Salvatore Giuliano
Salvatore Giuliano was a notorious figure in post-World War II Sicily, born in 1922 to a struggling peasant family. His early life was marked by poverty and limited education, leading him to engage in black market activities after his father's conscription into the Italian army. Giuliano’s criminal career began in earnest in 1943, when a confrontation with the police escalated into violence and he began a life as a bandit, gaining fame and popularity among Sicilians who viewed him as a Robin Hood-like figure. His actions included robberies, kidnappings, and acts of resistance against the oppressive socio-political climate, which were often seen as justified by local support.
As a supporter of the Sicilian Independence Movement, Giuliano held the rank of colonel within this separatist faction. However, his reputation took a dark turn following the tragic Portella della Ginestra massacre in 1950, where his band opened fire on a peaceful crowd, resulting in multiple deaths. Giuliano's life ended violently on July 6, 1950, amidst conflicting accounts of his death, with some believing he was betrayed by a close associate. His legacy remains complex, characterized by both his criminal notoriety and the socio-economic hardships that shaped his actions, leaving an enduring impact on Sicilian culture and history.
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Subject Terms
Salvatore Giuliano
Sicilian outlaw
- Born: November 16, 1922
- Birthplace: Montelepre, Palermo, Sicily (now in Italy)
- Died: July 6, 1950
- Place of death: Castelvetrano, Sicily, Italy
Cause of notoriety: Giuliano was famous for his kidnappings, robberies, and extortion of money from the rich. He advocated the independence of Sicily and successfully fought the Italian police forces until he was betrayed by one of his chief lieutenants.
Active: 1943-1950
Locale: Sicily, Italy
Early Life
Salvatore Giuliano (sal-vah-TOHR-ee zhyew-LYAH-noh) was born in 1922 to a poor peasant Sicilian family on the Western coast of Sicily; he was the fourth child of Salvatore Giuliano and Maria Lombardo. He received little schooling, and in 1935 he dropped out of school in order to help his family earn a living following the draft of his father into the Italian army. Giuliano’s first encounter with the law occurred at a location called Quattro Molini (Four Mills) on September 2, 1943. Giuliano, active in the black market, was carrying two sacks of flour from San Giuseppe Jato to Montelepre and was stopped at a checkpoint by the carabinieri, the semimilitary Italian police. He pleaded with the carabinieri to let him go, but an officer kept his identity card and pulled a gun, at which point Giuliano shot him and ran away. Giuliano had became involved in black market activities largely because of the dire conditions in which the people of the island lived: Fascist rule and the retreat of the German invaders had further impoverished an already poor Sicily. Under the Allied command of the island, the black market flourished, especially under the direction of the Mafia and corrupt politicians.
Criminal Career
Following the September 2 shooting, the police did not look for Giuliano until Christmas Eve of 1943, when, not having found him at home, they took his father into custody. Giuliano, who had been watching from a secure post, was angered and attempted to free his father by shooting at the carabinieri; one of them was shot and others were wounded. This event resulted in several arrests. Giuliano succeeded in freeing his friends and cousin from the jail at Monreale a few weeks later, assisted by the Mafia. The locals and political and criminal forces abided by Omerta (the Mafia code of silence), thereby protecting Giuliano as he engaged in a series of robberies, extortions, and kidnappings; his crimes provided financial support to many and brought fame to himself and his band of men. Throughout 1944, Giuliano engaged in banditry and illegal activities: He attacked police stations and ambushed police patrols with success and with immunity from charges. He and his band were well armed with automatic rifles and hand grenades—items even the local carabinieri did not possess until they captured members of the band.
Giuliano soon became the most popular and well-known bandit of Italy. In the eyes of Sicilians, he became a figure much like Robin Hood: His robberies and extortions provided aid to the peasants and poor people and pitted him against the rich landowners, the latifondisti. One legendary episode, in November, 1944, involved the duchess of Pratameno, whom Giuliano robbed. While despoiling her of her jewels, he asked to borrow the book she was reading; he later returned it with a thank-you note. Giuliano’s generosity in rewarding peasants and his spectacular deeds made him a national folk hero. He granted newspapers interviews and became the subject of conversations in every Sicilian café. In September, 1945, the daily La Sicilia del popolo declared him a celebrity and a folk hero.
During this period, Giuliano became an ardent supporter of the Sicilian Independence Movement (MIS), a group that believed fervently in the secession of Sicily from Italy. Some supporters of MIS even wanted Sicily to become the forty-ninth state of the United States. This sentiment was influenced by the many Sicilians who were living in America and, at one point, by the American Mafia, which had strong connections to Sicily. Giuliano was made a colonel in this separatist army, but soon the complexity of the Italian political establishment squashed its plans: The Christian Democratic Party, the United Left (combining socialists and communists), and the Mafia itself abandoned the separatist idea.
Giuliano’s most spectacular and bloodiest crime was the massacre that occurred at Portella della Ginestra on May Day of 1950. Peasants and workers were commemorating the electoral victory of the United Left in April, 1947, after it had obtained 30 percent of the vote versus the 21 percent of the Christian Democrats. Giuliano’s band opened fire on the crowd, perhaps out of confusion, because this was not his intent. A massacre ensued, and eleven workers were killed and thirty-three more were wounded. After this bloody and criminal event, Giuliano continued living as an outlaw, hiding in his territory and protected by his armed followers, as well as political and organized crime figures.
Giuliano suffered a violent death on July 6, 1950. He had become larger than life to many Sicilians, but to others—such as leftist parties, the Christian Democratic Party, the Americans, and the Mafia itself—he had become a national embarrassment and a nuisance. His own followers were beginning to feel this pressure, and several left the band. Giuliano’s most trusted friend and cousin, Gaspare Pisciotta, made a deal with the police to obtain amnesty. Pisciotta and Giuliano had moved, under the protection of a Mafia connection, to Castelvetrano in the house of Gregorio De Maria, a law school graduate. They were convinced that they could hide there while negotiating an eventual deal to leave the country. However, this arrangement, set up with the help of Pisciotta, proved to be a trap: Giuliano was shot dead by police.
Impact
The official version of Salvatore Giuliano’s death is that he was gunned down by the carabinieri in the house of Gregorio De Maria in Castelvetrano. However, many people believe that Giuliano was killed while he slept. Pisciotta confessed to his role in the killing of his comrade almost a year after Giuliano’s death. The official version was likely concocted with the pure intent of protecting police informers at the time. Pisciotta was fatally poisoned in 1954 while he was detailed in jail. It is said that Pisciotta’s own father administered the strychnine-laced espresso coffee, as vengeance for the betrayal of Giuliano.
The story behind Giuliano’s career and death remains one of the unresolved mysteries of Italian history. The people of Sicily and many others, however, believe that he became a bandit only out of necessity because of the economic conditions of Sicily and the corruption of the ruling classes. It is also believed that he was used as a puppet by many groups.
Bibliography
Chandler, Billy Jaynes. King of the Mountains: The Life and Death of Salvatore Giuliano. De Kalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 1988. The most comprehensive English-language account of Giuliano story. It is unbiased, precise, and historically accurate and gives a thorough analysis of the political and social forces that helped create this most notable bandit of modern Italy.
Lewis, Norman. The Honoured Society: The Sicilian Mafia Observed. London: Eland, 2003. Provides good context for the era in which Giuliano operated, describing, for example, the role that the U.S. Army played in returning the Mafia to power in 1944.
Stille, Alexander. Excellent Cadavers. New York: Random House, 1995. The book investigates and unravels the lengthy relationship between the Mafia and the Italian state.