Katakombenschulen (

catacomb Catacombs are man-made underground passages primarily used for religious purposes, particularly for burial. Any chamber used as a burial place is considered a catacomb, although the word is most commonly associated with the Roman Empire. Etym ...

schools) were clandestine schools established in Italian

South Tyrol South Tyrol ( , ; ; ), officially the Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol, is an autonomous administrative division, autonomous provinces of Italy, province in northern Italy. Together with Trentino, South Tyrol forms the autonomo ...

during the 1920s period of

Fascist Italianization Italianization ( ; ; ; ; ; ) is the spread of Italian culture, language and identity by way of integration or assimilation. It is also known for a process organized by the Kingdom of Italy to force cultural and ethnic assimilation of the nati ...

. Teaching of and in the

German language German (, ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western Europe, Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and Official language, official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switze ...

was banned (Lex Gentile, October 1923) by the authorities of

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, which had occupied the area in 1918. Approximately 30,000 students in 324 schools were affected, including the dissolution of German nursery schools and all higher German language based educational institutions. German-speaking school teachers in the province were replaced by Italian-speakers. German language based education went underground when private lessons were banned in November 1925. The main organizers were, among many others, priest Michael Gamper and lawyer Dr Josef Noldin. School books were smuggled from farm to farm and lessons taught by the dismissed German teachers; they were augmented by approximately 500 young female volunteers. The ''Katakombenschulen'' focused on the teaching of writing and reading in German. The penalty for being found out was prison and repeatedly caught teachers were deported to South Italy. The 25-year-old teacher Angela Nikoletti died from tuberculosis during a prison term. Josef Noldin was deported to

Lipari Lipari (; ) is a ''comune'' including six of seven islands of the Aeolian Islands (Lipari, Vulcano, Panarea, Stromboli, Filicudi and Alicudi) and it is located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the northern coast of Sicily, Southern Italy; it is ...

in 1927. After the signing of the

Lateran treaty The Lateran Treaty (; ) was one component of the Lateran Pacts of 1929, agreements between Italy under Victor Emmanuel III and Benito Mussolini and the Holy See under Pope Pius XI to settle the long-standing Roman question. The treaty and ass ...

in 1929 German language religious lessons on Sunday were allowed.

References

Literature

* Stefan Lechner (2003). ''„Die Eroberung der Fremdstämmigen“: Provinzfaschismus in Südtirol 1921–1926''. Wagner: Innsbruck. (= ''Veröffentlichungen des Südtiroler Landesarchivs''. Vol. 20). * Maria Villgrater (2004). ''Katakombenschule''. Bozen, Athesia 1984. * Andrea Bonoldi, Hannes Obermair (2006). ''Tra Roma e Bolzano / Zwischen Rom und Bozen. Staat und Provinz im italienischen Faschismus''. Bozen: Stadt Bozen 2006. .

References

Literature

See also