European Resistance Archive/European Resistance Archive (ERA)

Military experience

When I was serving in the first unit,

it was my task to train to people, set up teams.

If there was one who had more courage than others

I placed a few shy ones next to him.

I told them: "Don't shoot, don't shoot, don't smoke

when you're in that position

and don't show the white parts of your body and your face because they can see you".

That was it, but the ones that were paying less attention to these instructions or were distracted

got into trouble because they took advantage of this.

And when someone was to do surveillance duty: keep your eyes open and don't sleep,

because during military service you do surveillance like this.

But then again, you could find partisans doing surveillance and sleeping.

If you're tired, ask for a change, you stupid,

because I sleep quietly if you're keeping your eyes open, but if you sleep, too ... ?!

And in fact these things happened, I'm not going to talk about it because they're too tragic,

but it happened that the Germans came in and did a massacre

because the guard wasn't paying attention. They had no experience.

Another episode happened to me near Parma.

One day we crossed the river Enza