Italian Army in Russia

PFilliputtiA16010038.jpg

Title

Italian Army in Russia

Description

An "Alpino" has been stabbed in the hand by German soldiers whilst trying to board an open-top lorry which is transporting the Germans. Other Italian soldiers are attempting to escape or are slumped on the ground. In the sky, two aircraft are visible and a large explosion has occurred between them. A postcard with the caption ‘PER LA PATRIA SI RINUNZIA AL SUPERFLUO Roma – Mostra Augusteo’ has been pasted onto the painting.

Label reads “75”; signed by the author, caption reads “RUSSIA 12 DICEMBRE 1942. L’ultima cartolina di un alpino della “Iulia” dal fronte russo, per modestia, come visse, a memora imperitura ommetto il nome mettendo solo le sue iniziali “..cm F.A. 3o Artiglieria Alpina “IULIA” commando reggimento P.M. 202. Tanti auguroni Natale 42, data timbro postale 12 dicembre 1942.” Era uno dei ragazzi della legendaria divisione “Iulia”, prima di partire con l’A.R.M.I.R. ed era appena giunto dalla Grecia, disse: “sento che non tornerò più a casa” prigioniero nella tragica ritirata del Don, periva in un campo di concentramento per un’epidemia di difterite. Si senti parlare di fatti agghiaccianti come quello del disegno, nella ritirata tedeschi sui camion mozzavano le mani agli Alpini che si aggrappavano ai loro camion.”

Caption translates as: “Russia, 12 December 1942. The last postcard of an Alpino of the "Iulia" sent from the Russian front. As he was a humble man, who lived an unassuming life, I will omit his name and only state his initials, so that he will be eternally remembered: “… C M, third Alpine artillery “IULIA”, regimental command, military post number 202. Merry Christmas 1942, stamped 12 December 1942”. He was one of the young lads of the legendary “Iulia” division, before leaving with the Italian Army in Russia, who had just returned from Greece. He said: “I feel like I will never come back home”. He became a prisoner of war during the Don River tragic retreat. He died of diphtheria in a concentration camp. We heard about these dreadful happenings, like the one depicted in the drawing. During the retreat, the German soldiers cut the hands of the Alpini who held onto their lorries.”

Temporal Coverage

Language

Type

Format

One tempera on paper, pasted on mount board

Rights

This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.

Identifier

PFilliputtiA16010038

Citation

Angiolino Filiputti, “Italian Army in Russia,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed December 3, 2024, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/127.

Item Relations

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