European Resistance Archive/European Resistance Archive (ERA)

It wasn’t a happy day. Fiorello died right next to me. We had been friends since we were kids.

The curtain of the Theatre Valli

The theatre curtain.

That was really a great moment for us. We’ve always been proud of it.

We had a comrade employed as a technician at the Timo offices. He was also our informer.

When the Germans arrived in Reggio Emilia they took hold of a part of the building

and set their offices there.

Italians took care of normal Italian work.

They also had to decode messages in cipher coming from Germany.

After they were spending the whole day working side by side,

our informer developed a sort of friendship with the Germans.

And sometimes the Germans would even talk about the orders they were receiving.

Our informer found out about an order sent from the central headquarters in Berlin.

They were to take away Reggio Emilia’s theatre curtain. It had been crafted by the great painter Chierici.

They should take it to Bologna, then to Berlin. It was a specific order, to be carried out urgently.

Our informer came to my house. He knew I was involved in the Resistance, and told me about this:

“I’m telling you they received an official order to take away Reggio Emilia’s curtain,

take it to Bologna and then send it to Berlin”.

Fiorello and I decided we had to do something about it.

We got together and devised our plan. We had to carry the curtain away.