Giovani di tutti i Paesi, unitevi! Il Festival della gioventù del 1953 e l’Italia

Journal title ITALIA CONTEMPORANEA
Author/s Lorenzo Venuti
Publishing Year 2025 Issue 2025/309
Language Italian Pages 26 P. 97-122 File size 255 KB
DOI 10.3280/IC2025-309004
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Between the 2nd and 16th of August 1953, 1,600 young people from all over Italy gathered in Bucharest to participate in the World Youth and Student Festival. The event was meant to showcase the strength and significance of the Italian Communist youth movement on the global stage, but it provoked displeasure from the Italian government. Upon the participants’ return to Italy, the government launched a sweeping punitive campaign against them, confiscating their passports at the border. This repressive measure by the authorities resulted in the accumulation of extensive documentation, including reports from police headquarters on the participants and testimonies from some of the attendees. This led to a detailed and nuanced portrayal of the participants’ experiences, many of whom were not affiliated with the Communist Party, but were driven more by curiosity about life behind the Iron Curtain or by the opportunity to travel.

Keywords: Cold War, World Festival of Youth and Students, Cultural Cold War, travel

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Lorenzo Venuti, Giovani di tutti i Paesi, unitevi! Il Festival della gioventù del 1953 e l’Italia in "ITALIA CONTEMPORANEA" 309/2025, pp 97-122, DOI: 10.3280/IC2025-309004