Browse Items (68 total)
- Publisher is exactly "Memoro. La banca della memoria"
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Interview with Vittorio Finauri
Vittorio Finauri (b. 1931) remembers the first bombing of Foligno on 22 November 1943. Explains that it was completely unexpected and people were caught unprepared, so bombs aimed at nearby barracks resulted in a heavy death toll. Describes how some…
Interview with Umberto Veroli
Umberto Veroli (b. 1933) recollects wartime memories when his father was an electrical engineer: living close to power substations; a kitten killed by an electric arc; Germans forcing workers to remove transformers and smash meters. He describes how…
Interview with Tino Luparia
Tino Luparia (b. 1930) chronicles the first daylight bombing of Turin which was aimed at the SPA industries, then a defence contractor. Describes the effects of a massive unexploded bomb which pierced all floors of a building and stopped immediately…
Interview with Silvano Scarnicchia
Silvano Scarnicchia (b. 1925) recalls his first assignment as a soldier, when he was posted to an anti-aircraft battery defending a bridge in Piacenza. He also recalls a lunch with high-ranking German officers, especially the wartime dessert made of…
Interview with Silvana Zerbini
Silvana Zerbini (b. 1924) remembers the bombing of the San Lorenzo neighbourhood in Rome and the concern for her husband’s fate. She recalls the attempt to move her grandparents to a safer place out of the capital and remembers American troops…
Interview with Silvana Morganti
Silvana Morganti (b. 1924) recalls the bombing of the San Lorenzo neighbourhood in Rome, in which she describes the sight of dead people, a destroyed shelter, and children waiting for their dead mothers to return. Silvana also explains that she…
Interview with Rosetta Gobetti
Rosetta Gobetti (b. 1930) describes the bombing of a marsh near Isola della Scala, describing it as probably target mis-identification. Recalls a more severe bombing which destroyed many houses and killed twenty-eight people. Gives a short…
Interview with Rosanna Giungi
Rosanna Giungi (b. 1933) describes how Pippo disrupted daily life in wartime, affecting especially those close to the Modena-Brennero and Modena-Verona railway lines. Reminisces the sight of Germany-bound trains packed with people desperately asking…
Interview with Rosanna Capretta
Rosanna Capretta (b. 1935) reminisces about the frightening sound of the sirens and describes how she and her family tried to cope by hugging each other in a corridor. Recalls food shortages, rationing cards, and black market. Describes disrupted…
Interview with Romualdo Siccardi
Romualdo Siccardi (b. 1926) remembers the November 1942 bombing of the Borgo San Paolo gas holder in Turin, when he was sixteen. Mentions briefly makeshift shelters in basements deemed tantamount to death traps and gives a detailed account of the…
Interview with Rita Patrignani
Rita Patrignani (b. 1921) mentions wartime food shortages and stresses how she picked up what she found on the ground at the market . Describes the bombing of the San Lorenzo neighbourhood in Rome. Contrasts her impulse to dash to the nearest shelter…
Interview with Renato Maldarelli
Renato Maldarelli (b. 1937) describes the 1943 bombing of Naples. Remembers being woken up by the alarm, his mother wrapping him in a blanket and going down to a cold shelter. Doesn’t recall the fear of being buried alive under his collapsed home,…
Interview with Renato Cardarelli
Renato Cardarelli (b. 1923) remembers his youth as an altar boy and then sexton at the church of San Paolo in Rome. He mentions his decision to enter the seminary at 18, where he spent two years, and explains how he was deemed temporarily unfit for…
Interview with Pietro Cosma
Pietro Cosma (b. 1927) remembers the bombings of Milan and recollects two wartime anecdotes: the execution of a man in front of his home and Benito Mussolini’s corpse on public display in Piazzale Loreto. Describes wartime hardships: losses; food…
Interview with Piercarlo Debernardi
Piercarlo Debernardi (b. 1928) describes how his father built the family home next to the convent of La Visitazione in Turin, a house now considered a landmark in the city. He gives an account of wartime building regulations, stressing the…
Interview with Patrizia Riviera
Patrizia Riviera (b. 1930) gives a brief account of wartime life in Bergamo. Mentions food shortages, fear of bombings, basements used as shelters. Mentions disrupted schooling after the fall from power of the Fascist regime.
Interview with Paolo Racugno
Paolo Racugno (b. 1917), recollects the February 1943 Cagliari bombing. Mentions scenes of destruction with wounded civilians and describes how he used his coat to protect two girls from falling debris.
Interview with Paolo Ferroni
Paolo Ferroni (b. 1937) remembers the bombings of Rome stressing the ubiquitous noise of sirens wailing and the psychological distress associated with it. Contrasts night bombings, when civilians dashed to improvised dugouts nearby and day attacks…
Interview with Paola Bianchi
Paola Bianchi (b. 1938) recalls daily life in wartime Tuscany. She describes Rosalinda, a strict midwife, and recounts how people used to take refuge in shelters. She also gives an account of how, during the evacuation to Arezzo, they rushed to take…
Interview with Osvaldo Gramegna
Osvaldo Gramegna (b. 1937) remembers the bombings of Turin. Mentions civilians initially fleeing along the railway during alarms and explains how, in hindsight, it was foolish behaviour. Anecdotes of his evacuee life at Casalgrasso: ineffective civil…
Interview with Mirco Marelli
Mirco Marelli describes a bombing raid on the factory where he used to work in 1941: when the alarm sounded, bombs started falling but he was too far from any of the shelters so he took cover under a staircase with a friend. He highlights how…
Interview with Matteo Basso
Matteo Basso (b. 1934) recalls his diet during the war: at school for breakfast, he used to eat a slice of polenta and two figs. He also talks about his experience in being caught out in the open when a formation of aircraft dropped bombs close to…
Interview with Matilde Pontecorvi
Matilde Pontecorvi (b. 1910) gives an account of the bombing of Ciampino when she was travelling by tram and bombs started to explode around it. Recalls how she survived only because a priest told her to duck under the seats. Describes the appalling…
Interview with Marta Papotti
Marta Papotti (b. 1937) remembers the bombings of Turin and how she and her family dashed to the shelter in the basement. Reminisces over the sense of community and describes people reciting the rosary or just chatting. Describes how her father the…
Interview with Mario Cocco
Mario Cocco (b. 1938) remembers the torpedoing of the Tirso dam, emphasising its beauty and meaning as an engineering marvel. Describes how a torpedo net prevented three torpedoes from reaching their target. Gives a detailed account of the bombing of…