European Resistance Archive/European Resistance Archive (ERA)

the news that the war was over, my sister screamed at me:

"Hey, Francesco, they said on the radio that the war is over

but now there will be discussions with the Germans ..."

So I went upstairs because in our house I was the only one in possession of a radio,

so I went to listen. They said something

about the cease-fire with the Americans so the war-thing was expected to be over,

but it was starting right in that moment instead, especially for us.

Introduction and youth

My name is Francesco Bertacchini,

I was born in Reggio Emilia on June 24th, 1926.

That was a very bad time,

we couldn't go anywhere because we were being controlled everywhere we went,

it was very nasty. We were friends with this guy called Benito,

the son of Benito Foscato, the worst fascist of Zanichelli Street,

where we have grown up as kids.

So we always had to be very careful about what we were saying

because he would go and tell his father who would call us to the headquarters.

It was a dog's life, you had to take care whom you were dealing with.

One day our friend came home dressed as a fascist.

At first he seemed on our side.