A shocking discovery was made at the “Giovanni Falcone” High School in Gallarate (Varese, Italy), where swastikas, slogans glorifying Mussolini and Hitler, and violent slurs against Jews, communists, and LGBTQ+ people were found scrawled in student bathrooms.
The issue was first reported by a teacher attending a national remote meeting hosted at the school. With students absent, the bathrooms were being used by staff. The teacher, who signed as a “democratic antifascist educator,” photographed the graffiti and sent the images to local newspapers, questioning how such hate speech could go unnoticed – especially just four days after Holocaust Remembrance Day.
In his open letter, he expressed deep concern, saying: “We were all shocked by this resurgence of neo-fascist hate. This cannot and must not be underestimated by the school administration.”
Gallarate’s mayor, Andrea Cassani, stressed the seriousness of the matter: “It would be wrong to downplay this. The school should carry out an internal investigation to identify the perpetrator – the photos suggest the work of a single individual.”
The school principal, Katia Fiocchetta, confirmed that the incident had been reported to the police and that the offensive writings would be removed the next day.
