Re: What was it like?
Franco Del Zanna (delzann@CYBER.DADA.IT)
Thu, 6 Feb 1997 03:39:33 +0100
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Crystal Atkinson wrote:
>
> Hello,
>
> My name is Crystal, and I am attending the University of Central
> Arkansas in America. I am intrested in talking with someone who
> lived in a European country that was occupied by Hitler and the
> Nazis.
>
> Were there many rebellions in your country? How were you and
> your fellow country men treated? Were there many Jewish people in
> your town or area? If so did many escape and how? Did you
> personally want the Nazi take over, I mean were there supposed to be
> benefits in it for your country, or did you oppose it?
>
> I know I'm asking a lot of questions, and if you don't feel like
> answering them all you don't have to. I hope you and I can discuss
> this further, but now I must go. :-)
>
> Respectfully Hoping to Hear from You,
>
> Crystal
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Dear Crystal,
I am an "Italian boy" born on 1927 a Poggibonsi, a little town in
Tuscany betwen Siena and Florence.
My Country, Italy was formerly allied, an after 8 September 1943,
occupied by Hitler's troops.
I remember a german sidecar, with a german soldier, with a hand grenade
running on main street of my town, and a german soldier standing at road
crossing with a machine gun!
The life was very hard, foods and clothing rationed and of bad quality
and very little quantity.
At the end of 1943 my town was heavily bombed by allied aircrafts and
all the people gone in the country. Also services, Town Hall, Banks,
Hospital were in the country.
Formally the autority was the Repubblica Sociale Italiana, the so called
"Repubblica di Sal=F2", in fact was the germans the real autority!
But in the country the formal autority was very far! On the contrary was
real the presence of the germans.
We were afraid of the danger of deportations, mopping up and
retaliations, especially when the front line was coming up.
Personally I believe no benfits are in the german occupation of Italy!
No Jewish people was on my town. Personally I know a fact of a Jewish
person saved by a fascist family, who saved the fascist family after the
coming of the Allies. Italian style of the "final solution"!
On my zone was little groups of partisans, armed resistence and
"maquis", and a group of young men (I personally knew someome) was
killed not far of my town.
I have see a german report who speak of a Allied patrol guided by civil
people with a arm band tricolour (The red-white-green italian colours,
the badge of the italian partisans).
The coming of the Allies was a very "Liberation": The war was ended, at
the least for us!
Franco Del Zanna
E-mail delzann@cyber.dada.it
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