed to the political solution, that is, the second Statute of Autonomy that was signed in 1972. The goal of the attacks, however, was “self-determination” for South Tyrol, which was never achieved.