European Resistance Archive/European Resistance Archive (ERA)

"It doesn't matter, as long as we are together".

So they put us thogether in the Cervi group and before evening they came and told us:

"Now you go up the the Cerreto-pass to block the street".

Ceasefire

As for the ceasefire, I remember

that there was this little wall in front of our house

next to the road where we always stopped for a chat.

I remember that as they announced these news around 5 p.m.,

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,