Reisiger glances up. He must stop. This, he thinks, is a desecrated wood. These are trees, three or five years old birches. Which have nothing, nothing to do with war. Which do not want to chose between French and Germans. They do not hate, do not kill.
They do only stay there, and which, each spring, grow leaves, and bloom, and then, in autumn, they lose their foliage and, with a lot of patience, remain there, freezing until spring comes again. With no rush. Maybe, they are animated by nothing more than this impulse to bath in the sun.
What about now? – By now, the greatest beasts which exist on earth, men, have thrown themselves on these harmless birches. A caprice has taken this wood over. So it dies, with no words, and it dies as submissive as the victim of no other murder would. Well, there is some wind, and this is why the trees shake their head for some more time. But the branches have already extended and bent.§And the leaves sneeze and sneeze. And all of this will not last longer than twenty-four hours, then there are going to be bare poles. And everything will be bare, because this is how men want it to be.
Edlef Köppen (Heeresbericht – Military Report)
______________________
In the current phase of the struggle for the Free Territory of Trieste, the various souls of the fight for the independence of Trieste are emerging.
All those who support this Cause have, as minimum term, the research of a freedom identified with independence from the Italian State, regarded as an oppressing force.
A rediscovery of our rights, which happened fast, in the last three years, thanks to the rebirth of a long for independence much more mature and capable to form responsible citizens, well aware of their rights.
But the union of such forces cannot mean denying the fundamental values in which many citizens recognize themselves.
For example, my struggle for the FTT has roots much different than others: defending the environment, this territory that has long been battered by an aggression made of dumping sites, pollution and other environmental devastation has always been a priority to me.
Pollution means the destruction of life, including human life. To me, restoring the environment of the Free Territory, devastated by decades of misgovernment in an undeclared war, but fought in no less ruthless means, has always been the starting point for the future of a new State of Legality. A State in which Nature is the absolute and most precious good to protect. A State in which a citizen lives in harmony with the environment he is a part of.
The chances to make this dream real are now up to the strength and capability of that growing Movement, which is the spontaneous reaction of the people who, in a general disorientation, are capable of perceiving the actual existence and commonality of the problem, and to react to it engaging in different means to defend both nature and the spiritual rediscovery of ethical foundations, without falling to incompetent moodiness, to political and economical speculation, not even to sectarianism.
Translated from blog “Ambiente e Legalità” – “Environment and Legality” by Roberto Giurastante