Gleanings of a massacre
Sergio Geroldi
There was a buzz among the stunned villagers in those days to end the war. The small country that Bergamo, Rovetta, as well as all small towns, each important news passed from mouth to mouth, and that April 28, 1945, heralded a tragedy that was approaching threatening. Moreover, the gravity of the situation had already been outlined since the early morning: the trucks loaded with heavily armed supporters who came from Clusone Lovere or perhaps, those harsh words and the clear intention on the part of newcomers to do summary justice Legionnaires' prisoners, does not bode well. The war had been over for three days and the country had already experienced the tragedy of war with the painful separation from his children on their way to many different fronts, but now should have been all over, and gradually had to go back to normal. But it did not appear. If the war had essentially been close to town and jamming with the controls, now the comings and goings of soldiers, Germans, Russians and Italians were terminated, then the opposite was true distance. Now, however, there was the ugliness of war, with weapons brandished menacingly on the doorstep, and this showed that the worst may worsen, and threats carried out. And the "tam tam" heralded in killing mass of soldiers who had surrendered a few days before. The military had treated their performance with an impromptu National Liberation Committee, which would ensure an orderly transition of power from one administration to a constitution defeat militarized civil administration of the characters completely unspecified. The committee of Liberation in CLN acronym, should be the political wing of armed partisan movement, hierarchically superior to the brigades in arms, but those were times when the confusion was settled, so the brute force linked to the vengeance sets aside a subordination, in fact, proved a mere formality, and rejected, and unfortunately we will see with what consequences. The head soldiers of prisoners was a boy twenty-two, with glasses, so that almost, albeit with no such experiences had wanted the draft agreed to a formal act of surrender which guarantees for miltari defeated. And not defeated in combat! For days, all communication with their command had failed and the collapse of their military was under their eyes, so the blandishments of a CLN that offered no guarantees to be able to guarantee it the naive carp good faith. The counterparts in drafting the document had been a career soldier, in civilian clothes, and a priest. What most qualified guarantors could sign the act? He did not know, the guy who never should be a soldier in uniform surrender to civilian superiors who do not have to answer for. The word can be taken, reviewed retrospectively, the pacts may suddenly become worthless, and on the scales, it ends up weighing more than the sword of Brennus of good intentions. And their sentence had already been issued, and not to Rovetta, and little more than twenty-two guy with the biggest tasks of his age when he was brutally informed by new arrivals of the trucks of the cruel fate that would have touched him and his soldiers teenagers protested, but to no avail. He received a blow from a partisan, a green flame, which he dropped his glasses. Then he performed unnecessary copy of the surrender, that was torn to pieces. He asked that he and he alone had to pay, and urged his soldiers to fair treatment as required by the agreements signed, but all in vain. So had to collect glasses and a decent start to his cruel fate, and it was done then follow, divided in small groups, by his soldiers. Meanwhile, the military career was gone, and the priest protested vigorously when the partisans would have told him that the military shot into account the wall of the church, saying it would have fouled him, and the rest was partially subdued and acquiescent. He, too, the word remains: the important thing for him was to have averted a future desecration of the parish and so was enough at that time. Basically disgraced their dress, standing halfway between Don Abbondio and Pontius Pilate with the aggravating circumstance of a good result of greed, even while regretting the last executions were in progress. At that time, however, put much zeal to be delivered by morituri portfolios and values \u200b\u200bthat never reached the family of origin. It had a river of blood before his conscience, perhaps blinded by resentment of a stolen motorcycle that soldiers had found hidden in the canonical first time, return to church values, being able to hew out of the fourteen killed three, the last of the long assassinandi bracket. Even though this was through cooperation combined with the few partisans whose tolerance for the carnage had already crossed the danger level. Remember also that a partisan official refused to provide men for the executions, but "vox clamans in desertum", could not do anything more. The priest, however, kept it hidden the only escapee from the place of incarceration, which had taken off thanks to the passive complicity of one of the few very human captors. These guardians were improvised improvised CLN issue of the well, where the main characters were always the priest and the officer in plain clothes have already mentioned, and knew of the executions. And the two self-proclaimed authorities did not put anywhere near the problem on how they could honor the guarantees. So the guards which referred to the CLN sensed that the executions were in progress only when they had to hand over prisoners in small groups and then heard gunshots. Even the prisoners knew the fate that awaited them, for almost two days were harassed by constant death threats and this had created in them, use more to act on that subject, a state of confusion, passivity and fatalism. But now the scenario had changed, and the new variant was perceived as the death threats were uttered by different people. Moreover, the newcomers had already made the morning open the cell door of the improvised by force and were beaten with prisoners humiliating them and forcing them to tear the insignia
were proud of that. Still new, not trusting the CLN had also reinforced the guards with their men. Only one of the prisoners instinctively understood all these changes. Already a jailer had even said in a whisper forbidden to go to the bathroom, "where you want to go that in three minutes you're dead!" He understood that, after so many death threats, that would really be tragic "good time" in the sense of bad and acted: the bathroom and repeated the request, when as the last wish expressed by a convict was brought to us there, he made sure to only partially close the door and let himself down from the window, and luck he wanted the "Holy" Look at it a little guardian angel as well, turning his gaze elsewhere had taken a "warning from amnesia." But the boy could not know this, at the time could not only be concerned to serve the best wings on his feet, but will meet again .... So after the fugitive took refuge in the rectory, which was facing the place of incarceration and possessed a gun hidden there, was that the officer had given upon his surrender, but, again armed, was caught in perpetual fright and asked him if it was one of the prisoners. The answer was very obvious, and to avoid cries of the woman handed him the weapon and hid in the attic only by arming itself with a heavy piece of iron. From hiding in the attic saw some movement of armed men on the lower floors, but no one tried. And when the priest returned from his performances (where in addition to having collected the wallets of those killed also had hastily officiated the functions of "routine" and he knew now disarmed by his "troops"), went upstairs, there, in front of the survivor, wept. She told him that never, in 20 years of fascism, had seen similar facts and that he could stay in his house as he wanted, and if they kept it for three months. Perhaps belatedly began to repent for his sloth, but the omelette was already made! And, as head of the CLN, had to conclude that the first fruit of a newly acquired freedom Jacobin was a monstrosity. And even offered the boy the partisan card (Green Flame), they already had a package in white, as he thought of having to distribute the particles of the religious functions. The offeree offeror had more dignity and refused, and he, always late, had to admit that the teenager was right. In town there were many displaced people from the cities. A group of these consisted of the family Di Segni, and was composed by his father, his wife and three children. The war had cost the family several transfers, last Rovetta. They had to abandon a profitable business and, by months, lived undisturbed in the country where they had extended that hospitality knowledge, almost intact. Indeed, a few months before, a veteran wounded in the forehead and are recovering at home (incidentally the same one that was later carried out the withdrawal by the alarm, leaving the only fugitive sneaking away from the carnage) who married, had invited them to his marriage. And for the banquet, at the time, there was a shortage of food due to rationing, but, you know, in a country of highlands, on the occasion of a marriage, a few chickens or a rabbit out of the hat to always end up in the pot, and so it was for the marriage. At that moment of cordiality also participated in some German soldiers, which have always loved their variants Italic "cartofen", some of our military and, of course, the whole relationship of husband and wife. Everyone knew each other, everyone knew each other's origins and history, and the harmony was perfect as ever. And why deny the spirit of the recent banquet that was a little 'good-natured and a little' accomplice? Then the legionnaires who were about to be murdered perfectly aware of their history and had always protected them from possible harassment of their allies. Especially Umberto, the promogenito, saw in the faces of the faces of teenagers about to die just almost the same age. Faces, past a river of blood would have succeeded, albeit with far too late to awaken the conscience clouded the priest. And, absolutely can not passively accept the tragedy foretold that it would be consumed soon after he left. In a hotel Rovetta found three officers of partisans talking and ask the highest ranking, then that would have been identified for the famous "Moika" (nee Poduie Paul, then resident in Rovinj in Istria), namely that culture official had stated as solely responsible for the massacre, and began with a polite but firm: "Sorry, I do not think you should make the kids a fair trial?" Not everyone can be guilty. " The answer was "Who are you?" Umberto said. "I am a Jew." The Moika continued with his characteristic Istrian hard accent, "Where was she during the war?" And Umberto "I am a Jew, I had to hide with my family." And then you Moika erse with arrogance to put an end to that dialogue intromissivo sharply and closed with a "We we were in the mountains! "And thus ended the attempt to defend a persecuted others, in that moment more than persecuted. And soon after began to echo the sounds of gunfire near the cemetery, and lasted hours. And finally subdued the buzz the villagers stopped, giving way to a grim resignation that first turned on, gradually, in a cloak of silence for days, weighed on the country. When this quiet village was consumed in the murder of the 43 boys, which remains the largest and most brutal slaughter of minors in the entire history of Italy, was hardly a time when humanity took over. But if cruelty and irresponsibility, laziness, greed, and "orders that came from elsewhere," those moments determined to save the weak positive side of human nature remains the disarming simplicity of Umberto, one of the few who had the courage to open expressions of dissent against a monstrosity imposed from elsewhere, and the sentinel ....... even after half a century was finally able to embrace with tears in her eyes the boy had left then run away and was only the "Ghost" (and is perhaps a mistake quotation marks), exposing at great personal risks, but most answering the call of his conscience to that imposed upon delivery of service in a war now over, the man who managed to operate a general but almost powerless dissent, while achieving only limited success
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