European Resistance Archive/European Resistance Archive (ERA)

We all charged at that moment, all frantic, all in a rush.

We were suddenly inside the German lines, which were well organized according to the logic of a military attack.

The 300 young men charged among them and provoked such havoc

that the Germans were so surprised they didn’t even shoot.

Had they shot at us they would have also been shooting at their own people, because we were among them.

We broke through their lines without a fight.

Instead of 100 of our men dying, only two fell, two were wounded and one was taken captive.

Confinement; Surrender of Italy

At one point, I experienced some sort of metamorphosis, like in Trieste

when the fascist spat in my face and I identified everyone who spoke Italian as a fascist.

The civilian population brought me to recognize that it is unjust to condemn

or declare an entire population merely for what is expressed through their political, military or other representatives.

I began to understand that Italians, no less than us, are quite disparate.

There are those to whom I’m close and there are those whom I find adverse, they are my enemy as I am theirs.

Upon our return from Italian confinement, we all went together in groups.

I remember that the day I returned from half a year of confinement, I washed, changed my clothes and headed off to join the Partisans.

My family wanted me to stay at least a full day. No. I couldn’t wait.

For me, joining the Partisans felt like discovering America.

I wanted to become an active fighter and not just a sympathizer.

The mood after the fall of fascism – formally on July 25th and later September 8th -