The interviewee is Paola Rinaldi, born in Pistoia on 2 June 1937, social worker. The interview was conducted by Claudio Rosati 04 August 1983, in his house in Pistoia. Paola Rinaldi was evacuated multiple times, along with her brother and mother. Her father was a non-commissioned officer: after the armistice he was arrested and taken to Campo di Marte.
While evacuated at Ponte alle Tavole, Paola saw aggressive German soldier (identified as SS) who broke their horses’ knees to avoid them being sent to the frontline. Then she moved to Piteccio, as her mother considered it to be a secure location. Following its bombing, they moved to Florence where her uncles lived; she remembers scant food and poor sanitation. One of the uncles worked as doorman at the Railwaymen’s Recreation Club where 200 evacuees were temporarily housed. In the post-war period, the main issues were lack of money and food. Paola’s mother took in a US soldier as lodger and sent the children begging for food from American and British troops. When they returned to Piteccio her father, initially, struggled to find work.
The interviewee is Raffaella Sorsini, born at Vicchio (Florence province) on 25 May 1919, retired clerical worker. Present Marianna Galardini, born on 18 May 1897. The interviewer is Claudio Rosati, the interview took place in Pistoia on 12 July 1983, in his house.
During the first bombing of Pistoia, Raffaella Sorsini went with her mother to the Piazza della Resistenza [Piazza d’Armi] shelter. Marianna Galardini claims that the death toll of the first bombing was 120 people and that many detached homes in Via Pratese were destroyed. Following the move of her office to Villa Giacomelli, Raffaella Sorsini was evacuated to the countryside at Case Nuove, near San Rocco. Many times she fled to the Sant’Agostino area, at the time still rural. She says that she never feared being sexually harassed by Germans, but conversely, she was scared by US Marines at Villa di Celle: while she had to walk past, she was accompanied by her fiancée.
The interviewee is Gerardo Bianchi, born in Pistoia the 14 December 1905, Professor of economics and Member of Parliament (lower house) with the ‘Democrazia Cristiana’ party. The interview was conducted by Claudio Rosati in his house in Pistoia, on 19 August 1983.
When Pistoia was bombed for the first time, Gerardo Bianchi was evacuated to Campiglio di Tizzana and remembers the many aircraft flying over the place. The following morning, he went back to Pistoia to get a sense of damage: Via dei Gelli was severely hit, among the ten children of the Zanzotto family, five died; people were killed in the San Vitale area, including Professor Giuseppe Camposampiero.
Until early 1944, the air-raid siren spurred people to run into the countryside at Sant’Agostino, near the cemetery, huddling in ditches. Gerardo mentions seeing Commander Albert Kesselring at Villa agli Imbarcati and at Grotta Giusti; he tells how some offices of the Officine San Giorgio (his employer) were relocated to Viale Pacinotti.
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