Requiem

They climbed the ramps of the old factory to reach the chapel of rest set up by the family in the entrance hall of the art gallery, which stands like a large cenotaph on the test track that runs in a loop on the roof of the Lingotto.

For a whole day, until the first light of dawn, an uninterrupted line of women, men, young and old, filed silently past the coffin where the entire family awaited them to shake their hands in gratitude.

Among them, many were former workers who, after having worked in the factory all their lives, went to honour their “employer”.

Their words are full of praise and gratitude for this man who gave them the opportunity to redeem themselves from poverty.

But in those days there were other Fiat workers who had been fighting for several months to defend their jobs, threatened by the state of crisis declared by the company.

Many of them were placed on zero-hour redundancy.

In the words of these workers there is no gratitude, but only anger and concern for their future.

An entire city mourned the death of Giovanni Agnelli.

Who mourns the death of the Turin working class?