“Bella ciao” (Goodbye beautiful) is an Italian protest folk song that originated in the hardships of the mondina women, the paddy field workers in the late 19th century who sang it to protest against harsh working conditions in the paddy fields of North Italy.
The song was adopted as an anthem of the anti-fascist resistance: by the Italian partisans between 1943 and 1945 during the Italian Resistance, the resistance of Italian partisans against the Nazi German forces occupying Italy, during the Italian Civil War, and the Italian partisan struggle against the fascist Italian Social Republic and its Nazi German allies. Versions of “Bella ciao” are sung worldwide as an anti-fascist hymn of freedom and resistance.
The song recently gained worldwide popularity once again when it was featured in Netflix’s La Casa de papel (Money Heist) television series.