European Resistance Archive/European Resistance Archive (ERA)

The end of wars brings little joy

That night at home we started to count out those who were coming back.

As soon as we saw soldiers returning from the front, I went to the train station in Reggio.

I was hoping I would see my brother make it home too,

but I never saw him again.

Of my six brothers, our numerous family,

that had been awarded by the Duce,

three died, one was a victim of political persecution and one hostage.

We didn’t really have too much to be happy about, in spite of the Liberation.

The days of Liberation

On the 23rd we noticed a heavy fog over our heads.

Everything seemed quiet, muffled. Then the German tanks began to withdraw.

An army on the run is one of the saddest sights one can witness.

There was a whole line of trucks that had been seized in Yugoslavia.

They were all full of wounded soldiers. It was terrible.

The Germans were heading for the Po River,

but there were a few groups of partisans in the lowlands, the SAPs, trying to disarm them.

However, the Germans didn’t give up until the very end.

We were told to keep calm.

Nobody knew what the situation was.