Trafika Europe 14 - Italian Piazza

Edgardo Franzosini

get into a new formation and the platoon resumed its march. From the cages arose shrieks, moans, and howls of agony that drowned out the rhythmic thud of the soldiers’ footsteps. For the great Indian elephant an almost regulation execution was organized, with a dozen soldiers arranged in two rows, the f irst crouching and the second standing. A sergeant gave the order to take aim and f ire. For the tiger, by contrast, al l it took was a shot right between the eyes. And a single bul let was also enough for each of the fal low deer, gazel les, and zebras. On the antelopes they didn’t waste a single bul let, making simple recourse to the bayonet. The f iring squad was reassembled, however, for the rhinoceros, the giraffes, and the hippopotamuses. The agony of the rhinoceros lasted for hours after the concentrated gunf ire had fel led him. The next morning crows circled in the pale autumn sky above the zoo. The smel l of gunpowder stagnated in the air and blended with the stench of corpses that fermented and became putrid. Amid the haste no thought had been given to the reduced capacity of the zoo’s crematorium, whi le the quantity of animals was inf inite. Because of the wait the carcasses had to be pi led up near the fence, and the smel l of blood drew packs of stray dogs for days and days.

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