European Resistance Archive/European Resistance Archive (ERA)

it was dangerous for all of them. They arrested all.

Liberation of Reggio Emilia

We went on the roof to see who was shooting from the Church of Madonna della Ghiara.

We couldn’t see anything from there, so we went back downstairs and headed for the bell-tower.

We found the bell-ringer and asked him how we could climb up.

He showed us the way and told us to proceed slowly.

As we got on the roof there were three men of the Black Brigade with a 37 mm Breda machine gun.

I told them not to move and raise their hands.

They obeyed as they saw the machine gun pointed at them.

They told us not to kill them. They’d show us where the others were. “Alright”, we said, “where are they?”

They told us there was a platoon of around thirty of them hiding in the subterranean vaults of “La Luna”, a spot near Porta Castello.

As we got back down, however, there was a surprise.

A jeep with a big white star printed on the hood was parked by the church. I asked what was going on.

The driver got out of the jeep

and told me that the commander wanted to know who those three men with their hands up were.

I told them that they were the ones who were shooting from the roof.

The major didn’t speak Italian, so the driver had to translate for him.

He got out of the car too, pointed the Thompson gun

and fired a spray of bullets.

I had to take a piece of liver off my jacket afterwards, because he had shot them at point-blank range.