The "Reclaiming" of the Pontine Marshes

In 1928 land and farming development underwent regulation, and laws were passed for the great improvement project.[1] This was referred to as the Bonifica Integrale, it meant draining of the land by means of ditches, but it also referred to building cannals, pump stations, roads, and forestry. Thousands of dwellings were erected during a short period of time in the recently recovered swamplands of the Agro Pontino. Each of these farmsteads, intended for so-called “colonists,” had a small piece of farmland. The area’s regulation plan was adopted in 1930: A street grid consisting of a mixture of main streets and side streets intersecting at right angles, and a street pattern consisting of more curved lines. The Pontine Marshes were drained to make room for almost 4,000 farmsteads, thirteen borghi[2] (hamlets) and five towns, or “rural centers” as the state propaganda insisted on calling them. These units were to function as parts of an interdependent system, organized in a strict hierarchy—a realization of the corporative idea. The War Veterans’ Association, from here on called the ONC (Opera Nazionale per i Combattenti), was in charge of both draining, building and the resettlement of the area, as well as daily administration. Veterans from the first World War, and now unemployed landworkers, essentially from Northern Italy, were picked out to settle this “new” land. They were sent by train to the stations in Littoria or Fossanova where they were served a hot meal. Then they went on foot or were transported in big lorries to their new homes. The size of the farm each family was assigned, was calculated according to the number of grown-ups in the family. The next day was a wake up call. The contracts they were presented with were tough. Each family was provided with a manual of operations and responsibilities; they were liable to report to the ONC. In addition each family was given a constricting downpayment plan for all the work that had been done to prepare for, build and equip each of these small farms. All credits and debits were meticuously entered into the colonist’s libretto (account book). In most cases the soil was of poor quality, another factor that complicated life for the new farmers, and the onc decided upon what crops the farmers could grow. The ONC functioned as administrator and supervisor for the whole area—and many other areas like this in Italy. An ONC headquarter was therefore set up in every borgo and town; they were omnipresent and always watching.[3]

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