Tempio ossario dei Caduti d'Italia being used as partisan hideout

Tempio ossario dei Caduti d'Italia being used as partisan hideout

During a winter’s night, in the street outside a church, two Alpini, a priest and another figure in the shadows are present. One of the soldiers is running away whilst the other soldier is clutching four rifles in his arms. Lights are on inside the church and the figure in the shadows is banging on the door. The the priest looks on, his hands held in prayer.

Inscriptions read “205”; signed by the author; caption reads “GENNAIO 1945. UDINE Il tempio ossario centro della resistenza partigiana dei Verdi dell’Osoppo, 2 preti, Don Albino e Don Giorgio, hanno vissuto qui per tanti mesi, in mezzo ad un arsenale di armi, e viveri, cominciarono con l’ospitare un partigiano di Colugna, ucciso poi dai tedeschi. Dì Renato Del Din, primo caduto dell’Osoppo, sotto la cupola aveva organizzato, un laboratorio segreto, da dove partivano i materiali, per le formazioni in montagna. Una radio trasmittente quella del gruppo del maggiore inglese Niconlson [Nicholson], funzionava spesso senza tante precauzioni. Il gruppo “Baracca” e il Comando della piazza, si stabilirono quasi in permanenza al tempio, i confessionali, le pedane dell’organo, l’organo stesso erano piene di armi”.

Caption translates as: “January 1945, Udine. For many months, the ossuary church, stronghold of the “verdi” men of the Osoppo partisan Brigades, was the place of abode of two priests, Father Albino and Father Giorgio. They lived amidst weapons and provisions. They gave shelter to a partisan from Colugna, who was later killed by the Germans. Renato Del Din was the first fallen of the Osoppo Brigade. He had set up a secret workshop under the dome, supplying all partisan units in the mountains. A radio transmitter belonging to the unit lead by the British Major Nicholson, often operated without many precautions. The “Baracca” unit and the local command operated down in the church almost permanently. The confessionals, the organ platforms, and the organ itself were stuffed with weapons.”

One tempera on paper, pasted on mount board

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.

PFilliputtiA16010080