Istituto piemontese per la storia della Resistenza e della società contemporanea ‘Giorgio Agosti’

Established after World War II in 1947 by several components of the Committee of National Liberation (the CLN), the organization of the anti-fascist partisan brigades, the Institute for the History of the Resistance and the History of the Contemporary Italian Society (Istoreto), was the first of a network of 65 regional Historical Institutes, distributed throughout the national territory and today still existing and operating in Italy. This network, whom Istoreto is associated is the INSMLI, The National Institute for the History of the Liberation Movement in Italy, based in Milan.

The main scope of the each institutions linked to the INSMLI network is to collect, preserve, and study the documentary patrimony of the Voluntary Corps for Liberty (Corpo Volontari della Libertà) and the Committee for National Liberation Northern Italy (Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale Alta Italia). In the course of more than 50 years of activity, it has contributed in a decisive mode, with numerous study initiatives and publications, to the achievement of a scientifically-based contemporary historiography in Italy.

Recently the documents held in the archives of the 65 cultural institutions are obtained the recognition as “historical heritage” of the Italian State by the Government of the Italian Republic.

Today the Istoreto holds over about 3 millions of documents, 60.000 photos and 4.000 video interviews of witnesses of the period of WWII.

The core-role of the Istoreto’s team is to collect and secure the future of the these records, both digital, video and physical, to preserve it for generations to come, and to make it as accessible and available as possible.  Scholars and students can find and read a great amount of these records, starting from the website: metarchivi.it

The Istoreto’s Library holds over 66.000 books and hundreds of historical and scientific reviews.
If you need help to carry out your research and use the archives, please see our on-line section: istoreto.erasmo.it/Opac/Default.aspx

The Istoreto’s team has created 3 on-line research guides to help you find the sources you need about 3 important topics of the Contemporary History of Italy:

• Partigianato Piemontese (intranet.istoreto.it/partigianato/default.asp) for the on-line archive of the history of the Resistance movement during WWII.
• les Archives de la Déportation – ADP (intranet.istoreto.it/adp/default.asp) for the on-line archive of the video interviews of the deported from Piedmont Region (1943-1945) and survivors from Nazi Lagers.
• Esodo Istriano-Fiumano-Dalmata in Piemonte (intranet.istoreto.it/esodo/) for the on-line archive of the forced displacements of 270.000 Italian people from the Yugoslavian borders, immediately after the end of WWII.

Istoreto promotes historic researches and exhibitions. From 2003 to 2008 Istoreto took part to the European Interreg Project “The memory of the Alps”. The project promoted the creation of a vast “diffuse museum” in the heart of Europe, involving a network of local museums and cultural institutions in South of France, North Italy and Switzerland.

Another “core-point” of the Istoreto’s mission is to organise didactic activities with young students of the school of Piedmont Region and refresher courses for teachers.
The most important activities aimed to schools are:

• Compiling teaching plans and aids.
• Refresher courses for teachers and the experimentation of innovative didactic activities.
• Organisation of guided tours for teachers and students to places and structures included in the project.