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Interview with Agnes Stocker
Agnes Stocker (b. 1932) recounts her evacuation from her hometown and the journey to Ueckermünde. Agnes tells how she get separated from her sister, her brother and her cousin, who followed the road to Swinemünde, while she, her mother and her aunt…
Interviews with Jaun Schauerte
Jaun Schauerte (b.1936) recalls rushing to the shelter with a suitcase and a back pack. He remembers one night when his grandmother fell under the heavy weight of the rucksack and nobody stopped to help her. He also recalls the Bremen bombing, while…
Interview with Eraldo Bessone
Eraldo Bessone (b. 1925) remembers the bombing of the Borgo San Paolo neighbourhood in Turin and how, due to the extensive damage it suffered, people started calling it the 'Stalingrad neighbourhood'. He also describes how the extensive damage led to…
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, at night, they…
Interview with Lucia Muratori
Lucia Muratori recalls her early life in Bologna in the family of a well-off foundry owner. She stresses that she had less traumatic war experiences compared to many other people at that time, the only disturbing episode being witnessing the killing…
Interview with Maria Luisa Verniconi
Maria Luisa Verniconi (b. 1930) recalls her youth in wartime, describing how difficult it was for her mother to look after the family. She recollects adults listening to Radio Londra while the youths were on lookout. She recalls the violent behaviour…
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 Gerlinde Keller
Gerlinde Keller (b. 1939) was evacuated in 1942 from Munich to the Altmühltal, in a purpose-built settlement where she lived with her aunt. She explains how the growing intensity of the bombings had made the city unsafe for children and how they…
Interview with Günter Lucks
Günter Lucks (b. 1925) describes how he was forced to join the Hitler Youth in 1939, an event that caused a great deal of disturbance in a family with a strong communist background. When his parents moved out, because of his father’s job as…
Interview with Irmgard Schulz
Irmgard Schulz (b. 1935) describes how the harbour of Hamburg was a recurring target during the war and mentions the use of target indicators and radar countermeasures. She explains how she was told not to pick up anything, for fear it could be…
Interview with a survivor of the Villanova Marchesana bombings
The interviewee recalls how he moved from Libya to Italy and lived for some years in various camps in Napoli, Marina di Massa, Trento, San Remo and Massa Lombarda. He describes a three-day bombing raid in Napoli where he managed to hide in a church…
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 Osvaldo Gramegna
Osvaldo Gramegna (b. 1937) remembers the bombings of Turin. He tells of civilians initially fleeing along the railway during alarms and explains how, in hindsight, it was foolish behaviour. He recalls his evacuee life at Casalgrasso: ineffective…
Interview with Efrem Colombi
Efrem Colombi recalls his care-free childhood, initially in the Bergamo countryside and then in Milan. He emphasises his life-long, radical, anti-Clericalism and recounts how he ran away several times from Catholic boarding schools due to his…
Interview with Francesco and Maria Gigliola Rapozzi
Francesco and Maria Gigliola Rapozzi remember wartime life in Monfalcone. They recall the day the shipyard was engulfed in flames after a severe bombing raid and mention the high number of casualties among civilians. They remember various stories:…
Interview with Antonio Bozzetti
Antonio Bozzetti (b. 1924) remembers his efforts to dodge fascist paramilitary service and tells how he avoided being enlisted because he had a reserved occupation in a factory, working for the Germans. He describes how he witnessed all Milan…
Interview with Mario Miniussi
Mario Miniussi recalls Monfalcone night bombing on 18 March 1944. He was sleeping when the siren sounded and then saw the bombs falling on the shipyard, causing explosions and fires. He remembers how he was normally at school during alarms, so he and…
Interview with Adriana Ventriglia
Adriana Ventriglia remembers the bombings of Milan. She talks about her evacuee life in the Lodi countryside and describes how her father was injured in a train strafing. She mentions her early life in a mixed family, the impact on anti-Semitic laws,…
Letter from David Boldy to his father
Letter from sergeant David Boldy to his father about sailing to London from South Africa, visiting Gibraltar and swimming in the sea. He misses his girl friend Babe.
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 a shorthand clerk for a solicitor and was then employed by a major bank. She remembers her…
Letter from David Boldy to his mother and brother
Letter from David Boldy to his mother and brother. He let them know that he has moved from Hastings to Torquay and includes some of his observations on his new posting, with references to girls evacuated from London.
Interview with Annunciata Buffadossi
Annunciata Buffadossi recollects her wartime life in Milan. Annunciata describes 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 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. She describes how she got married and mentions Italian First World War pilot, Ferruccio Ranza, who…
Interview with Ferruccio Bergomi
Ferruccio Bergomi recalls his early life as a street urchin in the Precotto neighbourhood in Milan - describes monkey business, horseplay, fierce rivalries, melees, pilfering sundries and street games with friends. He gives an eyewitness account of…
Interview with Marisa Bianchi
Marisa Bianchi remembers her wartime years at Sesso, a rural hamlet in the Reggio Emilia province. She talks about the abundance of locally farmed food and emphasises how billeted German troops were friendly and supportive, even if she and her family…