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Interview with Alberto Buvoli
Alberto Buvoli recalls his wartime childhood in Udine, where he lived in the railway station area. He describes how furniture was moved to a safer place at the onset of the war and explains air raid precautions, such as leaving the windows open and…
Interview with Inge Nicolis
Inge Nicolis, the daughter of a Swedish engineer and an Italian woman, reminisces about her wartime experiences in Milan. She stresses the sense of having been thrown into a tragedy and the anguish of not being able to evacuate Milan on the grounds…
Interview with Nino Tenca Montini
Nino Tenca Montini reminisces about his wartime experiences in Udine and the Friuli region. He describes the family shelter as a concrete reinforced basement, sparsely furnished with wooden benches. He recalls the urge to escape the vigilance of…
Interview with an eye-witness of Milan bombings
The informant describes two bombings he eye-witnessed in the Sesto San Giovanni and Niguarda area. During the first, he was in a basement adapted as underground shelter: he recollects women reciting the rosary and a queasy sensation in the stomach…
Interview with Speranza Piras
Speranza Piras reminisces about the Alghero bombing on 17 May 1943 and her subsequent life as an evacuee. She describes daily life in wartime; German occupation; anti-aircraft fire; hardships; the black market; and different anecdotes about enlisted…
Interview with Alessandro Samorè
Alessandro Samorè reminisces his early life in Milan, Domodossa, Portofino, and Santa Margherita Ligure. Provides details of life in youth fascist organisations, playing with homemade fireworks, and attempts to assemble an improvised scuba gear.…
Interview with Giovanni Oderda
Giovanni Oderda recalls the Dogliani bombing on 8 September 1943. He claims that the town was hit because partisans shaved a fascist woman; after the attack Giovanni and his family left the town. He and his brothers ended up in the partisan ranks…
Interview with Celsa Agosto
Celsa Agosto reminisces about her wartime experiences and talks about a relatively quiet existence, until her father was enlisted. Her neighbourhood was then bombed, and a reprisal stormed the town the day after. After that, Celsa did not return…
Interview with Aldo Petrina
Aldo Petrina lived in Capodistria with his family until March 1944. He recalls a day when a German warned his mother that they risk being thrown in a karst sinkhole because they did not speak Slovenian. All the family then moved to Varese, where he…
Interview with Leonardo Gravina
Leonardo Gravina describes his early life in the rural district of the Puglia region, near the towns of Foggia and S. Giovanni Rotondo. He remembers seeing formations of aircraft taking off and landing from an airfield nearby and speaks fondly of an…
Interview with Mariagrazia Sinigo Petrina
Mariagrazia Sinigo Petrina recollects her childhood in Trieste and describes hardships during the war. Her father enlisted in the Italian navy while she lived with her mother and grandmother. She describes how difficult it was to find food and…
Interview with Annamaria De Manzano Vici
Annamaria De Manzano Vici recalls her wartime childhood in Trieste and describes the struggle of her all female family, coping with fear, hunger, and difficulties in finding food supplies. She remembers the run to the public shelter and the terror…
Interview with Sandro Boiocchi
Sandro Boiocchi remembers wartime memories at Travacò, in the Pavia area and mentions various episodes: food shortages; the black market; fascist and German roundups; Pippo flying at night; bombing of bridges; giving shelter to evacuees.He tells how…
Interview with Guido Toccacieli
Guido Toccaceri remembers his wartime experiences as a schoolboy in Milan: the day war broke out; food shortages; his father working at an airfield near Bergamo; train strafing; basements used as makeshift shelters; being evacuated outside Milan,…
Interview with Lidia Vendramin
Lidia Vendramin reminisces her childhood in Sacile including details on her primary schooling, family, and town life. Contrasts the public manifestations of joy the day the war was declared, with the shock and dismay of her parents, whose lives had…
A survivor of the Voghera bombings (informant A)
The interviewee reminisces about her wartime experiences in the Voghera countryside, at the time when her three brothers where enlisted and how difficult it was for her parents to run the farm. She remembers how she narrowly escaped an aircraft…
Interview with a survivor of the Voghera bombings (informant B)
The interviewee recollects his wartime memories in Voghera and describes how bombings, strafing, and “Pippo” flying at night became part of everyday life and how the population tried to cope. He gives a vivid and detailed account of the August…
Interview with Celestino Chiesa
Celestino Chiesa remembers his wartime memories as a schoolboy in Pavia, attending the Artigianelli boarding school, including: food shortages; rationing; “Pippo” bombing at night; machine-gun nests along the Ticino river; a friend joining the…