Salvatore Giuliano...A Legendary Figure In Sicilian HistoryThe outlaw bandit of Salvatore Giuliano was a legendary figure in Sicilian history. Born in 1922, Giuliano was seen by many as being the Sicilian Robin Hood. Like Robin Hood, Giuliano did indeed steal from the rich and give to the poor, but unlike the story of Robin Hood, Giuliano was a real person and a real outlaw in Sicily. Salvatore Giuliano was a handsome, fearless and ruthless young man—one who was charismatic and one whom the Sicilian people admired. His ideals surrounding Sicily and its hopeful independence from Italy was viewed as extremely patriotic. He was, however, still a considered a cold-blooded killer although many claimed that he killed only when he had to.
For the next seven years of his life, Giuliano was hunted relentlessly by the state police, until his eventual death in 1950. During that time he became a legend. After his early encounter with the caribineri, he drew together a gang of about 50 bandits, criminals and homeless men in the Sagana Mountains. Under his leadership they became excellent marksmen and took to robbery and burglary to make money for food and weapons. Giuliano’s aim was to attack the present government and police targets in the name of the EVIS (Esercito Volontario per I’Indipendenza della Sicilia) movement. The EVIS promised he would be pardoned of his crimes and appointed to some position in the newly developed independent state. Giuliano made many attacks on the Italian government authorities and remained a problem for them for years. The peasants, however, saw him as a sort of Robin Hood because accounts told of him giving food and money to the poor.
Anyone who crossed Giuliano was summarily executed. If the person were a known informer, he was duly executed and had a note pinned on him sending a message to any would-be future informants. When Giuliano’s funds became limited, he and his gang of bandits took to kidnapping to gain money. He asked ransom for prominent figures who would be returned after sizeable amounts of cash were paid. He never kidnapped children, but did not balk at a rich duke or prince. He was also said to have treated his victims in a gentlemanly manner, giving them adequate housing, food and even entertainment, all of which added to his ‘Robin Hood’ appeal. Giuliano was never considered a Communist, in fact quite the contrary. One of Salvatore Giuliano’s pet goals was for Sicily to become not only an independent entity, but as an annexed state within the United States. He in fact wrote two letters to President Harry S. Truman (duly documented) asking for this consideration. Giuliano fought communism so that his dream of achieving affiliations with the States would not be compromised.
In 1950, as Giuliano was planning to flee the country, he was shot and killed. The official story said that he was killed in a street battle by the soldiers of a special task force. Later, Salvatore Giuliano’s trusted aid and friend, Gaspare Pisciotta, confessed to having betrayed and shot Giuliano in the back. His body was then laid out in the street and made to look as if a street battle had taken place. However, the official story was never retracted. Salvatore Giuliano died at the young age of 27. He was an idealistic youth who had great dreams of independence for his homeland of Sicily. He was also an outlaw, a bandit, a kidnapper and a ruthless killer. He is still considered a legendary figure in Sicilian history. Return From Salvatore Giuliano Page to History Of Sicily Page Return From Salvatore Giuliano Page to Home Page
|
