Centro Studi Repubblica Sociale Italiana
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mercoledì 28 luglio 2021

Youth camps

 

Fascist pedagogy began with the body. Physical education, pre-military training, opportunities for healthy socializing - such as those experienced in the youth camps - all contributed towards the making of the "new Italian". The many initiatives taken by the Italian Youth of the Littorio occupy a place of honour in the context of the regime's demographic policy. The "physical and moral strengthening of the live forces of the nation" is specifically the aim of "climate therapy for children". Youth and even boot camps were set up throughout Italy in the 1920s. And not only at the sea and in the mountains, but also besides rivers and even in cities. The "scientific concept of the usefulness and efficacy of natural cures, of climate, air, and sun, in the fight against certain diseases and particularly against tuberculosis" was already widely discussed in the second half of the 19th century. The fascist regime made this ambitious project its own, adapting it to its plan to build a new type of Italian: healthy and virile: - in a word a true fascist. During the 1920s, the numbers of young guests continued to grow, reaching a total of 400,000 registered in 1933. In 1941 the buildings assigned to the camps came to the dizzying figure of 6,036 units while the children they hosted numbered 699,701.

 

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