Solidarity with Friuli was instantaneous, with relief
and financial aid arriving from all over the world. As early as the night of
May 6, the Italian Red Cross began collecting funds for the earthquake-stricken
areas, as part of the relief expedition.
Italian and foreign authorities visited the disaster
areas, bringing not only solidarity but also tangible aid. Among them, on May
13, US Vice President Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller, in Osoppo, pledged the
support of the United States, with the backing of President Gerald Ford. The US
Congress quickly allocated $25 million, approximately 21 billion lire, which
was followed by the same amount the following year, provided by the United
States Agency for International Development (USAID) for the construction of schools
and retirement homes. On May 22, the President of the European Commission,
François-Xavier Ortoli, also drew up a plan of action, which was approved two
months later by the European Parliament.
In the first year after the earthquake, approximately
100 billion lire arrived from abroad in the form of materials and machinery for
use in relief efforts and operations carried out by foreign military forces.
These resources were ultimately donated to the affected areas and remained on
site. Neighbouring countries played a prominent role in this drive for
solidarity. The Austrian government doubled the amount collected by private
individuals, bringing it to 5 billion lire. Meanwhile, the government in Belgrade
allocated 2.8 billion lire for the shipment of prefabricated houses and
caravans, to which an additional 700 million lire in private donations was
added. Large donations came from West Germany and Switzerland, where many
Friulian immigrants worked, as well as from Norway, whose government donated
more than 250 prefabricated houses. Most of these were sent to Alesso, bringing
the total value of donations to 630 million lire. Among non-European countries,
Saudi Arabia was second only to the United States in terms of generosity,
contributing $5 million (almost 4.5 billion lire).
Donations from Canada and Australia came mainly from
private individuals. In Canada, almost all aid was channelled through the
National Congress of Italian Canadians, which managed to raise $4 million:
these funds were used to build the Borgata Canada district in Forgaria
and two retirement homes in Taipana and Bordano. In Australia, the government
allocated 250 million lire for the construction of nurseries, while the
Australian Committee for Italian Earthquake Fund raised 950 million lire. The
international aid machine could count on the support of local associations
linked to Friuli: the Fogolârs Furlans and the Fameis
Furlanis.
The Red Cross and Caritas were among the most active
transnational organisations in providing relief and solidarity. The Austrian
Red Cross built shelters in Avasinis, a hamlet in the municipality of
Trasaghis, as well as in Tarcento and Terzo, a village in the Municipality of
Tolmezzo; the Swiss Red Cross built earthquake-proof apartments in Avasinis and
prefabricated buildings in Taipana and in the hamlet of Prossenicco, where
temporary structures, including a primary school, were also brought in from Bavaria.
The German Red Cross set up a prefabricated hospital in Tolmezzo. Materials
arrived from Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, France, the United Kingdom,
East Germany and Switzerland.
The Catholic association Caritas provided cash
contributions and aid for a large-scale construction plan involving
prefabricated houses, schools, nurseries, and accommodation for the elderly,
funded or built with support from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The
association also repaired damaged buildings using its own workforce.
From the outset of this massive and unprecedented
effort of solidarity, the Friulian Church and the Italian Episcopal Conference
were at the forefront, leading the way from the emergency phase onwards. On May
7, Cardinal Antonio Poma pledged the commitment of the Italian bishops to
meeting the «most urgent needs» of the population in a message addressed to
Monsignor Alfredo Battisti, Archbishop of Udine. A close network of
partnerships was established, linking the disaster-affected townships with
Italian dioceses that had volunteered to provide assistance. 50 entities
responded to the appeal. In its July 16 1976 issue, the periodical La Vita
Cattolica announced the first partnerships, between Gemona and the diocese
of Turin, and between San Daniele and the diocese of Genoa. Other relationships
were established in the following weeks. In the months that followed, visits
were made by prelates bearing gifts of solidarity from their dioceses. Through
this network, temporary housing and facilities were provided as an initial
response to homelessness.
The National Agency for Repatriated Workers and
Refugees (Ente Nazionale Lavoratori Rimpatriati e Profughi) also took immediate
action to collect and manage funds for the creation of centres for the elderly
and young people, particularly in Sequals, Moggio and Tarcento.
Similarly, the Ente Friuli nel Mondo, an organisation
that has promoted links between Friulans in Italy and those living abroad since
1953, took immediate action. It raised funds for the initial emergency,
organised trips to help earthquake victims reach distant relatives, and
facilitated contact between Friulian communities and the Fogolârs Furlans
network in Italy and abroad.
In August, the association's magazine, «Friuli nel
Mondo», launched a “Solidarity Fund for Earthquake Victims” and immediately
began reporting on donations, especially those from abroad. According to the
report, the Fogolârs chapter in Faulquemont (France) contributed 250,000
lire, while the one in Saarbrücken, home to many Friulians who had emigrated
from Gemona, Artegna, Tarcento and Majano, donated 6,400 marks to the
communities of Buja and Susans in the Municipality of Majano.
In Thionville, France, and Saarbrücken, Germany,
children affected by the earthquake in Moggio Udinese, Resia and Resiutta were
welcomed to summer camps reserved for Fogolârs members. In Grenoble, the
Red Cross organised the delivery of blood and plasma bags, as well as equipment
for taking blood samples and performing transfusions, to various hospitals.
Thanks to two amateur radio operators, a radio link was also set up in the
French city to keep Friulian emigrants up to date on the health of their
families. The Fogolârs chapter in Cologne provided a 24-hour emergency
telephone service, collecting around 15,000 marks in one month. Ford then
contributed an additional 35,000 marks, and the Union of Ice Cream Makers
donated 50,000 more. Fundraising campaigns were organised in Luxembourg,
Belgium, Denmark and throughout Europe, wherever there was an association of
Friulians or even spontaneous groups of emigrants and their descendants.
Financial aid was received by the earthquake-stricken Region of Friuli from the
Famèe Furlane association in Oakville (Canada), the Fogolârs of
Toronto, the Federation of Friulian Societies of Argentina, the Friulian Circle
of Avellaneda, the Friulian Union of Castelmonte (Villa Bosch), the Friulian
Society of Buenos Aires, the Fogolârs of Olavarría and the Friulian
Centre of Mendoza, as well as many other places around the world.
During the initial emergency and in the months that
followed, countless tonnes of clothing, basic necessities and medicines were
delivered. However, as a full list of donations was never compiled, it is now
virtually impossible to establish an accurate total.
Above all, it is impossible to account for the
countless personal and confidential contributions made by private individuals.
Most of the money raised came from public collections organised by national and
international newspapers, which were often driven by an initial contribution
made available by the newspaper. Examples include the 350,000 marks collected
by the Bavarian newspaper Münchener Merkur for the construction of
prefabricated buildings, which were later installed by the Bavarian Red Cross,
and the houses built in Lusevera with funds donated by readers of the Italian
daily news outlet Corriere della Sera. Special committees were also set
up; one of the most notable was the collection organised by diplomats
accredited to the Holy See, which raised approximately one million lire.
The first public fundraising campaign for earthquake
victims was probably the one launched on the morning of May 7 at the
headquarters of the Fogolârs Furlans in Milan. It was chaired by the
Friulian geologist and explorer Ardito Desio, former leader of the first
expedition to climb K2. Two days later, Indro Montanelli, the founder and
editor of the newspaper Il Giornale Nuovo, launched a proposal for a
fundraising campaign among Italian and foreign newspapers in an editorial
entitled Quando suona la campana (When the bell rings). This initiative
was joined by the daily Le Figaro in Paris and the media outlet Telemontecarlo,
among others. The campaign closed on June 2, having raised 2.7 billion lire in
less than a month. When deciding how to allocate the funds, Montanelli took
into account the wishes of some donors who had requested that their
contributions not be given to any government body. He therefore decided that
the proceeds would be given directly to «those in need». The sum was allocated
to the construction of housing in three locations chosen by Ardito Desio and
the journalist Egisto Corradi: Montenars, Sedilis (in the Municipality of
Tarcento), and Vito d'Asio. In recognition of the donation, the latter
municipal administration named two streets “Via Case Montanelli” in the hamlets
of Anduins and Pielungo, where houses designed by a group of engineers and
architects from Milan were built.
In Flaipano, a hamlet in the Municipality of Montenars
that was almost completely destroyed, the Claps Furlàns association (clap
means “stone” in Friulian), a group of Friulans living in Lombardy, together
with students from the Zaccaria High School in Milan, who were shocked by the
earthquake tragedy in Friuli, built nine houses, for a total of 22 dwellings.
These were handed over to the 65 earthquake victims in Montenars, who were
mainly elderly, on October 30 1977.