European Resistance Archive/European Resistance Archive (ERA)

We had drawn together most of our forces in the lowlands around Reggio, around Limiti, Soliera, Carpi.

All the houses were with us.

There was actually a time when that area was called “free zone”, because nobody could get in.

However

the Nazi fascists had also been looking at that area, just like us.

At a certain point they decided to do a mop-up to free the area.

They were going to do it with such forces, machine guns and heavy ammunition.

They would have more or less destroyed our whole organization.

We met at the headquarters and decided we had to leave.

As usual it was the dispatch-rider who had to face this battle,

in order to go and inform all our comrades, otherwise they would have been slaughtered.

If they couldn’t be ready in time, they could at least withdraw before they all got killed.

At a certain point I declared I would go.

I already knew the area. I had gone there often.

We had many families of peasants there, wonderful families.

I said: “I’m going, give me the gun and I’ll head over there”.

I was given the orders, essentially those that could be remembered and passed on and left.

I met this patrol. What could I do?

They ordered me to stop. I pulled my gun and started to shoot.

I shot while I was riding the bicycle, I shot as long as I could carry on until I reached the right place and inform all the others.