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Interview with Gianfranco Nardi
Gianfranco Nardi (b. 1933) recalls the first bombing of Cesenatico in 1944, a night action carried out by 'Pippo'. Explains how the aircraft missed the train station and hit the nearby town centre; maintains that the pilot was drunk. Describes three…
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 Laura Perego
Laura Perego (b. 1919) narrates how her village in the outskirts of Milan went through the war almost unscathed, in spite of being close to an ammunition dump and other potential targets. Remembers a mysterious badly dressed man who lived in a nearby…
Interview with Corrado Marenco
Corrado Marenco (b. 1940) describes various wartime anecdotes: a makeshift shelter dug in his garden where he and other children had fun despite the danger of 'Pippo'; how his father had to hide inside the bell tower of a church to escape from German…
Interview with Maria Malagni
Maria Malagni (b. 1921) recalls her difficult childhood and chequered schooling history. Mentions wartime anecdotes: the death of her fiancé, an airman shot down over Brindisi; fascists seizing supplies; the capture of two partisans that her father…
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 Delia Cardini
Delia Cardini recalls her childhood as an orphan in a boarding school and how, at the age of 10, she moved to Milan. She remembers how the Fascists used castor oil to humiliate their opponents. Delia also describes how, after a night bombing, she was…
Interview with Lidia Fabris and Alfonso Fridiani
Lidia Fabris and Alfonso Fridiani remember 'Pippo'. Alfonso Fridiani recalls how his truck was saved from one of 'Pippo’s' attacks by a partisan. Lidia Fabris remembers the fear she felt when 'Pippo' fired off flares. She describes an incident in…
Interview with Giuseppe Pirovano
Giuseppe Pirovano remembers wartime memories as schoolboy at Affori, a Milan neighbourhood. Describes daily life in fascist youth organisations, with regimented schooling and political rallies. Mentions childrens plays and pastimes, such as…
Interview with Annunciata Buffadossi
Annunciata Buffadossi recollects her wartime life in Milan. Annunciata stresses poor-quality housing in a low-class neighbourhood close to potential targets; emphasises how much she feared Germans and Fascists; and speaks with affection of her old…
Interview with Adriana Ventriglia
Adriana Ventriglia remembers the bombings of Milan. She provides details about her evacuee life in the Lodi countryside and describes how her father was injured in a train strafing. Mentions her early life in a mixed family, the impact on…
Interview with Sara Ventriglia
Sara Ventriglia, the daughter of a Jewish mother and a Catholic father, recalls her early life in wartime Milan. She describes the alarm being sounded, she and her family getting quickly dressed to reach a nearby shelter. She recollects moments…
Interview with Marialuigia Buffadossi
Marialuigia Buffadossi remembers her wartime life in the Lombardy region. Born in a low-class neighbourhood with poor-quality housing, she first worked as shorthand clerk for a solicitor, and then was employed by a major bank. Remembers her…
Interview with Teresa Messali
Teresa Messali gives a brief account of her pre-war life with her large family in a farmhouse near Bergamo. She mentions Pippo; describes the pressing need to find shelter during the bombings and stresses how she frequently resorted to ditches.…
Interview with Stefania Vischi
Stefania Vischi recalls her wartime life in the Monfalcone area. Stresses how she spent long hours alone inside a shelter, frightened by explosions and tremors. Contrasts the horror of being at the receiving end of the bombing war and the strong…
Interview with Guido Di Blas and Ilario Bolletti
Guido Di Blas and Ilario Bolletti recount wartime memories associated with the town of Monfalcone and the surrounding area. Describes a severe night of bombing stressing the ominous sight of target indicators and loud explosions; recalls the massive…
Interview with Gualtiero Silvio Cosolo
Gualtiero Silvio Cosolo recalls attending the Ceriani vocational school in Monfalcone, at this time the air raid siren went off every day and the children would run to the nearest shelter. Describes the 7 March 1944 bombing and the gruesome sight of…
Interview with Francesco and Maria Gigliola Rapozzi
Francesco and Maria Gigliola Rapozzi remember wartime life in Monfalcone. They recollect the day the shipyard was engulfed in flames after a severe bombing raid and mentions the high number of casualties among civilians. They remember various…
Interview with Mario Commisso
Mario Commisso remembers his early years when he lived in the Codroipo area, close to the Rivolto air base. Describes his brother being born on 28 February 1941 during a severe bombing raid during which the bombers were attacked by anti-aircraft fire…
Interview with Livio Ponte
Livio Ponte remembers his wartime life in Monfalcone. He describes the frightening moments when the alarm sounded, usually at night and people rushed to the shelters for safety. He mentions different attitudes: his parents going to a shelter whereas…
Interview with Annamaria De Manzano Vici
Annamaria De Manzano Vici recalls her wartime childhood in Trieste. Describes the struggle of her women-only family, coping with fear, hunger, and difficulties in finding food supplies. Remembers the run to the public shelter and the terror felt…
Interview with a survivor of the Cordenons bombings (informant A)
The interviewee recalls her wartime years at Cordenons, starting from the day the outbreak of the war was announced on the radio. She describes how she anticipated the air raid siren with a mixture of elation and fear, being somewhat eager to skip…
Interview with a survivor of the Cordenons bombings (informant B)
The informant remembers wartime episodes in Cordenons and the Pordenone area. Mentions aircraft en route to Austrian targets contrasted by anti-aircraft fire, while she was taking shelter in a ditch. Reminisces the bombing of Casarsa and the Meduna…
Interview with Ettore Raffin
Ettore Raffin describes his early life in wartime Cordenons, his father being in America and his brother at Friedrichshafen. Remembers watching masses of aircraft heading north en route to targets in Germany. Maintains that bombers took off from…
Interview with Anna Maria Serafini
Anna Maria Serafini recalls her teenage life in Bologna as the fiancée of Luigi Pasetti, a civilian pilot later enlisted as torpedo bomber pilot. Describes how she got married and mentions Italian First World War pilot, Ferruccio Ranza, who acted as…