THE 4 DAYS OF THE MUTILED - THE PROTEST SPREADS

THE CRUTCHES SIT-IN. Long hours of immobility can prove particularly burdensome for demonstrators who are already physically challenged; some have been released from hospitals to participate, others will be unable to remain and will have to be escorted home. A large crowd of citizens stops, moved, to observe and sympathize with the protesters. It's no longer just the disabled; the entire city is protesting against the government and its cynical behavior. For years, the ANMIG, together with the opposition, has tried in vain to improve the economic conditions of those who survived the Second World War with disabilities, and of the surviving families of the war dead, who receive paltry pensions. Exasperated by the indifference of the parliamentary majority, which prefers to focus on the fraudulent electoral law, the war invalids and disabled stage a firm and dignified protest, sitting first in front of the Ministry of Finance, then in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, in Rome's squares, displaying the price they have paid to Italy amid the solidarity of the people. After four tiring days, the situation is finally beginning to improve, but it's only a starting point; there's still much to do. Photograph by Ando Gilardi (1921 - 2012) #andogilardi from a large series created for "The Four Days of the Mutilated," a feature by MONS published in "Lavoro," the CGIL's weekly illustrated rotogravure magazine, Rome, no. 13 of March 29, 1953.

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