Risultati di ricerca

RUGGERO CANE RANIERI by Alvaro Gragnoli Story of a captain of fortune, Ruggero Cane Ranieri, and of a large family of Fratta Perugina. The Counts of Civitella Ranieri and Montegualandro, patricians of Perugia, nobles of Velletri and Marquesses of Sorbello. Background Little is known about the origins of Fratta, today Umbertide (1), as well as other small towns in the Upper Tiber Valley. It can be assumed that until the fall of the Roman Empire it was nothing more than a small village located near the Tiber, from which it obtained fish and water for the cultivation of the surrounding fertile lands. Precisely because the Roman Empire guaranteed security, it certainly did not need any particular defenses, so it can also be assumed that its location was not the current one. The discovery of some Roman tombs near the current S. Maria di Sette could suggest that the small village could be found in those parts, but the researches of historians (2) have not led to certain conclusions. With the fall of the Western Roman Empire following the barbarian invasions, it is presumable that the survivors take refuge in a place that adds a natural defense to what the inhabitants could have opposed. The islet placed at the confluence of the Reggia torrent on the Tiber is proposed as the ideal place. In the struggle that pits the Lombards, intent on conquering Italy, against the Byzantines determined to defend the territory that connects Rome to Ravenna, the area finds itself as a natural outpost on the line of an unstable border. Traces of fortifications, which emerged during the restoration of the fortress, were found in the basement of the current Teatro dei Riuniti, and can be attributed to the Lombards. But the lack of any document does not allow, to date, nothing but suppositions albeit supported by archaeological elements of difficult dating. The coat of arms of the Ranieri family On the right, the portal on the walls with the ancient coat of arms The arrival in Italy of the Ranieri family Certainly around the year one thousand the territory that goes from the borders with Gubbio to Lake Trasimeno was granted as a fief to the Ranieri family who arrived in Italy following the emperor Ottone. And it is one of these, Umberto, (or Uberto) who in the late 10th century. the construction of the castle of Civitella begins, which will take the name of the family, and the re-foundation of the Fratta is attributed to him (3). The first document of which we have memory bears the date of 12 February 1189 and is an act with which the Marquis Ugolino di Uguccione Ranieri subdues the castle of Fratta and all its lands in Perugia (4). At that time the Ranieri lineage is very powerful and has already divided, due to the succession, into the three branches of Gubbio, Orvieto and Perugia. In 1206, in Perugia, Monaldo and Glotto dei Ranieri donated the land of Monteluce for the construction of a female monastery that would be part of the Franciscan movement and of S. Chiara. The influence of the family is now very strong and has taken a notable position in the struggles for the power of that city. He is at the side of the Baglioni against the Raspanti and their allies Michelotti and pays a painful toll of blood when the Raspanti, previously ousted, regain power at the end of the century. XIV, killing about 300 people and, among others, many members of the Ranieri family. The destruction of the castle of Civitella The castle of Civitella alla Fratta, stronghold of the Ranieri, was completely destroyed. Ruggero Cane, son of Constantine, has not yet returned to Perugia from exile where he is and, "The misfortune of his own did not occur, because God reserved it for great & heroic enterprises, after having enriched it with all those qualities, which can adorn the soul and the person in excellence, of a Knight" (5) By Ruggero Cane Ranieri, a great military leader and certainly the man who gave more prestige to the family, we do not know the place or date of birth, because his parents had not returned to Perugia from the exile they had been forced to by their rivals since 1361, but we can assume it can be placed around 1380. In 1398 the collaboration in arms begins with the Fortebraccio da Montone arm He embarked on a career in arms and in 1398 he was alongside Braccio Fortebraccio da Montone (6) in the service of Macerata. He has already gained considerable experience in commanding mercenary troops if in 1402 we find him in the service of Nicolò d'Este with 300 horses. Take part in the battle of Casalecchio di Reno won by the Visconti against Bologna. It then passes to the service of the Malatesta of Rimini and then of Florence. In 1407, after having fought for the king of Naples Ladislao d'Angiò with 1500 knights, he was called by Braccio Fortebraccio to the siege of Ascoli Piceno, and made a "miserable havoc on the life and possessions of the Ascolani, leaving them a bloody memory of brutal cupidity "(7). In 1412, called by Carlo Malatesta, he was in the service of Venice, in command of fifty cavalry squads (8) in the war that opposed the Republic to Prince Sigismund of Hungary, for control of the Alpine passes and Dalmatia. The troops of the Hungarians are under the command of a great captain who has escaped from Florence, Filippo Scolari (Pipo Spano Fiorentino) (9) and are achieving notable successes. Arm Fortebraccio da Montone In the battle of Motta di Livenza, August 1412, Carlo Malatesta is wounded and his troops, believing him dead, disband and flee towards the Tagliamento, leaving the way open for the conquest of Venice. Roger engages in a furious battle on the bridge over the Livenza river (10). As a modern Orazio Coclite has it destroyed behind him to prevent any escape route for his soldiers, and thus allows Carlo Malatesta to rearrange his troops and counterattack the Hungarians who, now certain of victory, have abandoned themselves to looting, making them massacre. More than 1500 Hungarians and Bohemians are killed along with their commander general and five out of six Hungarian flags are captured. ... ..the whole Italian camp runs in dismay: the Hungarian follows them as a sure winner and the tall lion flies with the wind: In this peril a pure man of arms Rogier Can perugin not already a coward he made a wall of his body in Venice. To the river he ran and raised his banner, spoiling the bridge, so that everyone stopped; and among them he seemed a leopard ... (11). He did not have the same luck in the siege of Feltre in November of the same year. He commands 1000 horses and 500 infantrymen but is beaten by the arrival of Marsilio da Ferrara in command of 800 horses, and by the Feltresi who have come out to counterattack. In 1417 he is again in the service of Braccio da Montone who, having become lord of Perugia with the battle of S. Egidio (12), is besieging Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome and whose troops are decimated by the plague, but is forced to leave the city with the arrival of the Angevin troops called by Pope Martin V. Always in the service of Braccio in 1419 he attacks Gubbio to take it away from the Montefeltro. He manages to enter the city through a door opened to him by Cecciolo Gabrielli who, however, is immediately locked up after his entry along with 50 horsemen. The result is a violent fight in the streets but still manages to save himself. A few days later he occupied Assisi and then placed himself at the siege of Spoleto. The following year Pope Martin V appoints him governor of Montalboddo, today Ostra, in the Marche region. In 1421 he marries with great pomp with Giuditta Colonna with whom he will have two daughters, one of whom, Marzia, will marry Malatesta Baglioni. Secondly married Altavilla di Ottaviano degli Ubaldini (13) who will give him two daughters and a son. In June 1424, with the death of Braccio in the battle of L'Aquila (14), he was advisor to his son, Oddo, but then accompanied him to Montone because Perugia wanted to return to papal power. In the same year, the inhabitants of Ostra kicked out their representatives from the city and put their trust in the Montefeltro family. In August the city of Perugia appoints him as its ambassador to the Pope to agree on the return of the city under his banner and protection. Once Perugia returned under the dominion of the Pope, we find him among the five members of the Arbitrio, demonstrating the prestige achieved. Vincenzo Armanni, in one of his letters addressed from Gubbio on December 28, 1668 to Michele Giustiniani, as well as extolling the noble origins and military skills, writes of Ruggero: " He still honored, faithful, and frequent services to Bernabò Visconti Duca of Milan in very important affairs, in which he was often employed, & in those maximally, which he had to negotiate twice with the Pope in Rome, who was sent Ambassador there ". Venice endows him with a notable pension in recognition of the great services rendered to that Republic. With weapons and diplomacy, Ruggero Cane regains possession of the territory of Civitella and in 1433 begins the reconstruction of the castle but will not see the end because death takes him in Perugia in April 1441, two months after the sumptuous marriage. of Constantine, the only legitimate male child, with Pantasilea daughter of Ranuccio Farnese. His funeral was equally sumptuous as a chronicler recounts it: “ On April 18, if el corrupt (the funeral weeping ed.) Of the death of Rugiere de Costantino dei Ranieri was commenced; I went around the city 25 servants on horseback all dressed in flags, first the standard white with the red cross, and the one who wore it was all armed as when he was captain of the Venetians, and you can with their arms. and on the 21st of the dictum made and corrupted great, and out dressed among men and women 70 persons; and buried in Santo Lorenzo, and placed the flags in the choir. and on the 22nd of the dict I made him a sequio with all the religious orders, which was a very beautiful thing ”(15) demonstrating the great esteem he enjoyed, his portrait was placed in the Baglioni room in Perugia (16). On his tombstone was affixed the inscription: O RUGGERO CANE RANIERI AMONG THE CAPTAINS OF VENTURE MISTY MEMORY YOU WOULD BE IF HE CAUGHT THE MUDLANGES OF THE HUNGARIANS THEY DID NOT HAVE CRYED YOU TERRIBLE AND GREETED VENICE HIS LIBERATOR (17) Plaque dedicated to Ruggero C. Ranieri in the castle of Civitella Around 1480 in Perugia the struggles between the nobles for power are rekindled. This time the Ranieri, increasingly powerful (18), are allies of the Oddi and adversaries of the Baglioni. The latter prevail, kill some components of their rivals and damage the fortifications of the castle of Civitella not yet completed by their son Constantine. In 1495 the Ranieri, with the help of the Duke of Urbino, regain possession of the castle and Raniero, grandson of Ruggero Cane, manages to complete the reconstruction. A date affixed to an old door, 1519, suggests that it is the date of completion. The lordship of the Ranieri over the castle of Civitella is confirmed by various popes in different eras; from Martin V in 1426 to Clement X in 1671 (19). The history of the Ranieri family e its importance in Italy and in Europe The story of the Ranieri family, told through the documents preserved up to 1951 in Umbertide in the family property and then transferred to the State Archives of Perugia (20), reveals to us how important it was in Italy and in Europe. Here we want to mention some such as Tancredi, who died in 1645, who was an officer in Flanders for the Archduke of Austria Matthias of Habsburg in 1610 and governor of Romagna; Constantine IV known as the Ferrarese was lieutenant general of cavalry and governor of the papal arms in Ferrara, where he later died; Constantine V (+1742) known as the Traveler who fought in Gaeta and took part in the defense of Turin with the Austrian general W. Philipp Lorenz von Daunn, was Innocent XIII's waiter of honor and chamber gentleman of the Grand Duke of Tuscany. Giovanni Antonio, in 1859 took Altavilla Bourbon of the Marquis of Sorbello (21) as his wife and in 1906 Ruggero inherited from his maternal grandfather, for himself and his descendants, the surname and arms of the Bourbon del Monte di Sorbello, which he passed on to his sons. In 1995 the “Uguccione Ranieri di Sorbello Foundation” was founded in New York in memory of Uguccione Ranieri di Sorbello (1906-1969), journalist, writer and diplomat. A trust to enhance the cultural heritage of the Ranieri di Sorbello family through historical-cultural initiatives and events. Since 2012, all the activities of this foundation have passed to the "Ranieri di Sorbello Foundation" based in Perugia. Currently, in the castle of Civitella Ranieri in Umbertide, during the summer, artists from all over the world and of the most varied disciplines are hosted, giving them the opportunity to express their potential. This is possible thanks to the “Civitella Ranieri Foundation” founded by Ursula Coming and directed since 2007 by Dana Prescott. Since its inception it has hosted over 800 fellows and guests from all over the world. View from the top of the castle of Civitella Ranieri today NOTE: 1. The name was changed in 1863 following a resolution of the municipal council on the directive of the Ministry of the Interior to avoid misunderstandings between too many municipalities with the same name. The council initially decided on the name "Umberta" but sparked half a revolt among the population. A new council was convened and this time the name "Umbertide" was well accepted by all. 2. See “History of the land of Fratta now Umbertide” by Antonio Guerrini- Tipografia Tiberina- Umbertide 1883; and “History of Umbertide” by Priest Umberto Pesci - R. Fruttini Typography - Gualdo Tadino 1932. 3. Vincenzo Armanni, in his "Of the letters of Mr. Vincenzo Armanni written in his own name", published in Macerata in 1674 for the types of Giuseppe Piccini, on page 297 et seq., Speaks extensively of the Ranieri family present in our area since 970. He speaks of it as a very powerful family, like the Baglioni of Perugia and owner of many castles in various parts of Umbria. In their honor Fratta will carry, and still carries, the initials FOU, (Fratta Oppidum Uberti) in the city coat of arms. 4. U. Pisces op. cit. page 10 5. see Armanni's letter cited above note 3 6. He will always remain his faithful ally "nor can one say how fruitfully with valor, and with the council he assisted in the most arduous undertakings to the arms of Braccio Fortebraccio, that great leader of armies and famous conqueror of the city" (V.Armanni letter a M. Giustiniani quoted) Ariodante Fabretti; Biographies of Capitani Venturieri dell'Umbria; vol. 1 °; 1842-Angiolo Fumi- Montepulciano- 7. Ariodante Fabretti; Biographies of Capitani Venturieri dell'Umbria; vol. 1 °; 1842-Angiolo Fumi- Montepulciano- 8. Cesare Crispolti; “Perugia Augusta” - Perugia MDCXLIII- Heirs Tomasi & Zecchini- page 314 9. In his "Perugia Augusta", Cesare Crispolti claims that he had been bribed by Venice and that, on returning to Hungary, King Sigismund had him killed by pouring molten gold into his mouth, almost a Dante's retaliation, to punish him for his greed for gold. The accusation and the heartbreaking death are disproved by history. The Scolari, great and ferocious leader in the service of Sigismund of Hungary, led the war against the Turks of the Ottoman Empire again in 1417 and in 1422 the year in which he died. In recognition of the great services performed, he was buried in a chapel next to the one that hosted the royals of Hungary. 10. Armanni p. 316. For Fabretti it is the Tagliamento 11. Ariodante Fabretti op.cit. Page 167 12. It took place on 12 July 1416, a sunny and very hot day, in S. Egidio near Perugia and it was not just a clash between two armies but two schools of thought on how to conduct a battle. Braccio's opponent, Carlo I Malatesta, was a follower of the Sforza school which provided for massive and continuous attacks with heavy cavalry. Braccio's tactic, called “braccesca” from his name, involved continuous and fast attacks on the opponent's weak points with small groups that then returned and replaced by others. Thus he always kept his opponent busy while his troops had the opportunity to cool off and rest. After seven hours of continuous skirmishes, the army of the Malatesta, now tired and thirsty, was overwhelmed. Braccio thus crowned his dream of becoming the lord of Perugia. 13. The Armanni op.cit., Pages 301-302, underlines this marriage to demonstrate the importance of the Ranieri family which was related to a lineage whose nobility was equal to that of Charlemagne, like the king himself he recognized. 14. In that battle Braccio was seriously wounded and died a few days later refusing any treatment and closing himself in stubborn silence. Manzoni, in the tragedy "Il Conte di Carmagnola", referring to Braccio, will make Nicolò Piccinino say: "... that for all he is still called with wonder and terror ..." 15. A.Fabretti- op.cit. p. 298 16. A. Fabretti- op.cit. page 168 17. A. Fabretti- op.cit. page 297 18. G. Vincioli. Historical-critical memories of Perugia in portraits of 24 illustrious men in arms and of 24 cardinals of the same city. Foligno 1730 p. 105 19. Vincioli page 107 20. The documents of the Sorbello marquises are found in the “Ranieri Sorbello Foundation” in Perugia 21. The castle is located in the Niccone valley and was part of the possessions of the Bourbons of Monte Santa Maria Tiberina Published on nr. 57/58 of "PAGES ALTOTIBERINE" published by the "Historical Association of the Upper Tiber Valley" year 2016 Help us remember umbertidestoria@gmail.com

THE STORY OF ALESSANDRO GRELLI Fallen in 1938 in the Spanish war From the book by Maria E. Menichetti Bianchi "Alessandro Grelli - An anti-fascist who fell in the Spanish war (1936 - 39)" Municipality of Umbertide - San Francesco Social Cultural Center Nuova PRHOMOS Editions - April 1990 THE FOUND SYMBOL Thanks to the National Literary Prize "Umbertide 25 aprile", another precious piece has been added this year to the history of our city and our people. In fact, a historical research on Alessandro Grelli, a Umbertidese of humble origins and noble sentiments, a volunteer of the International Brigades, who fell on the Ebro front in September 1938, while fighting against the threat of fascism which, within two years, would shock the whole world with the Second World War. We therefore believe, by publishing the research, that we are fulfilling a civic duty, which we perform with great pleasure and with legitimate pride, in order to draw greater attention to this writing which removes a name from a corner of the atrium of the town hall and finally gives it a face and a human dimension. The careful work of Prof. Maria Ernesta Menichetti Bianchi offers the opportunity to see the life and political path of our heroic and unknown fellow citizen reconstructed in a passionate and intelligent research punctually marked by references to interesting archive documents. While we take note, with great pleasure, of the positive evaluation given to this work by the Commission of the Award and of the equally authoritative judgment expressed by Prof. Luciana Brunelli of the Institute for the History of Umbria, we express our deepest appreciation and thanks to the Author. She has given back to the light of knowledge the civil and political figure of the peasant-shoemaker of Romeggio, whose supreme sacrifice had been relegated to the cold memory of a commemorative plaque. Alessandro Grelli, on the other hand, deserves to be remembered with warmer signs for the teaching he gave us with his short life, but no less rich in ideals. He represents the revolt of the poor. The revolt of emigrants for work reasons who, in contact with previously unknown realities, arrive through political convictions to the concept of freedom, for which they do not hesitate, if necessary, to sacrifice their own existence. The names of the Heroes are kept in the memory of their homelands to be pointed out, especially to young people who, opening up to life, need sure points of reference, witnessed truths, which enhance the spirit and make them aware of the priceless gift that Grelli, and many others like him have given us by bringing freedom back to our country. Freedom to love and to defend as the most expensive good that man can ever possess. Umbertide, April 1990 MAURIZIO ROSI Mayor of Umbertide RAFFAELE MANCINI President of the Socio-Cultural Center PRESENTATION If it is true, as Broué and Témine write, that "the intervention of foreign troops in favor of the Spanish republic, the aid brought in from abroad was, in the final analysis, only the sum of a series of individual contributions" , then this work by Nini Menichetti on Alessandro Grelli represents a precious contribution to the knowledge and reflection on that extraordinary political, social and cultural phenomenon that was the international volunteering in support of the Spanish republicans. The interest of local scholars had hitherto been mainly directed to the most well-known characters of Umbrian anti-fascism - Mario Angeloni, Armando Fedeli, Carlo Farini, Leonida Mastrodicasa -, men who had a prominent role in the Spanish civil war and who were subsequently protagonists ( Farini and Fedeli) of the Resistance and Umbrian political life. Turning attention to the "minor" figures of the voluntary sector - which were numerous, about 80 Umbrian militiamen -, the emphasis inevitably shifts from the political aspects of the civil war to the more specifically social ones, connected to the exile and emigration of the years twenty and thirty, to the life of emigrants abroad, especially in that triangle of land that goes from France to Belgium to Luxembourg. Still recently, historical and literary studies have underlined the importance of the 1930s in European political and cultural history, and in particular the originality of the French experience, a crossroads for masses of men, a melting pot of ideas and hopes during the exciting period of the Popular Front government chaired by Léon Blum. Alessandro Grelli was one of those men, whose life refers, as a prelude to his departure as a volunteer, to the great events and great movements within which motivations, ideas and ideals matured that brought thousands of men to fight and die in Spain. The patient and intelligent work of Nini Menichetti consists precisely in weaving with very thin threads the weft of a life apparently without history, marked almost only by the fact that it ended in September of '38 fighting on the Ebro in Spain. It was not an easy search, in the shortage of documents and testimonies, in the poverty and partisanship of official sources. Little or nothing is known about Alessandro, his relatives and the village hardly remember him, the files in his name at the Perugia Police Headquarters and at the Central Political Casellario are too poor in information, even the plaque in his memory is inaccurate. And then, in this situation, the author opens a dialogue, begins to question men and materials - the brothers, the papers, the photographs, the former Garibaldians - and finds a path, or rather many paths that from the sharecropping life of the Umbertidese in the 1920s they lead it to Alexander's death in Spain. Thus the research takes place along various paths - from the State Archives of Perugia to that of La Spezia to that of Salamanca - and, through forays into the lives of others, Grelli's life is also filled with events and characters. Characters who were protagonists of his "sentimental upbringing" - the landowner Ramaccioni, Aldina, the Communist Bertieri - or who shared emigration and the myth of Spain with him. The rich apparatus of notes to the text shows us the many directions in which the research has opened and the multiplicity of materials necessary to approach the story of Alexander. Even those who have not directly measured themselves with the difficulties of historical research on the Spanish war, will be able to appreciate the complexity of the work, deriving not only from the limits of the official sources but also from those particular historical circumstances that require listening to many materials, of many and different stories and memories. Grelli's life unfolds along a path that belonged to many of those who went to fight in Spain: the passage from the peasant condition to the hard experience of emigration, which was both defeat and emancipation, certainly was awareness, encounter, communication. , discovery. It must have been all this if - according to official papers -, emigrated in '30 with "attitudes in favor of the regime", in 1937 he had become "a dangerous Communist subversive". In Saint Laurent du Var in the Maritime Alps, a privileged destination for Umbrian emigration, Alessandro, together with the various fellow villagers who converged there, lived the decisive years of his training before leaving for Spain. Among the Umbrian antifascists who volunteered, the largest group is made up of men originating from the Umbertide-Città di Castello area, peasants who became cobblers, carpenters, bricklayers or even laborers in the gardens of southern France. The police reports themselves, through the dense network of informers of the regime, give us ample documentation of the solidarity towards the Spanish republicans which soon matured in emigration groups and in anti-fascist circles abroad. In following the history of these and Grelli, the work of Nini Menichetti, while also making us reflect on the different languages and the different attitudes that transpire from the official sources, fully gives us the sense of the drama and of the ideals that moved the men who, between '36 and '38, they went to fight and die in Spain. LUCIANA BRUNELLI Institute for the History of Umbria PREMISE The years of anti-fascism, before and after 1926, and beyond, and of the Resistance, before and after 1943, were objects of study in historical works of a general nature, and in local or regional works, the latter useful. to bring movements and ideas of the past closer to the reality of the present, since they give voice and face to characters, sometimes just mentioned in the first ones, whose memory could be lost in the historical consciousness of today and of the future. We have traced the story of ALESSANDRO GRELLI, precisely to save him from this fate. A "red militiaman" - nice qualification on the Franco side! - born in Umbertide in 1907, died in 1938, fighting on the Ebro. One of those anti-fascists who had volunteered to defend the young Spanish republic, having identified in Francisco Franco's plan the primary objective of defeating it, and the implicit purpose of launching an attack on anti-fascism, not only in Spain in the late 1930s. , but in the broader sphere of European and international politics. The difficulties encountered in our research are evident from the subtle web of news, documents, information, which we have been able to access, which we give, schematically, below: a - what memory of Alessandro Grelli are preserved in his hometown, his family, historical texts, the local press; b - what information we have drawn from other sources, some of which have been consulted to no avail; c - what news did the ex-Garibaldini of Spain, still alive, give us. a - The Municipality of Umbertide keeps in the Registry the certification relating to the birth, the military conscription and the presumed death certificate. But he did not register any repatriations from France, which there were. He entitled - we do not know on what date - in a suburban district, a street after his name, whose toponymic plaque does not offer the reader either a date or a historical reference. He posted, on behalf of some citizens residing abroad, - we do not know on what date - a plaque in the hall of the municipal residence, with the following dedication: To Alessandro Grelli fallen fighting for the freedom of the Spanish people The Umbertidesi democrats residing in Nice - Anti-Franco War 1936-1937 (1) The historical archive of Umbertide has a material, poured there from various and interesting parts, not cataloged. Two of Alessandro's brothers live in Umbertide, one of whom is just two years younger, Angelo born in 1926. They do not keep correspondence from France or Spain, which also came, at least from France, as is documented (2). They do not keep the memory of a name of one of those who temporarily repatriated brought them news, or of who brought them the saddest news. Among their scant and meager memories there are, however, some details that illuminated one or two points in Alessandro's life, up to 1933, the year of their mother's death. From that date on, the brothers have learned unpublished news and unknown to them, which we have gathered from the consultation of the file on the Grelli of the Perugia Police Headquarters and of the CPC file that the Ministry of the Interior has been forming, as soon as the political police realized that Alessandro was carrying out anti-fascist activities, and from the research we carried out, according to the itinerary of his stay abroad. Rometti Clotide's historical work (3) dates back to 1954, citing Grelli among the Umbrians who fell in the Spanish War. He mentions him as Achille Grelli, that is, the nickname he brought from home and town (4) and which appears in a single official document, long after his death. Among the memoirs written by veterans from Spain, only the exhaustive work of the Garibaldian Giacomo Calandrone (5) mentions the name of Alessandro Grelli among those who died in the bloody days of the offensive on the Ebro, in a very numerous list. The vintages of "The Claim", a large-format four-page weekly (6), founded by the socialists in 1902, in Città di Castello, suppressed by fascism in 1921, offered material for the reconstruction of the historical and political context of Upper Tiber Valley, where the birthplace of Grelli stands. b - The fundamental and irreplaceable source for our research is constituted by the archives, of which we give a list, which respects the significance, from a historical point of view, of the documents coming from them: - Central State Archives and State Archives of Perugia which preserve the first file of the Central Political Casellario on Alessandro Grelli and many of his friends and acquaintances (7), the second the file of the Perugia Police Headquarters; - State Archives of La Spezia which preserves the documentation of an exile from Sarzana whom Grelli met in France and whose political activity carried out even before emigration in La Spezia (8); - Current archives of the Provincial Directorate of the Treasury of Perugia, and of the Directorate General of the Treasury of Rome which have provided the complete dossier of the pension procedure authorized to Abramo Grelli for the death in combat of his son, which contains the exclusive documentation of the circumstances of the death of Alexander (9); - Archive of the AICVAS which does not have relevant historical and documentary material, as occurs for the Archive of the Regional Institute of the Resistance of Bologna (10), in which the former Garibaldi Brotherhood of Spain has poured its material, when it merged into AICVAS; - Archivo Historico Nacional, Seccion Guerra Civil, Salamanca wanted by Franco in the 40s, responds to the desire to document the participation of Spain in the defeat of the Republic with particular emphasis on high military ranks and exclusion of low military roles, and, obviously, neglecting the presence of those who were considered the "red killers". However, the material stored in Sect. of the Civil War is so large (n.5598 very consistent dossiers (carpetas)) and flanked by inventories that refer region by region to the places where the Francoist front was present and moved, that it would deserve a prolonged examination, not experienced by us, also a little discouraged by the assurances of the Archive staff, who have been helpful and generous with us, and whom we warmly thank here, in the people of Maria Pilar Raulì Lopez and Gregorio Redondo. They, while accompanying us in our research, told us "esto senor no tenemo nada" (11). We quote, in alphabetical order, the sources consulted to no avail: - ANPI, General Committee of Bologna (Archive); Current archives of the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Defense (12); - École Frangaise, Rome; - Mairie de Saint-Laurent du Var, Alpes Maritimes (France); c - We had the opportunity to meet the ex-Garibaldini of Spain still alive (13) by participating in "Jornades internacionales por la Pau y la Libertat y la Democracia, 1938-1988", organized by the Catalan Coordinadora d'associations de ex combatentes de la Repubblica and which took place in Barcelona on 28, 29, 30 October 1988. We asked many present, who were almost seven hundred, - French, Spanish, Americans, Belgians, Irish, English, Jews of various nationalities, etc. - news from Grelli. Nobody knew him, nobody remembers him. The Italian fighters on the Ebro do not remember him and neither does Ferrer Visentini who, in the form compiled by the former Garibaldini Brotherhood of Spain, is indicated as the one who "denounces" the death of Grelli, together with family members. From the years following the end of the war to 1942, the Ossuary Tower of Zaragoza-Casa degli Italiani collects the remains of all those who died in Spain. By virtue of this homologation between anti-Francoists and Francoists, on which we do not allow, there are the names of the fallen of the International Brigades, including that of Alessandro Grelli, who here has his plate marked with a lowercase BI (14). In the cemetery of Fuencarall, in Madrid, a large plaque, discovered only in 1986, commemorates the fallen anti-Francoists, with the following inscription: "Volunteers of the International Brigades, fallen as heroes, for the freedom of the Spanish people, the prosperity and well-being of 'Humanity". In October 1988, on the aforementioned occasion, the "David y Goliat" monument to the memory of the fallen belonging to the BI ranks was discovered in Barcelona in the presence of the BI volunteers, gathered from all the countries. The monument was donated by the SCWHS. We wait for the municipality of Umbertide to complete the toponymy plaque headed to Grelli, specifying: "Red militiaman, who fell as an anti-fascist on the Ebro front, September 1938", as a reminder to remember a protagonist of a historical period and an idea not to be archived. Note: (1) The only date indicated on the tombstone is wrong. In fact, the anti-Franco war ended in 1939. The dates of the death of the fallen and the posting of the plaque are missing, certainly after 2 June 1948, given the presence of the coat of arms of the Italian Republic that frames the plaque. (2) ASP, Inv. Quest. fasc. Grelli Alessandro. The CCRR of Città di Castello affirm this in 1938. (3) ROMETTI CLOTIDE, Sixty years of Socialism in Upper Umbria and Italy, Città di Castello, Il Solco, 1954, p. 132. (4) It was not the "battle name", but the nickname he bore from Romeggio, clearly remembered by his younger brother, Angelo, who still today speaks of his brother with the nickname "Achillino". (5) CALANDRONE GIACOMO, Spain burns, Garibaldi Chronicles, 1st Edition, 1962. Consulted in the AICVAS library. (6) BCC, "The Claim", 1906-1921. (7) The CPC dossier of Grelli Alessandro in ACS is the one formed by Sect. I of the Ministry of the Interior Div. PS Affari Gen. Ris. The one kept in ASP is formed by the Perugia police headquarters. The ACS dossier is more interesting, because it offers material that does not appear in the file of the Perugia Police Headquarters, relating to the date of Grelli's departure for Spain, and other details. (8) ASLS, Leva Office Fund of the Municipality of Sarzana for the year 1892, Bertieri Giovanni Tomaso Nello registration number, 1912; ibid., Fondo Prefettura de La Spezia, Cabinet Series, envelope 7 file 16 "Report dated 17/6/1921 by the Official Deputy Commissioner of PS di Sarzana regarding the events that occurred on 12, 13 June 1921, on the occasion of the raid fascist of Sarzana, upon notification of 13 June by the Mayor and the Councilors Calderini and Bertieri. (9) We thank the Provincial Directorate of the Treasury of Perugia and the Directorate General of the Treasury of Rome, and we are pleased to have arrived, just in time to consult very important documents, for the purposes of this biography, before the expiry of the current archives. (10) IRB, sheet by Grelli Alessandro (Achille). It contains an inaccuracy relating to the paternity of Grelli (of Alberto, but of Abraham), and of his residence abroad (Nice, but St. Laurent du Var). Participation in the II Garibaldi Battalion is not completed by the indication of the Company. The death - according to the file - "is reported by Visentini and his family". We interviewed Ferrer Visentini - author of a beautiful memoir on the war in Spain - who does not remember meeting Alessandro Grelli. The family members were unable to "report" the death of their relative for two reasons: because they were unaware of the fate of Alexander, and because it was the former Garibaldi Brotherhood of Spain that gave them the news. We will talk later about the photographs that remain of Grelli, but we want to immediately realize that the photograph stored in the file we are talking about does not appear in the files, neither in ASP nor in ACS CPC. It is a mugshot, according to the rules dictated by the Circ. of the File Service, namely: a face photograph, a profile photograph and a three-quarter profile photograph. In fact, Grelli is portrayed here in this last pose, in a tie, in hair, and shows an age that must have slightly preceded his departure for Spain, which took place, as we will say, in 1936, when he was 29 years old. (11) Ministerio de Cultura, Archivo Historico Nacional, Seccion «Guerra civil», 37001 Salamanca (E). We share the pessimism on Grelli, but not for a research on the presence of BI, supported by some titles, which were quickly glimpsed in Salamanca, such as: «Milicia POUM»; "Regiment Milicia popular"; "Prisioneros"; "Secret service"; "Milicia los Comuneros"; "Army rojo" ("el Campesino"), etc. Other archives can be consulted in Valencia, in Castellon and mainly the "Archivo Historico Militar" in Madrid, the material of which refers mainly to the personnel of the armed forces, police and carabinieri who remained framed in the republican area, for the purpose of recognition of their service. (12) The current archives of the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of the Interior should have kept the minutes of the "Interministerial Commission for the formation and reconstitution of death and birth certificates not drawn up or lost or destroyed by war ». It is this Commission that drew up the certificate of "presumed death" of Grelli, on 16 October 1957, deposited, according to the explicit declaration of the same Commission, in the aforementioned archives. All our research carried out through institutional and private channels was useless. (13) We interviewed Fucile Domenico, who is the only Umbrian Garibaldian still alive, on the verge of turning ninety. He remembers nothing of Grelli and the years of the Spanish War. He enjoys repetitively telling an anecdote, which refers to the circumstances of his enlistment. The Rifle, a little by convincing, a little by challenging, was able to encourage about forty men, Italian and French, to leave volunteers. Therefore the departure was commented, alluding to the surname of the leader, "The rifles are leaving"! (14) How aberrant this homologation was and still is, results from the thought of a visitor to the Torre Ossario in Zaragoza who "thanks the fallen for having given us forty years of happiness and peace, fighting Marxism". I. - THE LIFE OF ALESSANDRO GRELLI UNTIL THE EXPATRIATION Head of Alessandro Grelli's family was Abraham, born in Umbertide in 1878, where his parents had immigrated from Monte Tezio, married to Maria Ercolanelli, and died in 1957 (1). They had raised a large family, Maria and Abraham, an ordinary circumstance among the settlers, who thought of working arms rather than mouths to feed: Alessandro born on 27/10/1907 was the second child, preceded by Fenenne (1906) and followed by Giovanni (1909) and by Angelo (1921) living; followed by Adolfo (1923) and Gina (1926). Carlo and Sabina were born and died respectively in 1914 and 1919, the years of the Spanish. Abraham was a partial settler and went to work for the day, as a laborer, wherever he happened to be. He lived with his five brothers, who in turn, except one, had a wife and children, in the Parish of S. Giuliano di Umbertide, voc. Box no. 487, Frazione Romeggio, Villa Corradi, and subsequently, after the birth of Giovanni, he had moved to Villa Pantano, still in the same hamlet, where with the whole tribe, about thirty souls, he could enjoy a better income with a farm in thirty-five hectares, working and wooded altogether. These are not the data just mentioned, taken from the tax register, but learned from the brothers, Giovanni and Angelo, who gave us news, reported episodes and memories, which we will promptly report gradually. The Marquis Liborio Marignoli was the owner of those lands assigned to his ancestors, three centuries earlier, by the Spanish rulers, for military merits. Contact between the colonists and the marquis was neither direct nor frequent and everything was done by the farmer who demanded half of the harvest from the Grelli - wheat, maize, grapes, tobacco -. Furthermore, from the partial share of the settler, a percentage was removed for sowing, and for the fertilizer, estimated by Giovanni at around 30%, while the owner never punctually paid the money corresponding to half of the expenditure necessary for the threshing - wheat, corn, seeds - just as he never paid the money for verdigris and sulfur, in compensation for the manual labor that the settler took on. The master kept the animals, paid us the taxes, and the land taxes were his responsibility. Still in the 10s of the century, however, there was still discussion on the payment of cures for the diseases of animals and the serious dispute had not been concluded. According to Giovanni's estimate, the Romeggio farm produced 15 quintals of wheat per hectare, so he had 150 quintals left, enough for bread and cake, but the beans were necessary to supplement. The side dish - the pork belonged entirely to the owner - consisted of "cooked grass", cod, salty because it was cheaper, and herring. These foodstuffs, together with salt and sugar - oil was replaced by lard - were paid for in kind at the shop, mainly with eggs. In conclusion - Giovanni admits - we ate, but did not dress, evaluating the situation at the time with current parameters. The houses, even when they were discreet, were very bad - we read in the local newspapers of the time (2) - a bedroom, including that of the spouses, even housed four people, who, after the short vigils in front of the fire, stretched out on straw straws of maize leaves, placed on four wooden boards or on metal nets. In April 1911 the battle for the improvement of the Colonial Pacts, carried out by the League of Peasants, among which those of Lama had distinguished, still dealt with the "colonial accounts", which had been the banner of the historic strike of 1906 : that the accounts had to be cleared year by year; that "if the owner keeps part of the credit to secure the livestock" "the interest on the money withheld had to be paid to the farmer" (3). Abraham was illiterate, but he sent all his children to school, even the girls, up to the third grade, in the schools set up in the rural hamlets and then in Umbertide - an hour away, from the farm - where they could obtain the elementary school certificate (4 ). Alessandro, according to the personal data sheet (5), had done up to the third grade. However, the news provided by the Military District, that he had obtained the elementary license up to the 6th class, is reliable. In support of this, the testimony of his brother who says: "he was very good at school, he was a genius." At home - Giovanni continues - we never got a hint of what was being said outside or written in the newspapers; as, for example, we insinuate - that still in 1911 people were forced to become aware of their rights and not to follow the priest "the eternal enemy of those who work and produce", "who condemns the struggle of the peasants" and " it organizes the colonial circles "" to maintain the political dominion of the masters "(6). The Grellis had not listened to, and perhaps had not wanted to hear, these and other exhortations and had never been approached by the organizers of the Leagues and Cooperatives. They lived their lives with precise points of reference: work, necessary to live, and, at some time of the year, to survive; the call to arms, under the feared control of the Arma Station stationed in the village, the relations between the sexes, necessary to increase hands in the fields, for housekeeping, and, perhaps, for a wise and kind female presence; and, first of all, the parish priest, the church, of which the Grelli women, vestals of the most rigorous Catholic observance, - as John says - were devoted faithful. During his childhood, neither at home nor at school, he heard Alessandro talk about events and facts that will take weight in his adult life: some, such as the expulsion of Benito Mussolini, in 1914, from the Socialist Party, of which the local newspaper spoke. , they slip away because of his very tender age. But he was a little older when his father and his uncles Annibale and Natalino left for the war and he could have understood something about the dispute about the appropriateness of Italian intervention in the immense conflict, a dispute that, in reality, at home. Grelli, did not take place at all. Having become a teenager, he had no better opportunity to become aware of the news that reached Romeggio faded, on the occasion, for example, of the elections of 1921, preceded by an electoral campaign in which fascist violence had also been active in Umbria (7), or of serious events that took place in the nearby Perugia, so serious as to bring fascism to power. In 1924 he still did not have the right to vote, which he will never exercise, being that of 1924 the last electoral consultation authorized by the fascist dictatorship, which had it carried out under the surveillance of the MVSN soldiers, who presided over seats and favored fraud. For Alessandro, the days spent working in the fields and the winter evenings were endless. He could not be happy or satisfied with this life, with that "gang", "comrade", "cheerful", "expansive", "always in good humor, very healthy, very intelligent" temperament described by Angelo. He loved friends - Giovanni insists - he liked girls, he loved to dress well, but ... at least he never had a few cents in his pocket! Alessandro thought for himself to get out of this situation, giving proof of a transgressive will, this first time towards the owner, who, informed by the farmer, reluctantly saw Alessandro absent himself from the fields and go to the village to learn the trade of shoemaker in the shop of the "poor Giuliano", which he reached on foot in the suburb of Borgiacca on the outskirts of Umbertide. This first gesture of independence, very important in itself because it made him change his social status, will be followed by others, in Grelli's private and public life, around which we will have the opportunity to speak at length, and from which Alessandro is characterized as a nonconformist, a curious man eager for experience, courageous, even reckless. It will turn out that this is not a psychological interpretation of the character, but an evaluation of the character and his temperament, as transpired by events and concrete facts. The brothers tell us that, while working as a shoemaker, he had met Mr. Luigi Ramaccioni, owner of a large estate bordering that of the partial regime of the Grelli, older than twenty years, with whom he had formed a great friendship. Not an anti-fascist - Giovanni specifies - like those he will meet in France - we add - but a fascist, albeit a moderate one, neither relentless nor troubled. In our opinion, the passage of the biographical notes drawn up by the CCRR of Città di Castello, based on direct information from the Umbertide Station (8), derives from this friendship, which does not hide from anyone: "he did not have a PNF card, but showed attitudes in favor of the regime ”, referring to his political conduct before his expatriation. Without excluding the hypothesis, however fragile, that Alessandro simulated, it seems to us that the CCRR interpret a fact that refers to the late 1930s, with the experience and perspective of the year in which the biographical note was drafted, that is nine years later, expanding it enormously and coloring it with meanings suggested a posteriori. But there are other reasons for not agreeing with the carabinieri on a "pro-fascist phase" in Grelli's life, even if, if it were proved to be authentic, it would not constitute a fact to be scandalized, considering the uncertainty and even the confusion of the times, the subordination of the lower classes to intellectuals, and the inadequacy of their means of orientation and critical tools. The CCRR give the fact, which was certainly to their knowledge, a bureaucratic evaluation, without describing and circumscribing it: we try to highlight in Alessandro's frequentation with Mr. Ramaccioni not so much the political aspect, but the realization of a personal relationship, which came to the great advantage of Alessandro. The relationship between the young ex-peasant shoemaker and the rich and educated adult owner was not equal in many respects, almost all of which can be understood. But Alessandro could be led to nod and perhaps agree to things he had never heard before, which fascinated him, on topics that opened up horizons that were unexpected compared to the air he breathed at home. If Ramaccioni, without making rowdy propaganda, but persuasively, as Giovanni assures us, had spoken to his young shoemaker friend, for example, about the economic program of fascism which presented captivating aspects on the worker and peasant side - we mention the reduction of working hours in factory and the tax on the capital of the "medieval barons" - could Alexander have guessed the demagogic implications? (9) We would say no, at least in the days of Romeggio! Times in which Alexander absorbed information and news but had not yet made political ideas, as he did say the RACs. Who, making assessments of this kind, which are not infrequent, thought they were rendering a service to the filed for which a pro-fascist past could constitute a positive precedent and lightened, indeed canceled, any responsibility of their investigative role, for the time in which they had had it under their control. The period of Alessandro's military detention (10) then opens and he spends in Modena, in an environment that was perhaps not only dominated by the military bureaucracy. We say it was influenced by the passage in that military milieu of a Perugian who fell in Spain (11) and assuming that Grelli had already acquired some valid tool for looking around. We do not have any documents of the period and therefore we know nothing official, except that the Royal Quaestor of Perugia twice asked about the behavior of the infantryman Alessandro Grelli. We do not know if the Royal Quaestor had particular reasons for doing so and we believe that the failure to reply means that everything was regular, or simply a bureaucratic inefficiency. It appears, in fact, that Alexander regularly spent his months as a soldier, sixteen months, excluding the training period that preceded the "call to arms" (12). A postcard-size photograph of Alessandro in uniform is preserved in his file. We offered it in photocopy to the brothers who, not knowing it, received it with emotion, crying and kissing it (13). Alexander is portrayed in a soldier's uniform with the envelope on his head, in a "rest" position, with the right arm resting on a perforated wooden shelf that supports a vase of flowers, between the fingers of the hand the cigarette and the left arm on the side. It's the classic photo to send to his girlfriend, to whom to ask for the complicity of being considered not the freshman soldier, but a boy, indeed a man, easygoing, like they say all the details, scarcely martial - the cigarette, the hand on the hip, the body lithe, together with the flowers on the "good room" shelf -. The brothers reciprocate mine gift with a photograph received from France and which appears in the bulletin of the RF (14). Grelli is more years old, and a virile and determined expression, underlined by mature features of the face. In hair, and the shirt open on the chest, in the casual French fashion, denotes greater awareness, which is neither new nor in contradiction with the photography of Modena. A little more mature, in a tie, Grelli appears in a third photograph, as already mentioned (15). The bureaucratic, hasty and distracted description that the Regia Questura makes him at the moment of expatriation, in which the only particular apt it is the "bass". In fact, the Grelli was just one and a half centimeters higher than the minimum required to be "skilled enlisted". On the period of Alexander's life that elapses between the military leave - early days of September 1928 - and the date of expatriation, which is no earlier than the date of issue of the passport - October 1930 - a span of just over two years - sheds light on the testimony of John. Who says: «Before the official expatriation, Alessandro went to France clandestinely, reaching the Ventimiglia border by train, where he entrusted himself to expert people, indeed in charge of the need, who accompanied him, partly on foot and partly on mules along the paths and passes of the Maritime Alps, up to France. During this trip - continues Giovanni - he stopped in Florence in Via della Scala, at the Engineers Regiment, where I was a soldier ». The memory of Giovanni is reflected in his military registration number which shows that he arrived in Florence on 28/4/1930 (16). Therefore Alessandro's Florentine stage can be dated not before the end of April, but not after the end of October, the date of issue of the passport. Why was Alexander going so adventurously to France? Giovanni knows: it was a love escape! Alexander - as his temperament requires - went to join his girlfriend, Aldina, who was expatriated to France with her whole family (17). The motivation confided to his brother in Florence was verifiable in the real circumstance. Other reasons, in concurrence with the sentimental ones, had to be kept silent by him: he could not manifest his own, even generic desire to escape from the family; political motivations, unlikely at the moment, but not to be absolutely ruled out, it would have been better not to even talk in the air. He did not stay in France for long, not only because his love story did not lead to marriage - Alexander died celibate - but because his fellow countrymen, political emigrants, may have advised him not to stay one more day abroad, without documents. , where he would run a hundredfold risks compared to those, already very serious, that expatriates in good standing with their passport ran. And in fact, having completed his military service, in 1930 he obtained a passport valid for one year, and regularly expatriated "for work" for France. At this point, two periods in Alexander's biography open, the one relating to his stay in France, until 1936, and the dramatically shorter one of his enlistment in the red militias of the «Garibaldi» Brigade, in the Laroche Group. The one and the other period will be treated separately on the basis of the documentation obtained in the file in his name by the Regia Questura of Perugia and in the CPC file, of which the brothers do not even exist. Before becoming Giovanni and Angelo's informants, we want to report what they replied to us on issues concerning their brother, but also general aspects common to many emigrants: - what relations existed between the Grelli family and the Umbertide CCRR, considered as the first link in the chain of investigators; - what memories do the Grellis retain from the French period of their brother's emigration, and subsequently from Spain. The carabinieri of Umbertide, who depended directly on the Tenenza di Città di Castello, never showed up either to ask for news or to give it. The information could not have been obtained from the family, since - the carabinieri well knew - they were either liars, or reticent, unreliable and misleading, even in the face of a sincere "we know nothing". As we shall see, "confidential" or "trustworthy" information was important and fundamental. On the other hand, the carabinieri never said anything to the family. Yet they had learned some good things about him: "subversive anti-fascist", "communist to be arrested at the border", "red militiaman in the ranks of the army, in Spain", where there was a war, all the more serious and compromising, how much more unknown! But, did the Grellis ever know something that the CCRR did not know, and that not even the secret police would ever find out? At least in three cases: Alexander's first clandestine emigration; the trip of Abraham who had gone to visit his son in France, reporting excellent news about the Cordonnerie (18) the shoe shop he had opened, to the point that he urged his brothers to join him to collaborate with the four workers already hired; and, finally, the clandestine repatriation of Alexander due to the death of his mother (19), of a very short duration and of which we can establish the exact date (20). The brothers gladly return to 1933, when Alessandro, clandestinely crossing the Maritime Alps, had come to greet his sick mother and had arrived in time to see her dead, an extreme sign of the deep family bond that united the Grellis among them, for which, even Today Alexander is remembered by them with a fraternal affection that has priority over the pride and pride of a brother "who died as a hero for freedom". Since the death of their mother, the Grellis have not known anything about their brother: we anticipate them that there were political reasons that led Alessandro to silence, also belatedly discovered by the police. The family - not a suspect, but an intuition - was convinced that Alexander was in France exclusively for work, and did not ask too many questions about his expired passport or about other details they learned superficially and almost indistinctly. Grelli's life, not limited to his first period, which we have dealt with, but relative to his entire arc, together with the historical approach deserves an epic evocation. Instead we must conclude with the squalid episode of the "package" we learned in the conversation with the brothers. Says Angelo, the younger brother: after the war in Spain - the chronological confirmation does not emerge - we received a postcard from the Post Office of the Umbertide station to collect a package from France. Father and John went there - therefore before 1957, the date of Abraham's death -. They were told that the package had already been collected. They did not protest, they did not investigate, and perhaps, Angelo concludes, they did wrong! Giovanni nods and comments: «There was certainly no money in that package! Why go and steal it? It was someone who agreed with the Railways ». From that "someone", neither an indiscretion nor an allusion is derived. We insinuate that perhaps there were those in town who wanted them badly, and that perhaps it was the fascists who eliminated that one concrete sign of the past of their political adversary. John closes in a silence, from which we are able to understand a profound pain, resigned and powerless. Note: (1) MU, Registry Office, Abramo di Agostino and Bussotti Filomena was born in Umbertide on 6 / XII / 1878, married to Ercolanelli Maria in 1906 and widowed in 1933. (2) BCC, «The Claim», cit., Year 1907. (3) BCC, «The Claim», cit., Years 1906 and 1911. (4) BCC, "The Vindication", cit., Year 1913. It had been a successful campaign of the Socialist Party which had fought since the early years of the century for elementary education, for an adequate preparation of the teachers and for the establishment of school sponsorships. (5) MU, Matricular Role Register 62, Matric. 535, Alessandro Grelli. On 23/10/1926 there is the military visit: he is "skilled enlisted" he can read and write, 6th grade, "stature m. 57.50 ". Recalled to arms, arrived in Modena at the 36th Infantry Regiment on 30th - 4th - 1927, discharged by the same on 2/9/1928 - Ibid, Population Register, Grelli appears to have attended only up to the third grade. (6) BCC, «The Claim», cit., Year 1911. (7) BCC, «The Claim», cit., Year 1920. (8) ASP, Inv. Quest., Fasc. Grelli Alessandro cit. (9) BIANCHI ANTONIO, Social struggles and dictatorship, in historical Lunigiana and Versilia, (1919-1930), Florence, Leo S. Loschki, 1981. (10) See no. 5. (11) We refer to Mario Angeloni. (12) See no. 5. (13) ASP, Inv. Quest., Fasc. Grelli Alessandro. The photo was taken in Modena by Foto Insvardi Via S. Michele Modena -. It is therefore not the Grelli who supplied it to the CCRR, which perhaps managed to obtain it for other channels. The photo was very important for the registration in the BR. (14) ACS, Grelli Alessandro, CPC. The report in the BR is not contained in ASP, Inv. Quest., Grelli Alessandro, cit. (15) IRB, card by Alessandro Grelli, of which we mentioned in the Introduction. (16) MU, Registry Office, Register of Matricular Role Giovanni Grelli Matric. 10290 VII.mo Corps Engineers Regiment. Giovanni passed the visit at the end of 1928 and "called to arms" reached the VII.mo Genius on 24/4/1930. (17) Aldina's surname is uncertain and confused in Giovanni's memory. The records of the population of Umbertide from the 10th century have not given any confirmation following a search on the name «Aldina». It is clear that his family was not registered in the registry of Umbertide. (18) ASP, Inv. Quest., Fasc. Grelli Alessandro. The CCRR speak about the footwear industry installed in St. Laurent, providing the Police Headquarters with the address “Cordonnerie de Puget. St. Laurent du Var ”and the brothers told us that business was going well for Alexander. (19) MU, Population register 1933, Maria Ercolanelli died on 20/02/1933 in Umbertide. (20) Alexander immediately returned to France, after the funeral and therefore on February 22 or 23 he was traveling again. We deduce it from a curious tale by Angelo: when he returned here for the death of his mother Achillino - it was this, as we know, the nickname with which Alexander was usually called - he did not want to sleep the first evening under the same roof as the deceased, because he would be forced to sleep there for nine days. This is so as not to "disturb" the dead woman. Achillino-Alessandro slept in a neighbor's house and then left long before the nine days were up. Il simbolo ritrovato - I La vita di Grelli fino all'espatrio II - III Il fascicolo della Questura e Grelli in Francia IV - Grelli in Spagna Il simbolo ritrovato - I La vita di Grelli fino all'espatrio II. - THE FILE OF THE DIRECT QUESTURA DI PERUGIA HEADED TO GRELLI ALESSANDRO The file of the Perugia sul Grelli police headquarters contains five photographs (1) and forty-seven papers, from 1936 to 1951. Do not think, however, that the Regia Questura of Perugia and the other police bodies have dealt with Grelli for fifteen consecutive years. There are only nine years (2) that date ordinary certificates, forms, bulletins and printed matter of the File Service, and the various correspondence, letters, confidential and highly confidential, registered in double envelopes, service tickets, telegraphic circulars, telespress, etc. Only three years refer to Grelli still alive (1936, 1937, 1938). The following years (1939, 1940, 1941, 1942) attest to the useless search by the police, the town of birth and the carabinieri, about the fate of Grelli, while the last year revolves around the suspicion of the disappearance of Grelli, who however it is not officially documented. Grelli's dossier, already modest as a volume, is therefore chronologically reduced with respect to the emigration period (1930-1938), spent partly in France and partly in Spain, and is limited in content, as there is no living presence of the Grelli, what could it be, eg. a letter from him intercepted on departure or arrival. The dossier on Grelli, of which we give an analytical confirmation in the appendix (3), however, contains a precious indirect reference to a person whom he met in France, who, as we will say, illuminates his political story of Grelli. A copy of the Grelli dossier can also be consulted at the Central Archives of the Central Political State Records Office, Ministry of the Interior Division I CPC Service. It offers more detailed documentation about Grelli's departure for Spain and other substantial details that will be very useful to us. On the outer cover, in thin yellow-orange paper, common to all the files of the Perugia Police Headquarters, his name, surname and paternity stand out in calligraphy, and, in indelible ink, the wording "filed" stands out. Two essential notes follow: «Communist ex militiaman red», as a political qualification, and the indication of the inscription in BR, and in RF «for arrest», ordered by the Ministry of the Interior (4). In the month of July 1936 two letters, which follow one another after a single day, arrive, one to the Ministry in Rome and PC to the Royal Prefect of Perugia, and the other to the Royal Quaestor of Perugia. The sender of the first letter is the Royal Prefect of La Spezia; who writes to the Quaestor is the UPI of the Command of the 102nd Legion MVSN, stationed in Perugia (5). The subject of the two letters is identical: Grelli is a "subversive and anti-fascist" who works with a very dangerous individual from Sarzana - the reference to the latter is exclusive to the letter that arrives from La Spezia - and with three other Umbrians, the whose names are communicated by both letters. The senders declare that they have received Grelli's report from a "trust source", that is, from the secret police. Therefore, Grelli has been "discovered", and from this moment the formation of his dossier starts, and is "filed" in Cat. A / lett. 8 of the R. Questura of Perugia, which will keep the Public Security Division of the Ministry of the Interior informed step by step (6). Both the Prefect of La Spezia and the UPI of the MVSN are recommended that the four reported to be denied the "repatriation" permit and that investigations be carried out for their identification. From the first card, which is precisely the first letter mentioned above, to the last card, the dossier on Grelli becomes for us the testimony of the intertwining of investigations and searches of the police and his life as an emigrant, politically engaged; as a tacit challenge between the police and the anti-fascist, won, in the years preceding 1936, by Grelli. The sign is in this long news gap from about 1930 to 1936, a period in which he managed not to be discovered. The delay is not an exclusive detail of Grelli's biography: it was generally a few years before the police discovered anti-fascists abroad. But it also took a little luck and a lot of forethought to get away with spies, and Alessandro knew how to give himself the image of an individual on the margins of politics, fully occupied as was shown in the Cordennerie, from which perhaps he was making money for the cause as well. He was, in essence, a modest character, whose natural gifts, borrowed from his peasant origin, had been difficult to guess: to make it in spite of the master. We will see, however, that there is a document that illustrates the period that remained obscure for the investigators (7). Grelli's report is very serious and heavy, because it is circumstantial: he put up with a person in sight, emigrated for several years, a thoroughbred propagandist, well-known in his homeland and in France, head of a group that does "deleterious work" in against his compatriots, managing to win the fascists themselves against anti-fascism. Which, while wanting to "keep good Italians" - which means to remain fascist! - were influenced by the strength of his propaganda. There were three Umbrians in the group, as we have already said, two of whom were fellow villagers, natives of San Giustino, inhabitants of St. Laurent du Var, a bricklayer and a carpenter, and both Communists 8. The third Umbrian reported, who a handwritten note in the letter from the UPI of the Militia declares that he had been suspended since 1930, deserves a separate discussion (9). The immediate effect of the report was to be the obvious and somewhat obvious denial of the repatriation permit and mainly the initiation of the "identification" investigations. The commissioner, who does not know anything about it, consulted the CCRR of Città di Castello, who promptly transmit the information received from the Umbertide Arma Station. The content of the information is favorable to Grelli and the tone used by the informants is decidedly benevolent: Grelli has maintained good moral, political and civil conduct - note the exhaustive adjective of all, absolutely all, aspects of behavior; he has no criminal record and no ongoing pending with the carabinieri of Umbertide - in this matter it is always better to abound in the specification. However, as surprised by the anti-fascist report, they declare that Grelli, despite not being a member of the PNF, showed favorable sentiments. As for expatriation, he was regular "for work", with a passport issued by the commissioner himself. They attach the photograph and describe the features. It is not infrequent to find muted tones in the information of the carabinieri, while other police bodies often look for a way to slander the filed, with an apparently banal detail, sometimes with a real slander. The behavior of the Carabinieri of Città di Castello seems to conceal the concern of being held responsible for not having recognized Grelli as an anti-fascist, as was later "reported" in France. For this reason they accentuate and underline the positive things they can say about him, which is perhaps partly authentic, but a little ostentatious (10). We add that their benevolence results in other circumstances: they do not respond to the repeated requests of the commissioner who wants to know how Grelli behaved during his military service; they are careful not to fill in the finca prepared in the biographical form (1939) for the names of the officials or agents who had known him: yet, if they had known him! Finally, they close in silence when they are questioned (1949) by the commissioner on the advisability of revoking Grelli from the group of subversives of the province. We approve of them, adding that ten years after their death it seems unlikely that the police station still knows nothing! The information requested from the CCRR reaches Rome in the first days of January 1937 (1937). From this date, the file does not indicate a document, a form, or a letter. This was not due to bewilderment (11). At the beginning of the second half of the year a telegraphic circular arrives (1937) sent to the Royal Prefect of Perugia and to all the Prefects of the Kingdom, signed by Bocchini Fr. the Minister, with confidential news: Grelli enlisted in the Spanish red militias (12). The news is given in a spectacular way: the postal vehicle is not of ordinary administration; the secret police are present in the use of the conditional "would have enlisted"; the barrage of repressive measures against Grelli acquires drama in the long sequence: he is arrested "returning to the kingdom"; RF and BR be entered, with photograph; a reserved control of correspondence directed to family members is ordered "to ascertain remittances of money from red aid". This is, therefore, the year in which the police report a relative success with an explosive news on Grelli's account - we will see that the chronology is not exact - and in which the repression is relentless with the means that are their own. Ten letters and three modules, concentrated in just over a month - from 19 July to 14 August (1937) -. Seven times the commissioner is the sender and fulfills all the tasks entrusted by the minister. In less than a week he fills out the form for reporting a person to be searched, which should be accompanied by a photograph that the carabinieri sent him the year before. But the Royal Quaestor is lost, so he must have recourse to the Scientific Cabinet of the Terni Police Headquarters for reproduction, which, this time, has a large number of them done, now uselessly (1937). Inside the year there is even the ticket removed from the RF, where Grelli is described as a "dangerous communist", to be arrested. (1937). The year 1938, on the other hand, consists of a single card (1938), coming from the Quaestor's Cabinet: "The Grelli fighter or suspected fighter in the ranks of the Red Army" was inserted in October 1938 in the Cat. A / 9 , which is the category of the red militiamen. In accordance with the date that the card bears, 1938, we have placed it in its natural place, while in the file it has a location on card 1, that is, after the last documents of the file (1951). The silence of the investigators does not derive from their knowledge of what had happened and was happening in Spain, where Alexander had now fallen into the rage of the attack on the Ebro and for a few days he had missed the withdrawal of the Garibaldini - la despedida - episode painful, but not inglorious, also agreed with the consent of the republican government and the League of Nations. Rather, it must be linked to a crisis of consensus towards fascism. In fact, public opinion had come to acknowledge the warmongering and repressive aspect of the regime - War of Africa and racial laws - and the investigators themselves seem to suffer a decline in motivation in carrying out their tasks. We have already detected some stretch marks and we continue to note that the certificate of the Criminal Record was requested only in 1939 (1939). Furthermore, the delay in acquiring such a document denounces the gap between the regime police and the ordinary judiciary. And it is surprising that the Questura starts all over again with the request for the birth certificate (1939) and the address abroad, when this documentation had been acquired three years earlier (1936). The drafting of the biographical card which took place belatedly (1939) brings the news of the "emigration from red Spain" and of the "confinement". Emigration from Spain and confinement that do not find any confirmation in the history of Grelli, nor in archival documents. In the years 1940, 1941, and the first quarter of 1942, the commissioner is busy searching for Grelli and continues to send updates to the Ministry of the Interior of Grelli's residence abroad, which he takes for granted, asserting "nothing to report". Only once (1939) does he confess that "there is no news"; some doubts assailed him in 1941. Realizing, during the review of the Political Record, that Grelli is no longer reported, he asked the CCRR of Città di Castello for information on moral conduct, but "especially political" held "before today". He still asks for his address and the carabinieri (1939) reply that they do not know, because no more correspondence arrives either to friends or relatives "from here", that is to say from Umbertide. In this same circumstance the carabinieri choose not to pronounce themselves - as already mentioned - on the advisability of the revocation of Grelli from the list of subversives of the province. Completely insignificant is the duplication of the biographical card in 1942 (1942) which, moreover, does not have a comma more than the first edition (1939), if not the updates referred to in the years 1940, 1941 and 1942. We have reached the last two years of the dossier which refer to Grelli's death: in 1949 the Quaestor ordered the revocation of Grelli from the Bulletin of the Wanted "for ceased reasons", a ritual formula that foreshadows his death. In 1951 a letter from the Ministry of the Interior, due to the interest of the Ministry of the Treasury, was sent to the Questore of Perugia to give circus news about Alessandro's death, considering that his father had asked for his son's war pension. The most concrete answer comes from the carabinieri who assert without hesitation that the death of Grelli, which took place in combat in Spain on 12 September 1938, is in the registry office of the Municipality of Umbertide. But we have no declaration from the Municipality of Umbertide, which closes the history of Grelli with the Act of Presumed Death (13). Scrolling through the names of the senders of the various documentation contained in the Grelli file, it appears that at the peripheral level the CCRR and the Police Headquarters operated in correspondence with the Ministries of the Interior and Foreign Affairs who had various representations abroad, the embassies and consulates of His Majesty the King of Italy, closely linked to the police bodies, typical of the regime, such as the UPIs of the MVSN and the apparatus that the PNF had given itself abroad. But it was concretely efficient and capable of a penetrating investigation only by the police organization, hidden under the formula "trust source" or confidential source, that is, the secret political police. From it came the decisive information on the account of the files, following which the aforementioned peripheral and ministerial investigators were only a bureaucratic role. The analysis of Grelli's file leaves many problems unresolved: the chronological question relating to the dates indicated in the file, not the macroscopically incorrect ones because they go beyond death, but the date of his notification, which is certainly delayed compared to Grelli's political commitment , and the date of enrollment which is not - we have anticipated - that of the telegraphic circular of the Ministry of the Interior. Finally, there is the question of confinement and the emptiness of the circumstances of his death. The file offers - we repeat - indirect documentation, but decisive for tracing Grelli's political itinerary, in the period 1930-1936, the years he spent in France before his departure for Spain. From Grelli's meetings with prominent figures in the history of anti-fascist emigration, both in the political and ideological debate of anti-fascism, and in the concrete struggle against fascism, the precise outline of his political evolution emerges and it seems richer and more lively to us. general scenario of Umbrian political emigration. Note: (1) An original postcard size is the photograph in military uniform, produced on the cover, from which four card size copies were made. (2) These are the years 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942; 1951. The term a quo coincides with the sixth year of Grelli's emigration, the ad quem with the thirteenth anniversary of his death. (3) The Grelli file is fully analyzed, in Appendix I, according to the following items: year, type of document or correspondence, date, sender, recipient and subject, In the text we put the year to which the document refers in parentheses of Appendix I. (4) ASP, Inv. Quest., Fasc. Grelli Alessandro, cit. Two entries appear on the cover: one that finds unique confirmation in the biographical card of Grelli 1939, reports that Grelli was "confined" to the date 12/6/1939. There we will deal with this detail elsewhere: The other reports that it was registered in the 1942 Statistical Register. The note is in pencil followed by a question mark and is not reflected in the file, nor has it archival evidence. On the cover are also the «Revisions». (5) ASP, Inv. Quest., Fasc. Grelli Alessandro, cit. Appendix II. (6) The Cat. A / lett. 8 corresponded to "subversive and anti-fascist"; «Subversive dated back to the Circ. Internal Min. 5343, 1 June 1896, instituting the Filing Cabinet, "anti-fascist" had been added in the fascist era. (7) This is what we will do in III. "Grelli in France". (8) ASP, Inv. Quest., Fasc. Gattini Goffredo di Gerasimo and was Corsini Giuseppa. Gattini was born in S. Giustino 4/8/1892, carpenter worker, anti-fascist. Ibid. Tarducci Ottavio was a communist Giuseppe, born in S. Giustino on 8/9/1898. (9) ACS, September Luigi Antonio CPC. The September was Giuseppe and it was Biondini Gelsomina, born in Todi on 16/9/1880 a shoemaker, a socialist who had been struck from the ranks of subversives there and 2/9/1930. September cannot be consulted in ASP because the files on the "Radiated" are not yet available and therefore we do not know the reason for the radiation. September is mentioned under different surnames: on the cover of the Grelli issue there is Settembrini Luigi and it is the only time that his paternity and maternity are not reported, data that are repeated and unchanged in other quotes. The place of birth is now indicated in Città di Castello, now in Todi. We found his birth certificate in the Todi registry office with the day, month and year that appear in his file in the Central State Archives. September has been living in Rome since 20/10/1930 where he had gone from France, from the Rome Population Register. (10) We have already dealt with the alleged "pro-fascist" phase of Grelli. (11) We exclude that it was a question of loss, because even among the papers in the CPC dossier on Grelli in ACS we found this void. (12) The date of Grelli's departure for Spain is therefore attributed to the year 1937. We will examine in IV Grelli in Spain the documents offered by the file on Grelli preserved in ACS, which anticipate it by a year. (13) MU, Death Certificate Register 1957, p. II, Series C. Sentence authorizing the transcription of the death certificate of Alessandro Grelli. The copy of the death certificate was provided to us by the Umbertide Registry Office, subject to authorization by the Court of Perugia, Attorney General. III. - GRELLI IN FRANCE If emigrants could feel almost at home at the first impact with an environment where, according to some testimonies (1), Italian was spoken more than French, as in St. Laurent du Var, in the Department of the Maritime Alps, an obligatory destination for Grelli for the well-known reasons of the heart, and fixed residence during his emigration (2), they could not rest assured among their compatriots, who were not all anti-fascists, many willing to denounce and inform, at the service of the secret political police, and some who had made or were making a fortune, "exploiting the fellow countryman." "It was full, full of spies," which created an atmosphere of distrust, suspicion, fear of everything and everyone around the emigrants. They felt and were, followed, spied on even in private life and always alert to the risk of having an infiltrator among their everyday friends - the most unthinkable and least suspicious person - by whom they could be branded as "anti-fascists" and as such files. There is no story of an emigrant-anti-fascist that does not begin with a report by a spy, worthy of absolute credit. Consequently, police measures were taken, or the Special Court was put into action, whose laws had reinstated the death penalty, not only for attacks on the king or the leader, but only for belonging to a dissolved party (3 ). If the spies understood that they had been identified, they ran away, but, not infrequently, they were trapped by our people, who knew how to transform themselves into "good policemen" (4), and to the infiltrators of the Avra they responded by dislocating "trusted, unknown" individuals, who did not attract attention, in the offices of the Dopolavoro, or in the sections of the PNF, places where they spoke of trade union problems and political issues to prepare the offensive strategy against the anti-fascists. The ordinary judiciary, the one established by the liberal state, had not been suppressed, but deprived of authority: bodies structurally unrelated to the role of police carried out investigative tasks. The Royal Consulates of Italy abroad, solicited by the Ministry of the Interior, or by the Ministry on which they depended, were very efficient, diligent and, to be honest, even precise, compared to the Royal Police Headquarters and Royal Prefectures. The Consul of His Majesty the King of Italy had a direct line with the trustee of the foreign sections of the PNF - the Case d'Italia or Case degli Italiani - which offered a recreational activity - radio, cards and conversation - to program , quietly, political action plans. On the occasion of the registration, a map of the "registered or not" was drawn up, with big problems for the latter (5). The UPIs of the MVSN, directly dependent on the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, had the means and men, belonging to bureaucratically autonomous roles. They were present in all situations, and spread the confidential news, which they received first. The local administrative authorities, for example the Mairies, were hostile to them and were prejudiced against them, like the government police. Relations with the French democrats were not easy; but we have the documentation of an "anti-Italian" - that is to say anti-fascist - demonstration in which our compatriots are associated in large numbers with the French and the naturalized in an armed attack on the House of Italians in St. Laurent, to demonstrate against the policy of their government, on the occasion of the call to arms of the reservists: an intertwining of ideological, political and claim reasons in military roles (6). They encountered no slight difficulties in looking for work, unless they resigned themselves to being peasants in the fields planted with vegetables and fruit in southern France, to harsh living conditions and wages, which Grelli was able to escape by putting to good use. his ability as a craftsman that benefited him, also as a social position. The salaried workers had to pay a tax of 25 francs, with which they obtained the "work card", indispensable for being hired; self-employed persons paid the "work card", 100 francs. Also this tax was an opportunity for the sections of the PNF abroad, in agreement with the French authorities, to implement discrimination and blackmail (7). The period initially spent by Grelli, immediately after his expatriation, is illustrated by the conversation with his brothers: the clandestine flight from Umbertide, followed by regular emigration "for work", frequent and reciprocal visits, an opportunity to urge the brothers to move to working in the shoe factory until 1933, the year of his mother's death. From this date Grelli never returns home, and he doesn't let anyone know anything about himself, either by oral messages or by letter, as the carabinieri also attest. It seems that his life has undergone a turning point and is taking place in a context that pushes him to estrange himself from his family and from any relationship with Umbertide. Detail of which the brothers complain and do not agree. Specific circumstances and precise reasons for justifying this behavior of Grelli can be seen in his meeting, already mentioned, with Giovanni Tomaso Nello, Bertieri who formed and directs a group for political propaganda. Grelli joins, together with other Umbrians - but they are not only Umbrians (8) - to be part of the group, he begins to military in the anti-fascist struggle with awareness and risk, which induce in him prudence, confidentiality, mainly towards the family who , in Umbertide, he could have undergone interrogations and searches. Grelli, who emigrated without political qualifications, became a communist at the Bertieri school who "worked" with his followers. The expression "work" used by the informant suggests the feverish propaganda activity, the meetings, the internal coordination, the new contacts and the constant displacements, as the surviving emigrants frequently report. In meeting with Bertieri, Grelli found the opportunity to enter politics and the instrument of his ideological maturation. Which evolved, first of all, with the assimilation of the meaning of the various experiences made by Bertieri before 1923 and subsequently on all the occasions in which he was involved in concrete initiatives, which were framed in the context of the ideological debate. Bertieri had been the witness and the protagonist of a central fact in the history of anti-fascism, which was the revolt of Sarzana in July 1921 against the aggression of the squads, the first and for a long time the only example of victory over fascism: "an event that became a sort of myth during the dark years of fascism, for the persecuted, for the exiles, for those who suffered in prison "(9). Before 1921, Bertieri had been the animator and promoter of all the demonstrations and of every strike, in a strip of land such as Lunigiana with a concentration of workers in the La Spezia shipyards, and a peasant in the vineyards of the Ligurian "bands". Sarzanesi. He was an assiduous reader and speaker of the left-wing press, but he had never been a contributor to the editorial staff of any newspaper, as claimed by the carabinieri who knew him. In the role of socialist councilor (10) of the municipal administration of Sarzana - a position he held from 1921 as a socialist, passed to communism after the Livorno Congress - he had proclaimed a state of siege in the municipal council in the face of squad aggression, and command of the proletarian defense committee of the Arditi del Popolo (11), which he himself organized, had determined the humiliating retreat of the fascists, at the end of a week of bloody clashes that had claimed many victims among the aggressors (12). From the clash between the fascists, financed by the agrarians and the industrialists and the proletarian opposition that tried to raise the conditions of the people, organizing leagues, cooperatives, unions and committees, as had happened in Sarzana, Grelli understood the political significance of the Italian situation . And he discovered a confirmation of this in his life in Romeggio, personally and by the family itself (13). After the events in Sarzana, to escape the arrest warrant, which had already hit some of his followers (14), Bertieri went into hiding and was eventually forced to emigrate illegally to France, reaching Marseille, where he did not stay long. . In fact, he continued his activity as a propagandist which led him to travel throughout France to hold meetings and rallies. The Socialist International chose him as the official speaker. We find him in this role in Marseille, in 1930, on the occasion of the great party of the proletariat of that time, which was May 1st (15). Oratory skills - "he speaks well" and is a "discreet comitiante" - even investigators are recognized. We endorse them, as they are also supported by the level of university studies he has reached (16). However Bertieri never exhibited the qualification of "student" and declined, without any exception, that of "worker" or "mechanic" who leads him - it was convenient for him to say - to work now in one place and now in another. In the end, even the police realized that this was an "excuse" for the political activity of Bertieri who "wandered a little here and a little there" "appeared and disappeared", because he was busy "working" at the " service of Italian-Franco-Russian subversivism "(17). On another occasion Bertieri amused himself by making fun of the police (18), confusing them for almost a year because of the nickname, Buccin or Bucin, with which he was also known in Sarzana and cheated them to the point that they were induced to provide personal data of a non-existent person. The political debate abroad and in Italy was animated by all the democratic forces in the field - we mention, without being complete, liberalism, republicans, socialists, communists, popular people and all the various associations that branched off from them. Differently articulated in terms of political content, they were aimed at forming an organism, as unitary as possible, to oppose fascism. We could give a historical account (19), but it seems significant to us to use the material contained in the CPC dossier on Bertieri, and to report on some initiatives and experiences of his group, which are the precise reflection of the ongoing debate, and in addition they open a glimpse into the political newspaper of our emigrants. He had contacts with Luigi Campolonghi (20), also from Lunigiana, older in age and in exile. It was Campolonghi who introduced him to the anti-fascist concentration (21) without pushing him to join it. But it helped him from the organizational and ideological point of view to found a section of the LIDU in St. Laurent du Var (22). Grelli had it at home, and he attended the weekly meetings in a local audience, called by Bertieri who had become its president. In front of a fairly large audience - by admission of the investigators themselves - Bertieri mainly gave political speeches "marked by anti-fascism" and oriented towards the social-communist currents, which would have given life to the French Popular Front. The headquarters held "conferences", that is, meetings with prominent figures - for example, Pacciardi, Campolonghi himself - who took stock of the situation and gave information on the work done by other sections. On the sidelines of the meetings, funds were raised by selling, for example, the folders of the «Loan of liberty», for L. 1000 each, with the fruit, to tell the truth, scarce, of L. 5000 francs. They organized the annual party of the Italian League of Human Rights, which took place on March 30 (23). As president of the LIDU of St. Laurent du Var Bertieri obtained a special "political refugee" card, a pass authorized by the League of Nations (24), well known to the investigators' controls. It will have been very useful to him on the occasion of his expulsion from Luxembourg, an episode in Bertieri's life, of which we do not know the reasons or the circumstances. But the political position naturaliter adhering to the "fervent gregarious of the French Popular Front", to the communist Bertieri, who had opened - it is important - a section of the communist party in St. Laurent (25) and consequently to his group was that of the FU, the Single Front, as the anti-fascist Single Front was identified in police jargon. On January 24, 1934, XII ff, a meeting of the FU took place in Nice at the Cafè de la Gare, present, among the many emigrants, Bertieri, who is cited in second place in the list (26). An infiltrator tells us how that meeting took place in a report drawn up for the General Management PS Division of General and Reserved Affairs Division I of the Ministry of the Interior. Much information relating to the composition, dissemination and organization of the FU, to the strategy of its political project, are true from the report of the infiltrator, as we will see below. However, aware that he is reporting burning, and perhaps alarming information, he takes care to minimize them - he considers them to be "of little importance and of little importance" - and evaluates the data and perspectives of the political work of the FU with skepticism and pessimism, such as those which are, at the base, tainted by the hegemony of the Communists. They want to "impart a too marked character to the movement" which is endemically - the infiltrator seems to think - on the verge of rupture. There are those who leave the FU (27), but must admit that there are also more definitive and concrete adhesions, the maximalists, for example (28). He informs us that the FU is widespread throughout France, in Paris, where the meetings are "repeated and numerous" in Cannes, Nice, Beausoleil and frequented by the LIDU, by republicans, by the maximalists, by the Mutual Society Brotherhood, by the reformists, by the socialists and, of course, the communists. The presence in the meeting of January 1934 of exponents of the French Communist Party and for the past of a prestigious figure such as Henri Barbusse was at that time an indication of success (29). The formation of the single body to oppose fascism according to the proposal of the maximalists, which is accepted, is to replace the enlarged single committee with many small neighborhood committees or sub-committees articulated on fragmented realities and situations, similar to communist cells. The economic claims of emigrant workers were for the FU a fundamental premise for a unitary action against fascism, according to the tradition of socialism of the years of the II and III Congress of the International, which inspired the FU. The problem at the moment was to defend the workforce and protect it against the French law on wages (30). Therefore - say the defendants - it is essential to have people infiltrate the sections of the Dopolavoro who collect the intentions and plans drawn up in this regard. Lastly, small work is not neglected, such as sending propaganda letters, circulars with a political content, and, with great precision, invitations to meetings so that it should not happen that someone is absent, just because they have not received the notice of convocation (31). When the propaganda for the recruitment of volunteers to defend the Spanish republic exploded in the early months of 1936, Grelli decided to go and fight. He abandons the group to the most discreet extent, as we shall see, and seals the meeting with Bertieri with an act of great political significance. A meeting in which the many differences and diversities between the two protagonists - age, education, political militancy, reason for expatriation, temperament and character - could have crushed the weak position of Grelli, who instead comes out strengthened in the bond of ideals and common intentions. "Among the subversives it should be noted a tall individual, thin, blond hair, about fifty, worker, ardeasiac eyes, red complexion ...", a description of Bertieri written by the political police that convinces us and almost excites us. Let's compare him with the Grelli, whom we know by photography: short - for only one and a half centimeters "skilled at the draft" - rough, with no particular characteristics, other than those inconspicuous and captivating ones of his face of a genuine Umbrian peasant. Taciturn, he listens to Bertieri's tales and speeches with fluent speech, made incisive by the melodious Ligurian-Tuscan cadence. The passionate strength and the ability to persuade are evident from the description of his temperament, drawn up by the Carabinieri of Sarzana: "ambitious" "overbearing", that is, with a will to be a boss, because he knew he could do it. The negative evaluations of "bad reputation" and "weak worker" are the result of the slanderous campaign that the fascists made to him after Sarzana and of the objective scarcity of the garages and bus services, of which he declared himself dependent. Alessandro's brothers have neither known nor heard of an Umbertidese family, the Broccolicchi who, after a failed internal emigration to Gubbio, had expatriated in 1902 in France, father and mother, almost fifty, with nine children, all between fifteen and five years (32). But Alessandro certainly knew and frequented them, because the second and third Broccolicchi generations were known and active in southern France, precisely in the period in which Grelli was there. Proof of this is that among uncles and nephews, living in the 1920s and 1930s, three of them are registered. They are Antonio meant Alfonso, Vittorio and Maria: we give a brief account of the files in the inventory of the Perugia Police Headquarters relating to Alfonso and Vittorio (33). The character we want to point out is Maria Broccolicchi, belonging to the third generation, daughter of Eugenio, listed as an anti-fascist - the "above-mentioned woman" specifies the PS official - because we understand the exceptional nature of the feminine anti-fascist (34). Maria worked closely with a cousin, Gino, for whom the police headquarters did not formalize the file, perhaps because he was assimilated to the nationality of his father, naturalized since 1928. Note: (1) We refer to the late Mariano Fulmini and Probo Martinelli, and to Italo Nicoletto, Vincent Tonelli among the many surviving former Garibaldini. The most incisive passages of their testimonies appear in quotation marks in the text. (2) The brothers of the Grelli refer only to the address of St. Laurent, like the carabinieri. Even the Consulate of Nice, in what can be defined, as we shall see, the last certain news on Grelli, before Spain, refers to the same town in the Department of the Maritime Alps. (3) AA.W. Lessons of anti-fascism, Bari, Laterza, 1962, p. 138 and ss. (4) One of our witnesses relates: "we managed to locate the home of a spy, we seized a letter from her, which contained very serious news: a communist had been murdered to avenge a fascist killed in Paris". Our witness gives the names of the protagonists of his story. (5) ASP, Inv. Quest. fasc. Goffredo kittens. Gattini, during his interrogation in confinement, says he asked the trustee of the St. Laurent section of the PNF for the card and obtained it. Unable to pay the outstanding annuities, he ended up arousing the suspicions of the trustee, who threatened him. telling him «I'll arrange it!». Gattini was terrified by the trustee and withdrew from frequenting the fascist section. Thus began - according to his version - his persecution as an anti-fascist. (6) ACS, Bertieri Giovanni Tomaso Nello, CPC. Twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays, the House of Italians, at least that of St. Laurent, remains open to fellow countrymen to listen to "the radio, play cards, chat". But no meeting - the note continues - has the character of a "ceremony" or is marked by a political meeting. On the occasion of the declaration of war by France and England on Nazi Germany - we are in 1939 - the French reservists were recalled to arms, which constituted a reason for resentment for them. Therefore, an anti-fascist demonstration was organized on their part with a nocturnal aggression against the House of Italians, wanting to hit the policy of the regime allied to Nazism. (7) ASP, Inv. Quest., Fasc. Tarducci Ottavio. Tarducci, still in 1935, had not managed to obtain the "work card", even though he had even requested it from the Mairie of St. Laurent. Eventually he resorted to the local Casa degli Italiani and began to attend the section quietly and apparently convinced. of the PNF. Having obtained the employment card, Tarducci changes his behavior, begins to associate with extremist elements - as the investigators point out. For the humiliation suffered and the anger accumulated in the refusal of the Mairie he goes out in a sensational demonstration on the occasion of the feast of the patron saint of St. Laurent. In the midst of the festivities he sings the Internazionale - and it is immediately a choir. The Mayor invites him to stop and Tarducci responds with threats and insults and making him under with a clenched fist accuses him of not having wanted to help him for the "work card". (8) ACS, Bertieri Giovanni Tomaso Nello, CPC cit. More numerous than the Umbrians were the Ligurians - Sarzanese, communists, anarchists, republicans, all registered, whose residence abroad, profession or occupation is unknown. They are natives one of Arcola (La Spezia), one of La Spezia, two of Sarzana, one of Lerici, and a name that does not respond to an individual born or known in Sarzana - notes the investigator - who, like us, underlines the common geographical origin of Bertieri's followers. (9) Bianchi A., cit. Foreword by Giancarlo Pajetta. (10) ACS, Bertieri Giovanni Tomaso Nello, CPC. The biographical card only recognizes his election as Municipal Councilor; instead he was councilor in the year of the Sarzana events. After Bertieri was already expatriated for reasons of personal security, the fascists in 1926 denounced him for embezzlement, according to their classic public administrator-thief equivalence. The Court of La Spezia sentenced him to one year of imprisonment, a fine of L. 300 and one year of interdiction from public office. The sentence never reached him in France. From other convictions - a 1919 offense and simple bankruptcy - he was acquitted respectively by prescription and by amnesty in 1924. (11) Bianchi A., cit. It was a political formation in which anti-fascists from various sides had converged to face the violence of the squads. In the events of Sarzana they had had an important weight. Bertieri had set up a department in Sarzana with a contingent of 150 men, all workers and peasants. They had their own newspaper and, according to the work quoted by Bianchi, they also operated in Umbria. Of the fact, however, we do not find any reference in the newspaper The Claim, cit. (12) We have read two versions of the events in Sarzana, one historical (see Bianchi A., cit.), And the other ASLS Fondo Prefettura della Spezia, Report 12 and 13 June 1921 by the Deputy Commissioner PS, from Sarzana, to be sent to the Sub-prefect of La Spezia, upon notification by the Mayor of Sarzana, and by the councilors Calderini and Bertieri. The PS Commissioner presents them as "a fascist raid" in Sarzana, Bianchi as an attack by the terrorist squad against the Sarzanese population, with which the municipal administration of the city supported by the left-wing parties had sided. The first version presents the defeat of the fascists as a "retreat" to avoid police intervention; the historical testimony speaks of a vigorous response of the popular forces, peasants, workers and bourgeois, once in tune with the anti-fascist parties of Sarzana and all of Lunigiana. (13) Not Grelli personally, nor his family, but the democratic movement of the Upper Tiber Valley circulated a sheet "Umbrian Communist Union Committee - Nov. 1924 Appeal" denouncing the responsibility of the capitalists for the continuous increase in life and for the decrease in wages, cf. Appendix III. (14) Bianchi A., cit. We refer to Bocciardi Ugo, anarchist, blind, accused of murder, a character close to Bertieri in the Sarzana facts, who does not appear to be part of his group. (15) ACS, Bertieri Giovanni Tomaso Nello, cited CPC. (16) ASLS, Leverage Office Fund of 1892 - Municipality of Sarzana. Visit passed by Bertieri in 1922, that is, at the age of 22. He is a "student". In the biographical card of his CPC dossier it appears instead that he did "elementary courses" and that consequently his capacity as a propagandist due to lack of schooling must be considered scarce and not very effective. (17) ACS, Bertieri Giovanni Tomaso Nello, CPC cit. (18) ACS, Bertieri Giovanni Tomaso Nello, CPC cit. For at least a year, the correspondence relating to Bertieri is concerned with deciphering whether Bucin or Buccin was another Bertieri's person or not. The Municipality of Sarzana puts an end to the investigation. But the Royal Prefecture of La Spezia had mobilized, the Ministry which had issued a "circular for research" and the Division of the PP, of La Spezia had even provided the personal data of a non-existent Alfredo Bucino to whom the same activities were attributed that played the Bertieri. The whole investigation was complicated, in part, by the fact that Bertieri had managed to prevent the La Spezia police headquarters from coming into possession of a photograph of him. (19) Alatri Paolo, Italian Anti-Fascism, Ed. Riuniti, 1973. (20) Luigi Campolonghi had joined the anti-fascist Concentration, to which neither Justice and Freedom nor the Communists had joined. (21) The anti-fascist concentration established in France in 1927 substantially refers to the Aventinian position and included dissenting elements of the Italian League of Human Rights. It crumbled around 1934. (22) The LIDU is an association older than the anti-fascist Concentration and survived to it and still operating today in France and Algeria. It arose along the lines of the Ligue des Droits de l'homme whose origins date back to the Dreyfus affair. (23) ASP, Inv. Quest., Fasc. Marian lightning. (24) ACS, Bertieri Giovanni Tomaso Nello, CPC, cit. (25) ACS, Bertieri Giovanni Tomaso Nello, CPC, cit. The news is reported with the indication «sec. socialist "and corrected in" sect. communist »in pencil. The confusion arises from the fact that in the biographical notes he is described as "socialist" as he was before his accession to the Communist Party after the Livorno Congress. (26) ACS, Bertieri Giovanni Tomaso Nello, CPC, cit. Appendix IV. (27) ACS, Bertieri Giovanni Tomaso Nello, CPC, cit. While the Socialist Party is increasingly in favor of rupture, in Beausoleil, the Maximalists have even fully joined the FU, and perhaps even the Communist Party. (28) ACS, Bertieri Giovanni Tomaso Nello, CPC, cit. In addition to those present whose names are mentioned, our speaker refers to an unknown Communist who is the main "speaker". (29) Henri Barbusse was certainly not known to Grelli for his literary work but he became so on the occasion of the war in Spain when Barbusse organized the volunteers with a battalion of the BI, with his name. (30) In that precise historical context it was necessary to defend the Italian workforce abroad and protect it against the law on wages, which followed the Fascist law on the reduction of wages, aggravating it with quotas, i.e. reducing the amount of Italian workers that French employers could or had to hire. (31) ACS, Bertieri Giovanni Tomaso Nello, CPC, cit. It had happened to the Republicans. (32) MU, Registry. The emigrants of 1902 were called Celestino Broccolicchi and Stella Crispoltoni, born respectively in Umbertide and Città di Castello in 1852 and 1853. The children were all born in Umbertide, with the exception of two who were born in Gubbio. Once in France, they spent the first period occupied in cultivating the fields and with the large number of arms, all in the family, which they can employ, they draw good results, if, around the 1920s, Antonio intended Alfonso (born in 1874) the eldest son "is »Cultivate land« owned by him ». By decree of 1928 he became a French subject. Later he became the owner of a car service, like his brother Eugenio and also hired Bertieri Giovanni Tomaso Nello as a mechanic. (33) ASP, Inv. Quest., Fasc. Broccolicchi Antonio, Broccolicchi Antonio, understood as socialist Alfonso di Celestino, born in Umbertide 22/3/1874 - papers 34, 1934-1944. Antonio had become a socialist in France, having been expatriated at eighteen. "He made pomp of his principles"; he is mentioned among the participants in a conference held by R. Pacciardi in Nice in 1934, an event of primary political importance, which led the political police to draw up a list of participants, to be considered suspects. His brother Antonio, ten years younger (see ASP Inv. Quest. Fasc. Broccolicchi Vittorio di Celestino, anti-fascist born in Gubbio on 25/4/1895, papers 16 + 2 photos 1939-1944) is infamous by the police with every sort of accusations (exploiter of prostitution and keeper of houses of ill repute) that would have made him merit judicial charges on the French side. Of which we have no documentation, just as his alleged expulsion from French territory in 1936 is not documented. From the file it does not appear that poor Vittorio ever left France. (34) ASP, Inv. Quest., Fasc. Broccolicchi Maria, Maria Broccolicchi in Polidori, by Eugenio, antifascist, born in Gubbio 25/4/1895 - cards 16 + 2 photos 1939-1944 - Maria, daughter of Eugenio and wife of the red militiaman Polidori Francesco, di Domenico, is reported as "Very active anti-fascist propagandist and registered in the RF, with the specific purpose of subjecting her to a close interrogation on her political activity, and on that of her husband:" she is extensively questioned and reports on the merits ". According to her file, many important details of Maria's life had escaped the police: who had learned from her brothers-in-law in Città di Castello to use printed type and that she had emigrated with her son and her husband, persecuted for his ideas " anti-national and sympathy for subversive parties "in Nice where she was employed in the printing sector. To provide for her son and her husband, the latter unemployed, she had been helped by the "red aid" during the period in which Polidori had tried, twice, to go to fight or work in Spain. II - III Il fascicolo della Questura e Grelli in Francia IV. - GRELLI IN SPAIN The context in which Alessandro Grelli spends the last two years of his life is the Spanish Civil War, whose complex origin, internal to the country in which it broke out, would seem indispensable to discuss and indicate, moreover, why it inevitably became a European and international affair. , as soon as the contenders - the republicans in government and the revolting Francoists - quickly asked for military aid, receiving generous and ambiguous responses, almost always of common origin and of opposite sign towards the two sides, driven by interests that they went beyond the ideology of merit itself. It might seem indispensable to talk about the parallel civil war that took place, bloody and terrorist, behind the republican lines, between communists and anarchists, a sinister projection of Stalin's Bolshevism, and the massacre of a large number of Franco's political opponents, decimated by the platoon of execution ordered by him (1), a sinister prelude to the decline of the "liberal spirit" of Spain for long successive years. We want to place that dramatic event in the circumscribed reality of the anti-fascists, especially the exiles, to grasp the signs of the political passion of the few who voluntarily exposed their life for the ideal: what they thought about it, how their willingness to participate was organized, how the war changed individual and group attitudes. Circumstances that border on the human drama, barely guessed, that even Grelli lived. - We will tell of his death in combat through mean news, but enough to put him in a solitary, heroic position with respect to the group to which he belongs. The news of the Francoist military uprising of July 1936 spread rapidly throughout Europe, thanks to the radio stations, official or clandestine, especially the Catalan ones, which the technological renewal was making protagonists of mass information (2). The anti-fascists were "fascinated and magnetized" (3), and, having set aside the mulch reserves, they saw near the dream of a direct confrontation with fascism, established in their country: for freedom against tyranny. This is the interpretation that Carlo Rosselli promptly and clearly enunciated in a speech to Radio Barcellona, on November 13, 1936, addressing himself to "Compagni, Italian brothers": identity between Francoism and Mussolian fascism, identity of the struggle to defeat the one and the other. other (4). In the memoirs of the veterans of the Spanish War (5), written a few years after its conclusion, there are rare references to the pacciardana reading. The Rossellian thesis prevails with class variants - anti-capitalist war - and nationalist variants - war of support for a people threatened from the outside - with a clear rejection of the democracy-communism opposition, of which Franco managed to persuade some Italian diplomats. The reaction of the anti-fascists in Italy was prompt and worried following the speed with which the regime sent, as early as the end of July, to Morocco, contingents to reinforce the Francoists. They were not unaware that Mussolini's sympathies for Franco were joined by the long-standing links and affinities between the Savoy and Bourbon monarchies. In the various Italian cities there were no demonstrations of solidarity, repressed even before they exploded, while the regime intensified the arrests, and the Special Court the sentences. In France and Belgium and elsewhere in Europe, where anti-fascist Italians had emigrated, who in the years of exile had experienced the not only material importance of economic support, the first cure was the collection of funds for the Spanish people at war, and for the travel expenses of the volunteers (6). Political propaganda in favor of republican Spain took the form of conferences, meetings, circulars, leaflets, person-to-person meetings, or with groups. The work of the recruiters, organized in the ways that we will analyze later, was so intense and effective as to push Mussolini's government to decree, just six months after the start of the war, their detention, from one to three years (7) . Similarly, in the same period, the French Chamber, following the governmental orientation of "non-intervention" alongside England, had voted a decree to prevent the departure of the French for Spain (8). The long-standing anti-fascist organizations, the LIDU and the FU, found a unity of purpose they had never achieved in ideological discussion. Communists and Socialists, Liberal Party leaders and Republicans worked side by side in informing about the modalities of enlistment and travel. In the area of the Maritime Alps circulated a flyer reproduced in mimeograph style, and therefore of wide circulation, edited by "Fronte Unico Italiano of the Department of Launching" (9), which Grelli may have had on hand and discussed with his companions. On the merits we tend to believe that Grelli's decision was first of all temperamental, and, only in part, the result of a collective elaboration of the group. Within which the possibilities of influence were bypassed, and almost canceled, by the solicitations of the numerous committees, which had formed and were being formed, in favor of Spain, which feverishly multiplied the initiatives to organize recruitment and to inform about course of the war. Also in Ponte S. Luigi, on the border with Italy, a Section of the "Revolutionary Committee pro Spain" functioned, and in Nice a "Russian bureau" hired volunteers. The Spanish government itself had opened its own representation in France to promote the republican cause, and was authorized to circulate its own recruiting agents. The Consul of Spain in Marseille organized the transfer of volunteers to Barcelona, on Spanish ships, which departed twice a month, with a capacity of 450 militiamen at a time, and assured them of triumphal welcome upon arrival (10). The UPI of the MVSN, stationed in Marseille, managed to obtain the lists of transported persons, relative to the last quarter of 1936, for a total of one thousand names. It is obvious that the UPI sent the list to the Ministry of the Interior, which set in motion the bureaucratic process of identification, and subsequent phases, not different from that reserved for those registered. Grelli's name is not included in the lists, as we had hypothesized, knowing for sure that he had left Barcelona, but not taking into account that he had left, yes, from Barcelona, but with the Laroche group, which may have followed differently itinerary (11). - Aggregated with a group, which officially denounced the reasons for enlisting, Grelli did not have to invoke the justification "for work" (12) similar to that of the emigrants of the 1920s and 1930s who, even in the context of the war in Spain , found its objective justification in the contraction of the available manpower (13), as had happened for the emigrants of the 1920s. Nor did he head to sorting places where volunteers from France itself and from other places generally went (14). In these "bureaux" they could regularize the passport, if they were in possession of it, or were provided with special passes. Nor did he have to face the adventurous departure of those who left isolated and individually, as often happened in many parts (15). In this way those "non-party" volunteers crossed the border, statistically given the first place as a numerical participation (16), who ran many risks, even if the "Red Aid" had set up the "Red Help" service at the border. Red Guides "(17). In the land of Spain, the volunteers who arrived by sea were welcomed in the great infantry barracks of Pedralbes, those who arrived by land, crossing the Pyrenees, in Albacete (18). In these and other centers, Grelli also had to stop for training, that is, to follow a military training course, learn how to shoot, and other warfare techniques. At the end of the course he was enrolled in the official BI lists, with a registration number, which is the same as that of the "Carnet militar", the militiamen's identity card (19). Training was often limited to only one week, or even less, depending on the contingent requests coming from the front. In any case, the militiaman was included in the Spanish army, with the same military rank he had achieved in the Italian army, and at the initial rank, if, as could happen, he had not done military service (20). In gray-green, not with a soldier's uniform, but in overalls, the uniform of the worker, appropriate to a war, in which more than half of the fighters were made up of workers (21), on the head the bag with the star three-pointed, with his clenched fist raised at the height of the temple, in the Garibaldi salute, the militiaman appears portrayed in period photographs. In which, however, the black berets of the anarchists and the colonial helmets refer to the diversified political origins of the participants (22). There are two documents referring to Grelli's departure for Spain (23): the telegraphic circular from the Ministry of the Interior (1937) to the Royal Prefect of Perugia and to all the prefects of the kingdom, dated July 1937; the telespresso of the Royal Consulate General of Nice (1937) to the Minister of the Interior, dated June 3, 1937. The date of the first document is a few days after the date of the second, and does not suggest any particular observation other than that of detecting its coincidence. Substantial differences, however, exist between them, regarding the origin and structure of the news itself: the minister writes from Rome, a peripheral place with respect to Nice, from where the Royal Consul writes who had the opportunity to check, albeit indirect evidence of what he says, close as it is to the place where the events took place. The minister informs that Grelli "would have enrolled" uses the conditional, typical of the news of "trust source" - and does not specify any chronological reference; the consul writes that Grelli "left St. Laurent du Var in October 1936". The consul uses the mode of certainty for an event that happened under the eyes of all and that even the friends of Grelli, the companions of the group, may have confirmed, since, with this indication, they did not compromise either the friend or themselves. The motivation for the removal of Grelli is made explicit with the conditional and that is "he would have gone to Barcelona to fight in the international militias of the Laroche group". In conclusion, the minister gives the news for investigative purposes, which does not require chronological details; the consul communicates a date from which Grelli had not been seen again in St. Laurent du Var. Therefore, adding that some time passes from when a person moves away from a place until those of the place realize that he has moved away, we can establish the chronology of the departure of Grelli for Spain, in October 1936, which is in contrast with the date with which in the file of the Perugia Police Headquarters this important junction in Grelli's life is mentioned, as we have already observed. When to the Laroche group, we further specify that, in our opinion, it is a political group and not a military one, for which a different appellation - column, battalion or other - would have been used. In fact, the military group - company or battalion or brigade - was not known upon departure, but assigned, after training, when the soldiers were about to leave for the front, or perhaps the front itself. Grelli, dunqúe, was in Spain from the end of 1936 to September 1938. He spent about two years there, around which we have no documentation relating to the war fronts, in which he could have fought, nor to injuries, illnesses and hospital stays. , nor to probable licenses. Grelli was unable to leave us any news of him because he did not return to his homeland, as happened to the veteran militiamen, who during interrogations or at the border or at the police station, told the details of their Spanish experience. Many tell of moving from one front to another, many had been hospitalized for injuries or illnesses. There are those who can boast of having been fighting for twenty-two months, with only one interruption because they were hospitalized (24); there are those who, despite having returned to Spain twice, never reached the front for reasons beyond their control (25). We will see how the documentation, albeit poor and uncertain, on his death can authorize us to present him in two different phases of the Spanish war: the battle of Madrid at the end of 1936 and the first months of 1937, and the great battle of the Ebro, started in the second fortnight of May 1938, bloodyly culminating precisely in the days in which Grelli lost his life. The documents relating to the definition of the date, place, causes of Grelli's death and particular annexes relating to various circumstances, such as the fate, which moves us with pity, which touched his body, were not found in the archives, but in the current archives of the Ministry of the Treasury, War Pensions Office in the provincial and national headquarters. The Perugia office provided us with the pension application from Alessandro's father (26) which is confirmed by the documentation provided by the Rome office, with the complete documentation acquired to authorize Abramo Grelli's pension (27). Two documents emerge from this documentation, of which we will speak extensively - Notoriety Act of the Consul General of Italy in Nice and the letter from the secretary of the former Garibaldi Fighting Brotherhood in Spain - ten years after the death of Alexander, but absolutely the richer in data and, relatively, closer to the event. Documents of undisputed historical validity, especially with respect to the Death Act, twenty years later (28), which has an exclusively bureaucratic value and does not offer any documentation on the cause of Grelli's death, since it was not possible to find the minutes of the Commission that he drafted it, as we have already complained. As for the date of death, day, month and year, it coincides with the documents mentioned above, and in the Act of presumed death. But let's see what new elements the documents of the pension operation initiated by Abraham bring. They come from various sources: the oldest is drawn up by the Consul General of Italy in Nice, who, acting as a notary, certifies Grelli's death on the basis of "four known and suitable witnesses"; the second is drawn up by the secretariat of the ex-Garibaldi fighting brotherhood in Spain, which certifies the death on the basis of «the results of the documents in its possession». They coincide on the date - night 12-13 September 1938 - and on the cause of death - firearm, enemy machine gun -. But they differ on the toponym in which the event took place; "Arganda in the Ebro area" according to the witnesses summoned by the consul; "The Sierra Caballs on the Ebro" according to the data of the former Garibaldi Brotherhood fighting in Spain. The geographical and chronological error of the first is evident: Arganda, a few kilometers from the capital, is one of the places where the long battle of Madrid took place, which took place in the last months of 1936, until April 1937, that is a year and a half and more before Alexander's death; Sierra Caballs is the place where the battle of the Ebro was taking place in the days when the Grelli fell, from May 1938 to September 1938. The confusion in which the witnesses of the consul of Nice have incurred confirms the chronology indicated by us for the departure of Grelli for Spain, since the geographical error could document a possible participation in the battle of Madrid, in the first phase of his stay in Spain, which we have, in fact, placed in the last months of 1936. Therefore we define the data of Grelli's death, together with the details connected to them, as follows: - date: night between 12 and 13 September 1938; - place: front of the Ebro, Sierra Caballs; - cause: died on the spot following wounds sustained in combat from enemy machine gun bursts, firearms; - burial: the burial place is not known, because the body remained in enemy territory having prevented its recovery during the night; - military situation: soldier, volunteer enlisted in the IV Company, II Battalion "Garibaldi". The battle of the Ebro - July 26 - September 23, 1938 - stands out for its "terrible", compared to all previous military events, in a war that had lasted for two years. Historians tell (29): never seen such a bloody battle and such quantity of artillery, tanks and aviation concentrated on the Ebro. The republican army had crossed the river by order of the government, which was looking for a military success, temporarily achieved, but immediately blocked by the influx of Francoist reinforcements, exceptional and impressive, which determined tragic consequences. It was communicated several times that the "Garibaldi" brigade was in difficulty, in a compromised situation. But whenever the Fascists launched an attack, the Garibaldians emerged, as if by a miracle, from underground, from the semi-destroyed trenches, causing losses and suffering more serious ones, to the point that when the brigade was sent to reserve, only nine hundred fighters. The number of dead and wounded was so great that it could not be covered by the arrival of new volunteers, hindered, moreover, by the growing difficulties in crossing the borders, strictly controlled by the "commissions" set up by the non-intervention committee. The veteran Garibaldi's soldiers (30) tell us: «the armament superiority of the Francoists was crazy. We did not have tanks, we did not have aviation, and the two machine guns supplied were not usable due to lack of bullets. The shotgun with thirty rounds in the barrel and the only two hand grenades we had, did not put us in a position to defend ourselves, under a deluge of cannon fire that came at us, exposed as we were open-faced, without a shrub or a bush that sheltered, on bare and stony ground. We settle down on the ground, waiting for the blow to pass by. In a single day, twenty times, we withdrew from the heights of the sierra, and for as many times we regained them. There was no longer a porter service, there was no drink, there was no food. We went to get it, when it was possible, in the warehouses, which were increasingly lacking. Because the rear, if they could still be called that, had only one task, that of collecting the dead and helping the wounded ... In the evening the group was reconstituted, which diminished day by day: in a single day, - the memory he is very much alive - we had fifty left from the two hundred we were ». And, on the night of 12 to 13 September - we add - a "minus one" of those present was Alessandro Grelli. They saw him lifeless in the opposing field, where he had rashly pushed himself, without being able to escape the enemy fire, which also raged on the dead (31). The tragic situation lasted until 23 September, when the order of the "despedida" arrived, the withdrawal of the BI, made necessary under the pressure of the United Nations Society, to slow down the influx of external aid to Franco, and perhaps also to put an end to the massacre of the fighters of the two fronts. The anti-fascists, as the veterans testify, had not known anything in advance, but they realized that it would be absurd to continue this carnage. More than fifty years after that event we have caught in the stories of some veterans of the BI - not only of Italian origin - some shadow, almost like a regret, an afterthought, the questioning of their voluntary participation, so dramatically closed by order of the "despedida", as to make one lose the reasons. But those few add that in the current situation the struggle for freedom still has to continue. The detachment from his Spanish comrades is defined as "painful" by some Garibaldians and only partially alleviated by the preparation of the spectacular parade for the Barcelona Diagonal, which took place at the end of October. The veterans never saw any of the prisoners again, because they were all murdered by the fascists. For them, fate reserved internment in French concentration camps, determined by the complex and politically contradictory situation of relations between Spain and France. More than a hundred veterans managed to escape from Argèles or Vernet and among them some entered the resistance to the Vichy government; others entered to fight among the partisans in various countries of Northern Europe. Those of them who presented themselves, challenging fate, at the border of Ponte S. Luigi, were arrested and sent to police confinement, with destination, for the most part, Ventotene. In the interrogation reports that they underwent, it is noted that they never wanted to denounce anyone responsible for their decision to voluntarily participate in the war in Spain, and sometimes proudly declare that they are convinced "that they have done their duty". The rare times that they indicate persons or circumstances, they do so in a generic way, so as not to offer investigators a possible trail of research, which is difficult, however, to follow four or five years later. From confinement, Garibaldi's ex-combatants were freed in 1943 - 25 July 1943 - and in the following months they wanted to continue their political struggle by entering, as organizers, the partisan struggle. The members of the primitive nucleus of Bertieri's group conclude their history of political emigrants with a common characteristic, albeit in the specificity of personal situations, which can be interpreted as the signal of the crisis that the phenomenon of political emigration was going through, in the imminence of the outbreak of World War II, about three years before the fall of fascism: they all saved their lives and lived for a long time in republican Italy, which they had also contributed to building, at home, and this due to circumstances not lucky or fortuitous, but for voluntary, carefully calibrated political choices and decisions. September "disbarred" by repentance in 1930, he lived in Rome until 1950; Gattini lived in the country where he was born and escaped any sanction, because he had repeatedly and insistently denied the political faith he shared with Grelli and Bertieri and even their friendship, declaring that he hardly knew them, and that he was always been a fascist. Fascist and moreover persecuted by the trustee of the St. Laurent du Var beam, only because he had not been able to pay the arrears of the PNF card issued to him since 1934. Bertieri, the hero of Sarzanese anti-fascism, wrote in 1940, in his own hand, a question to Mussolini "Your Excellency the Head of the Government of Rome", in which he asks to "be able to freely and definitively return to his homeland", committing himself to " no longer dealing with politics "and" devoting oneself to family and work ". He was not answered. He insists with a second request addressed to the Delegation for repatriation and assistance, managed by the Italian Armistice Commission with France. The application was rejected "due to the poor political record" of the applicant, who "was still poorly remembered in the fascist circle of Sarzana". Bertieri does not give up and expatriates without authorization. On March 13, 1943, he was arrested at the Menton border and transferred to La Spezia, where the Court, by order of July 9, assigned him to police confinement for a period of three years in a small town near L'Aquila. It is likely that the ordinance has suffered some delay until it reaches the historic date of September 8th. Which certainly changed the fate of Bertieri. Finally, Tarducci presents a case in itself: we have not found the date of his death, not even in the country of his birth, nor the evolution of his political history. Let us suppose that by virtue of the years of emigration matured since 1926 he has naturalized and definitively integrated into French society. To unearth the story of Alessandro Grelli from oblivion - we stated it in the Introduction - we carried out this research. The silence of the living people of Umberto weighs on him who, despite having known him, remember him so vaguely that it seems they never knew him. We therefore want to suggest a further path of research that we have carried out, without any result: given that among the "Umbertidesi residing in Nice" signatories of the plaque located in the atrium of the municipal residence of Umbertide and three of the texts summoned by the Consul General of Nice for the Act of Notoriety who are, in fact, two natives of Umbertide, and one of Città di Castello, there is some probable identity, which would mean that living people, or their descendants, who have known Alexander, are traced, we hope that the search for others will have better luck (32). Note: (1) Silvestri M., The decline of Western Europe, Turin, Einaudi, 1954, III, p. 399. (2) Rosselli C., in «Justice and freedom», April 1937. They were called Radio Barcelona, Radio Valencia, Radio Madrid, Radio Toulouse. Others did not indicate their geographical origin in their denomination, such as Radio Verdad, a souped-up Spanish station that broadcast from Italian stations, renamed after the battle of Guadalajara in Radio Falsidad. Even in the silence of the ether - Rosselli observes - war was fought. (3) Silvestri M., cit., P. 360. (4) Rosselli C., Today in Spain, tomorrow in Italy, Turin, Einaudi, 1967. It is in one of the speeches contained in this pamphlet that was printed for the first time in Paris that Rosselli launches the appeal «Today here , tomorrow in Italy ", which in the following January will become" Today in Spain, tomorrow in Italy ", as already noted. (5) AA.W., The International Brigades, La Pietra, 1976, p. 83. The Czechoslovakian Communist Party, which was the most active force that rose to defend the Spanish anti-fascist fighters, also launched the slogan "In Madrid there is also a fight for Prague". (6) There was an important mobilization of intellectuals. In this regard, we cannot escape the suggestion of the verses of Pablo Neruda, who participated intensely in the aid and solidarity campaign for the cause of republican Spain: "I remember, years ago, in Paris, / one evening I spoke to the crowd / I came to ask aid for republican Spain / for the people in their struggle ... »Canto Generale XXXIX - 1945 - P. Neruda - Poesie, Florence, Hoepli, 1962. In which, a few years later, the poet gathers the heroes of the anti-Francoist war to the heroes of Latin America, on a memorable occasion in Brazilian history. (7) Silvestri M., cit., P. 271. The decree is published in the Official Gazette of 2/2/1937. Silvestri comments on this "... by punishing the recruiters, that is, the government itself." (8) ASP, Inv. Quest., Fasc. Zangarelli Emilio. The native Zangarelli of Pietralunga, enlisted in the Death Battalion stationed in Santa Perpetua di Moguda should have received a letter "in the Barracks 19 July of the Red Militias of Barcelona ”sent to him by his brother, intercepted and by the recipient never read. It is attached to his file and contains the news of the resolutions of the French Chamber. We add that Zangarelli, to justify and deny his participation in the war, claims that he went to Barcelona to visit it, since he worked in France in Perigueux, a town very close to the Spanish border. (9) ACS, DGPS Ministry, Volunteers enlisted in the Spanish War for the Red Army, Envelopes 62, 63, 64, Years 1937, 1938. These are three very bulky envelopes that contain unnumbered papers, also referring to 1936. the leaflet described is contained therein. (10) ACS, DGPS Ministry, cit. The ships were called "Villa de Madrid" and "Ciudad de Barcelona". (11) ACS, Grelli Alessandro, CPC. The news of Grelli's enrollment in the Laroche group can only be read in the papers of the CPC dossier in ACS. In this regard, we report that we have not found any news regarding the Laroche group, neither from the live information of our former Garibaldi friends, nor in the various CPC files consulted, nor in general information works, nor in specific works or in French and Spanish encyclopedias and Italian. However, we can make some hypotheses. If Laroche stands for Laroque, it could be connected with Pierre Laroque, a figure who in the 1930s took an active interest in the trade union problems of emigrants, recognizing their important role in replacing the shortage of French manpower. By his name it may have been called a group of volunteers, as has happened for other characters. Laroche can refer to a locality in the Loire - La Roche La Meuliere - where a chemical products factory worked, where many emigrants worked. We learned the news of the Laroche la Meuliere factory from the file of the Terni anarchist Conti Ardito, who started from this locality, but does not refer to a group with that name (see ASP, Inv. Quest., Conti fasc. Ardito). (12) ASP, Inv. Quest. fasc. by Baciotti Guido, Bernardini Vincenzo, Carnevali Settimio, Galli Guido, Giacometti Giuseppe, Zangarelli Emilio. They are all Umbrian militiamen, to whom we will refer for news about their transfer to Spain and the reasons for participating in the war. (13) ASP, Inv. Quest. fasc. Galli Guido. Galli tells us that the newspaper "Esclaireur de Nice et du Sud-Ouest" hosted, at the end of 1936, an advertisement from the Spanish government with a request for drivers and mechanics. There were those who "knew" that "work" meant enlistment and started out as a convinced volunteer. But there were those who were surprised by the trick and tried to escape. As for Galli, he uses the advertisement in the French newspaper to try to deny his participation in the war, which was instead effective in the role of driver of the republican army. (14) ACS, DGPS Ministry, cit. In Basel, Lugano and Zurich, those coming from Germany and all of Northern Europe were welcomed by special bureaux. In Genoa, volunteers from Southern and Northern Italy gathered at the famous "Bar della Borsa". Everyone passed through the Union Bridge, on the border with France, from where the last stage began. (15) ASP, Inv. Quest. fasc. Lightning Mariano, cit. Lightning says that in many French cities, especially in the North, the Spanish People's Relief Committee took care of isolated departures: it paid, for example, the train ticket from Paris to Perpignan to Italian and other nationals volunteers, and he gave them L. 50 - it was not cheap - for what they might need during the trip. At the border they were awaited by a Spanish border committee, which was responsible for accompanying volunteers to Spain. (16) AA.W., The International Brigades, cit., P. 180. He reports other data: about 5000 volunteers were Italian, of which 1822 were communists, 137 socialists, 124 anarchists, 55 militants of radical democratic parties. More than half of the volunteers were workers. The largest group of volunteers was the "non-party" group. (17) ASP, Inv. Quest. fasc. Lightning Mariano, cit. Speaking of the strong flow from Toulon to Perpignan, Fulmini observes that the volunteers formed groups of even a hundred at a time, anarchist exiles. and communists. Their departure - here is the interesting observation of Lightning, who was a character who was particularly attentive to things - was not hidden, on the contrary, in the days before the volunteers made farewell visits to friends, and in the local Chamber of Labor took place a farewell reception, of which Fulmini read the report in the local press. On the merits, the Consul of Italy complains that "the French local authorities ignore or pretend to ignore and every now and then they impose the" duty "to" stop " some volunteers about to leave, to announce it to the newspapers, to document French neutrality, but these were isolated cases ». The Lightning captures the shrewd objectivity of the consular authority. (18) AA.W., The International Brigades, cit. Albacete had been chosen by the Spanish government because it was far from the trajectory of military aviation. The BL was born in Albacete on October 14, 1936, after the arrival of the first five hundred volunteers, belonging to various nationalities, including Italians. In the same month, still in Albacete, the formation of the "Garibaldi" Battalion was decided, in which Italians from all the political components of the democratic movement converged. (19) The "Carnet Militar", of which we are in possession of a photocopy, given to us by the former Garibaldino Gaspare Francioli, whom we would like to thank warmly, bears the serial number, the photograph, the political party of the holder, the date of his entry into Spain, and the issue of the «Carnet», the military rank, the illnesses contracted, any injuries and consequent hospitalization, leave, services on the various fronts, the description of the military uniform supplied and its replacements. Finally it indicates the "pay" in the various periods. On the last page of the "Carnet" a long stamped mention, signed by the Head of the administrative service of the BL, authorizes the soldier to participate in the "retreat" - in Italian in the stamp - and recognizes him the merit of having fought for independence of the Spanish Republic. (20) Rosselli C., Today in Spain, tomorrow in Italy, cit. Rosselli does not have an exemplary memory of military training, he defines it as "summary": the rifle was delivered without cartridges, and then, "up there", at the front, the militiaman would have "the cartridges, the helmet, the bombs , shoes, socks, plates and spoons ». Instead, "up there" - Rosselli concludes - there will be nothing, or very little and "a column leaves as soon as a truck of rifles arrives". (21) See no. 16. (22) AA.W., The International Brigades, cit. From the frontispiece photo. (23) See Appendix I, Telegraphic Circular (1937) and Telespresso (1937) Appendix V. (24) This is the case of Garibaldino Mosca Giuseppe, a lieutenant, who rightly boasts of having been at the front for twenty-two months, for the same time that Grelli was in Spain, with the only interruption, however short, of a hospitalization due to illness in Benicasin, as we have seen from the lists of hospitalized patients also in Salamanca in AHNGC, where the Moscow whose nationality is not mentioned is, according to the spelling - moska josef - considered to come from the East. (25) ASP, Inv. Quest., Fasc. Polidori Francesco. Polidori spent the first period of his volunteer work in a Spanish hospital and was sent on leave shortly after because he was suffering from a serious illness. In Nice, at his home, he recovered discreetly, to the point that he returned to Spain, where he was immediately the victim of an airplane bomb, which did not injure him but, due to the great blast, caused him a concussion, later to which he was definitively repatriated. (26) The DL 19 March 1948, n. 249 with which "pensions and war checks are extended to Italian citizens, who, being part of anti-Francoist formations, have reported mutilations and disabilities as a result of their intervention in the Spanish Civil War, and to their families, in the event of death" is reported in its full text in Appendix VII. Abraham's pension application bears the date of January 2, 1949, with a delay, however granted, with respect to the terms of the Decree, due to the difficulties in finding the documents to be exhibited. (27) DGT, The War Pensions Office, requested by us, provided us with certified photocopies of the documents acquired, at the time of the pension procedure started by Grelli Abramo, Alessandro's father as reported in the introduction. They are: 1) Notoriety deed of the Consul General of Nice dated 3 November 1948 (Appendix VI); 2) Letter from the Promoting Committee of the former Garibaldi Brotherhood of Spain, dated May 12, 1949. We give a detailed description of each of them, which will make the explanation in the text clearer. 1) The Deed of Notoriety on headed paper, free consular mark, is drawn up in Nice, at the headquarters of the Consulate General of Italy: the Consul acting as Notary, at the request of the Mayor of Umbertide, with sheet no. 7302 of 21 September 1948 - letter not found in the offices of the Municipality of Umbertide a Protocol - summons four witnesses "all known and suitable", who consulted separately and jointly certify, under oath that "Mr. Alessandro Grelli, known as Achille, of Abraham and Maria Ercolanellí, born in Umbertide on October 27, 1907, volunteer in BI, died in combat and as a result of gunshot wounds in nucnN From Spain - Ebro front, in the night from 12 to 13 September 1938 ". The ritual formula follows: "We Consul General requested have drawn up the present deed that comes with us and with the Chancellor signed by the appearing parties". Signatures follow. 2) Letter from the Promoting Committee of the Ex-Garibaldi Brotherhood of Spain "Somo hermanos de Espana y Italia", dated from Bologna 12/5/1949: the secretariat of the Committee addresses the letter on headed paper to the Grelli Family, Umbertide, with the subject " declaration of death of the Garibaldian Alessandro Grelli ». The Brotherhood speaks explicitly of "documents in its possession". The declaration prompted us to search the Archive of the «Brotherhood ...» which today, having become extinct, the «Brotherhood» is transferred to the IRB. Here we have read the card headed to Grelli, which is not free from inaccuracies, already highlighted, and is weak in reporting the "documents in his possession". In fact, the death of Grelli is "reported" by Ferrer Visentini, who today does not remember anything, and by his family, who, as we know, were the least informed. On the other hand, the news that emerges from the rest of the letter is interesting: «during the fighting that took place in the Sierra Caballs in the night from 12 to 13 September, hit by bursts of enemy machine guns, he died on the spot. Therefore, since the body remained in enemy territory, the burial place is ignored ”. (28) Presidency of the Council, «Interministerial Commission for the formation and reconstitution of death or birth certificates not drawn up or lost or destroyed by war», in compliance with the Royal Decree Law of 18 October 1942, n. 1520 and Legislative Decree Lieutenancy April 5, 1946. The "Commission ..." on October 12, 1957 draws up the death certificate of Alessandro Grelli which, with the authorization of the Court of Perugia, is transcribed by the Municipality of Umbertide in the Registers of the Dead. We have already noted that the minutes of the "Commission ..." which drew up the act and which should contain the data validating the act itself has not been traced, despite careful and appropriate investigations. (29) There are detailed accounts of the battle of the Ebro, both from a strategic point of view and from the angle of the political situation that determined the "Plan of the Ebro". Fundamental is the typed report that can be read in the Appendix to Hugh Thomas, History of the Spanish Civil War, Einaudi 1963. Of which Nicoletto Italo also speaks in Years of my life, Micheletti, 1980. Other works, already cited, are: AA.W ., The international brigades, translated from Spanish, which has the merit of a work written by historians of various nationalities, all those represented in the ranks of the BI. An extensive bibliography - historical works in various languages, anonymous or collective works, novels, newspapers, magazines etc. - updated to 1977 can be found in Brouè Pierre and Emile Temine, The Revolution and the War of Spain, Mondadori, 1980. As regards the archives, the work of Hugh Thomas offers a complete indication. (30) The most exhaustive testimony was given to us by the Garibaldian of Spain Vincent Tonelli, today President of the Garibaldini of Toulouse, whom we warmly thank. (31) Calandrone G., cit. The battle of the Ebro is narrated by the Garibaldino in dramatic pages, day by day, from August to 23 September. We were struck by the observation relating to the heights of the Sierra Caballs which, precisely in the days in which our Alexander met his death, seemed "immense skimmers, they were so pitted". We have pointed out the Calandrone among the few official texts that speak of Grelli. We add, in this context of our narration, that, in relation to the date of Grelli's death, Calandrone reports it on a day following the night of 12-13 September, moreover without specifying it and without reconstructing the circumstance of the night, which prevented the recovery of the his body. (32) The names are Agabiti Luigi fu Felice, born in Umbertide, on 1st January 1898, industrialist, residing in Nice; Lucaccioni Angelo, was Achille, born in Umbertide on 18 October 1898, bricklayer residing in Nice; Bastianelli Angelo di Florio, born in Città di Castello on 1 June 1907, shoemaker, resident in Nice. IV - Grelli in Spagna

WRECKERS FIRST REACTIONS IN THE CRATER The storm of explosions, flames and roars has ceased. Darkness and silence loom over the crater. Life seems over. Whoever has not fainted is silent; immovable; until he regains the consciousness of being alive. Who can, begins to move; groping. Shadows (1); into the dark; mute. The complaints of the injured manage to insinuate themselves into the deafness of the stunned ears: they are the first sign of residues of life. We realize that we are not left alone. There is a need to help, to know: life must go on! A whispered moan is ventured - help! - bouncing off the dust in front of the mouth, confirming the existence of oneself. One takes courage; help is asked louder and louder; the supplications are mutually reinforcing with the others, which come from the dark, all around. They become cries: a chaotic chorus of cries. The dust settles slowly, giving way to the light that descends from the sky and gives increasingly harrowing contours to the catastrophe: the heart of San Giovanni has collapsed into a couple of meters of debris. Only a few spiers of the wall have managed to oppose the force of gravity and hint at the houses where, just a few minutes ago, life flowed. Too huge the horror / that closed the air around / Too greedy the fire / Atrocious the torture / High the flames / in the blocked pupils. / And slow / for one meal / unlimited. / The blood dripped / like moaning sap / Acre the smoke / to devour / the screams. / We wish we had / so much blood / to put out the fire. / ... / The arms are too sweet / from which we were torn / Fate is too bitter / the tears froze / The veil is dark / above the clear eyes. / It is burning / of pain / unlimited. / He tortured the mind / a whirlwind of images / Infinite the moment / before the / fiery gash. / We would have liked to have / so many tears / to drown death (2). Immediate relief Like rats, from the burrows, the survivors emerge from hell: life, incredibly, managed to resist. Unharmed men bring help to those close, hurt, buried, or just in distress. To the moans and cries for help, the voices of the rescuers are added (3). In Via Cibo Gigetto (Luigi Gambucci) emerges from the door of the Post Office, where he had remained a prisoner, thinking it was over! His mouth is full of dirt. He caught a glimpse of some light. .. a blush: he was refreshed. It leads home, a few tens of meters, at the beginning of the bridge. But there, at the end of the street, at the corner of Via Spunta towards the Tiber, the hill of rubble into which the house of Concetta (Villarini) was reduced spilled onto the row facing, up to the architraves of the doors, obstructing the passage to the bridge. Muffled cries for help are heard from under the rubble. They begin to dig with their hands. "Take it easy ... that everything falls ..." recommends the buried woman, who has heard them and tries to guide them. It is the Gigina (Mischianti). She is almost on top of the pile of rubble, saved by a beam that has made a hut, protecting her head; in the rest of his body he has severe injuries (4). With his hands, Gigetto manages to dig a small hole, freeing the woman's head, unrecognizable but alive: he breathes. Tonino (Grilli) (5) and Remigio (Tonanni) (6) help him. The latter, skimpy, has just managed to sneak, through a hole, from the door in which he was imprisoned, with two other companions in misfortune (7). Running from Santa Maria comes Guerriero de Schiupitìno (Gagliardini), the child with the telescope, after having almost bypassed Pazzi's wife, who died in Via Grilli. He climbs into the rubble thinking that the living head belongs to his mother, who owns a shop nearby. Crying he tries to help free her; when he realizes that he has a bun (8) - it is not his mother - instinct leads him to flee, to look for her elsewhere (9). The Gigina becomes the destination of a pilgrimage of many who - in turn, in a chain of solidarity - try to free it: it is the first symbol of reaction, of hope. Tonino (Taticchi) (10) is added; arrives Lellino (Raffaello Agea) (11). Fernando de Bargiacca removes the stones from around her, from the waist down (12). Mario (Destroyed), a boy, helped for a moment to free the trapped woman; then he runs away, looking for his father and brother, looking only at the people standing, because he does not want to see any dead (13). This conflict - between solidarity and selfishness - involves everyone, even adults: the bare essentials are helped to wait for the generous neighbor, in a courageous and selfishly cruel relay race at the same time. Everyone - in the face of the most inhuman horror - above all has his family members in mind, he wants to find them again (14). The instinct is to go away to look for them. Then, coldly, remorse (15) emerges for having helped only that much that could not be done without. First of all, you think about saving your own skin. La Stella (Bottaccioli) was left alone in the house. Swallowed by darkness and dust, her son Lazarus felt as if he had gone mad and fled, remembering her only when hell was over (16). On the mound where Gigina's body emerges, Egino (Villarini) arrives, escaped from his hiding place in Via Roma; that pile of debris, up to the height of the first floors, is what remains of his house. It climbs on the rubble, when the dust has not yet completely cleared up. He finds some objects belonging to Bruno, his brother: the keys to the Celio office, a bayonet, rolls of cotton and tailoring accessories. Shortly after, her mother Concetta arrives from Piazza San Francesco, who throws herself (17) to scrape on the rubble with her hands, screaming in an almost inhuman way (18). They can't take it away. On the same stone hill, another mother, Annita de Baldrighèlla (Boldrini), who had remained unharmed in the nearby saddler's shop of Carlo (Ciarabelli), on her knees invokes her daughter Cecilia (19). The dust is clearing. An elderly man can be glimpsed, as if dazed, on the bed in the room on the top floor, without the wall facing west (20). Two friends of Bruno and his schoolgirls arrive upset: Amelia (Lozzi) and Gigina (Vestrelli). They hug (21). Lowering their eyes, they see Bruno's scissors: "Oh my God ... they're all dead!". For heaven's sake ... for heaven's sake ... what a tragedy (22)! Gigina is barefoot and struggles to walk among the stones; only now does he realize that his shoulders are all dead. When she heard the increasingly deafening noise, she ran to the attics; then instinct had made her run down the stairs to the exit. At the bottom of the door she was paralyzed, while outside it seemed that the world was coming down: her apartment had come down, unloading itself on the barn of Fiordo, and only one room remained standing. Then, when silence returned, he opened the door: it was all dust and nothing could be seen ... rubble everywhere, dangling light cables, beams .... (23). Nello (Phlegm) and the Armida de Caldàro saw some light through a small crack opened by the explosions following the one that had demolished the wing of the Vibi Palace, where they had taken shelter. Then they climbed on the debris and managed to break through to salvation (24). From a nearby hole appears Silvano (Bernacchi), slightly wounded; he tries to get away from the crumbling walls, descending from the rubble hill where his house has been reduced. He is rescued by Doctor Porrozzi, who takes him with him to his temporary home, near the iron bridge of the Rio. Silvano's grandfather, buried to the waist, died shortly after; the grandmother is seriously injured (25). It was only by chance that La Palma, in charge of cleaning the railway cars, and the children who lived on the first floor escaped: Don Anfilza, a long bladder; Giovanna, with her blond braids, thick woolen socks and flat shoes; and Bìa, so renamed for the refrain with which he never missed an opportunity to recommend to everyone: "Bìa [you have to] stay low when the bombs fall". None of them were home. In Lisetti's shoe shop, Antonio Mischianti sees a glimmer of light opening up. Whispers: "If pole runs away ... [you can get out]". The others close to him do not have to repeat it twice: they jump towards the door, from where more and more light is coming, and go out among some debris. Not far away, the rubble is so high that the Adriana and the Menchina del Sellaro (Cecchetti) were trapped inside the father's shop. The shoemakers try to escape towards Piazza San Francesco, as they had advised if a bombing had come, but there is a great deal of dust; they then turn towards the bridge over the Regghia, turn at the corner of Palazzo Reggiani, towards the Collegiata. Everyone finds himself where his legs have taken him (26). In Via Mariotti Alfredo (Ciarabelli) comes out of his hiding place as a reluctant, in the Grilli house. He hears Uncle Brutus upstairs; he climbs gropingly and finds him standing at the top of the stairs with his nephew Giovannino (Grilli) a few months old in his arms, crying. Brutus tries to make him breathe by putting him outside the window, in the illusion that there is less dust (27). Alfredo helps them get out of the door, in Via Cibo. He realizes he is in pajamas and goes up to put on something; he no longer worries about the risk of being arrested as a dodger. From the window on the first landing he can see - the dust continues to thin out - that the houses of San Giovanni have all fallen. He sees people, alive, on a pile of rubble: they are the relatives of Simonucci's wife, displaced from Manfredonia. Jump from the window onto the debris, which almost reaches the windowsill; leads those people, dumb and dazed, on the Corso passing through the same window. Together with `l Bove (Antonio Taticchi), he frees Maria (Brunori) who is buried to the waist; they place it in the dark of a window to transport it to the Corso; others take her to the hospital. While they are digging, Maria's sister - the Bruna - screams from under the debris that imprison her, recommending not to let everything collapse (28). La Pompilia (Locchi), sitting on the rubble, all dusty, is beside herself: she sings "Bandiera rossa", like a crank turntable with an unloaded spring (29). In the alley of San Giovanni In the house opposite that of the Brunoris, Elda (Bartocci), without knowing how, found herself on a higher floor than the entrance hall where she had taken refuge, in the dark, among the smoky dust of the bombs. It's a terrible time, because she thinks she is buried alive. She finds it hard to breathe, she no longer believes she can save herself, until - thanks to the wind - the dust clears and she sees the sky: a beautiful sky, also because it makes her think she is safe. Trying to move among those rubble, he realizes that he is on the opposite side of the building, on the side of the railway. When she reaches a crack in the wall, she starts screaming to get someone's attention; after a while he sees Osvaldo (Baroni) in front of the saddler's stables along the Regghia. He asks for help; he brings her a ladder, leans it against the wall; the Elda, from a crumbling window, dangles down ... down ... until it touches the first rung with the tip of its toes: it is safe (30)! In Via Alberti The gardeners who were selling vegetables in Via Alberti - Annetta, Annina de Caprone and Suntina de Saltafinestre (Assunta Fortuna) - took refuge inside the fruit shop of Pierina del Pilide. They came out alive, thanks to Cència (Valdambrini) - employed on the telephones - who had suggested to lift their clothes and breathe through the fabric in order to block the dust: "Breathe calmly ... You can see a little light. .. we are saved! ". They climb, up ... up, through the rubble. A companion in misfortune, hunchbacked and lame, cannot climb; among all, they bring her to safety (31). In Piazza delle Erbe At the first glimmer of light towards the Piazzetta delle Erbe - it seems an eternity has passed - Nino (Egidio Grassini) runs away, running wildly: "Better he died in the open than under the stones", he thinks. He crosses like a bolt of lightning the small tunnel that leads to Via Grilli, used by everyone as a urinal, without in the slightest noticing the wife of Quinto (Pazzi), the butcher, who was hit by a splinter at that point (32). Those who enter the town from Piaggiola see her but do not stop, believing her to be dead. In Via Guidalotti From a cloud of dust and rubble, the Franchi family comes out of the Venanzia inn. They come down from a pile of rubble which, on the road, reaches the middle of the door. The mother, slightly wounded in the forehead, helps herself by clinging to the grating of the rear window above the door. With the other arm he holds the bundle of his daughter of a few months - Giuliana - all white from dust. They enter the fortress. The girl is choking; the father suggests to the mother to clean her mouth with saliva (33). Parents are unsure what to do. Franco of the head guard (Anastasi) takes care of cleaning her mouth, removing the earth (34). Then she goes upstairs to get a glass of water from Olimpia's mother (Pieroni), who helps her clean and quench her thirst (35). The Commissioner arrives shouting: "Calm down, calm down!". Dina (Tosti) rails against him: "Go and died killed!". And he: "Who did it ?! How dare you!" But Mr. Locchi manages to smooth out the question: it is not time to think about respecting the authorities (36). Olimpia (Pieroni) tries to get closer to Flora's house, passing through the alley of the Balille; but it is completely blocked by the rubble of the Marzani house and from the corner of the one in front, towards Piazza delle Erbe. It then goes down along the stretch of road that goes towards the bell tower of San Giovanni; try to switch between the Venanzia house (left) and Marzani house (right). While also being this street blocked by rubble, can see, between the smoke and the dust, Flora, Bice and their niece Bettina, just outside the door of their house. He tries to call them, but they don't hear it, because they are completely stunned; manages to reach them, passing over the rubble. The three women, together with some other inhabitants of the house (Duranti and Natali), they had repaired themselves, at the request of the owner of the stationery, in very small back room of the same, communicating with the stairs of the building and considered by him to be safer. They spent those tragic moments among the ink bottles and other stationery items falling off the shelves (37). Now they go up in the house to see in what state it is reduced and to close it. In front of the door, Piazza delle Erbe is strewn with stones. They realize the gravity of the disaster when they see that the external wall of the house, towards the square, is detached from the internal walls by almost half a meter (38). Among the debris of the Tommasi house, the stump of a leg, with the boot, of Sora Rosa appears (39). In the Collegiate Church While the other fellow refugees weep and continue to recommend themselves to God and to Our Lady, the Archpriest has the impression of having been buried in the rubble. Take a few steps in the dark to find the nearest exit, heading towards the outer door of the sacristy; but, falling several times, he realizes that he cannot stand up. When he comes to light again, he notices that he is wounded in the left leg; blood gushes everywhere. Meanwhile his comrades have fled. Except one, who is wounded: he lies in a pool of blood and strongly complains. Don Luigi can't really walk; he drags himself on all fours over the rubble and looks out from the only door left open towards the square to try and escape. From there he sees people fleeing scared. The houses opposite, including the parish one, are mutilated or dismantled; a huge chasm created by the bomb was created on the square; the rest of the ground is all upset (40). From Via Roma comes Natalino (Lisetti) running in his underwear. He had returned to Umbertide on military leave, after having witnessed the terrible bombings in Rome with 7,000 dead: "I go to die 'at my house", he said to himself. This morning he did not wake up at the usual time, but only when he heard the explosion of the bombs; now he runs towards the barbershop where he should have been working. From the center there is a stampede of upset people. Meet the teacher Rondoni who wants to go back to class to see what happened to his pupils (41). The escape after the storm Those who are not in a position to help others, because they are wounded or out of their mind, try to get as far away as possible from the hell of the crater. ... And then outside / in the alley / the hot air / heavy with dust and sulfur ... (42). From the historic center there are two possible escape routes, the Piazza bridge and the Piaggiola, because the exit towards Piazza San Francesco is almost prevented by the heaps of rubble that obstruct both the Corso and the alley of San Giovanni. From the square bridge From Via Mancini, through the "Arches of the Priest", a flood of people fleeing, across the bridge in the square, pours towards the Collegiate Church. All the plaster on the ceiling between the arches has fallen to the ground. From the door of the teacher Lina peep out those who had gathered there, covered with dust. They face a body, supine, with one leg slightly reclined, dressed in dark gray, with a bodice. Simonello's (Simonelli) legs are not long enough to climb over him; raise the child; in front of Codovini they cover his eyes so as not to make him look towards that slaughter. In front of the shoe shop they see Selleri, standing, gesturing for a few steps, limping. Blood is dripping from his head. He cries out: "Lord, Our Lady, help me!" (43). It drags itself up to the Regghia wall; he leans on it, spindled towards the stream (44). Then he goes back into his shop. Mariolina (Rapo) and Lea came out from under the bed, which saved everyone, because the roof landed on top of the mattresses. "They tried to escape through the arch that connects Via Mancini with the alley of San Giovanni, but it is obstructed by rubble. They found a free way in the arches of the square, where a terrible scene was presented, full of bodies (46); they had to climb over that of Baldo (Gambucci) (42). body also Dina (Batazzi), who fled from the same alley with the two younger brothers she found just outside the door (48). Elsa (Caprini) and mamma come out of the bottoms of the same alley. An all-white-faced German signaled that they can go. Behind them Vincenzo (Rinaldi) escapes, just out of the public toilets. He stumbles upon Virginia, his teacher. Grab the hand of the blond (Umberto Bellarosa) who had run against the tide towards hell. Only under the tower does it begin to revise a bit of sulùstro (49). On the bridge of the Regghia the head of the Registry, Porrini, all dusty and distraught, tries to run; it also looks bloody (50). From the basement under the tavern where he had taken refuge, Vittorio (Giornelli) looks out from the arch of the tobacconist's that leads to the square, just when a verge falls in front of him. In the square, the grave silence after the din was replaced by moans, screams, calls of people running from all over (51). Nothing can be seen: everything is submerged in smoke (52). Lorenzo's mother descends, walking on the rubble of the Corso, convinced that her son has remained underneath. Hope pushes her to join the river of people pouring towards the Tiber, to travel backwards along the road along which her son might be. She screams her name, until a friend reopens the world to her: "Giuditta, she's from here" she shouts, showing her Lorenzo. He goes back to the Collegiate Church with his son; she pulls him by the hand in the midst of the fog and the people, all white, running like crazy. The child, in the other hand, is still holding the celery that he had gone to fetch from Aunt Lucia's garden (53). From Piaggiola In a rush, down the Piaggiola, people run away. A distraught man screams that he has landed everything, while from the center of the town he is running towards Santa Maria (54). Doctor Trotta drags his dazed wife by the hand, drier than ever, her hair matted white with dust; they seem to be headed for the hospital (55). Giorgio de Bellazzùcca (Toraci) runs, in the middle of the thick smoke. At the bottom of the railing of the stairs in Misquicqueri (Nello Migliorati), there is a woman standing, clinging with her hands to something behind her head: her belly is torn and her guts out (56). At the bottom of the slope, near the "pompina", Evans (Leonardi) passes by the house of his grandfather Pasquale, who is going down to the street; with him he continues running towards the Roccolo (57). His friend Stefanino (Marsigliotti) takes refuge in the crypt of the church of Sant'Erasmo, which is full of people (58). Franco (Mischianti) at the Lazzaro ditch finds his aunt Marianna (59). Marisa, the girl who had made the salt, joined the many others who flee towards Lazzaro's ditch; but the more she runs, the more she feels like she is going back. After a while the Steak arrives, holding Gabriella (Pazzi) in her arms. Everyone cums in order not to be understood by the children, showing great dismay. They speak of Gabriella's mother: perhaps she is dead (60). "Many dozens of people screaming for the pain of their wounds and for terror, made unrecognizable by the blood, dust and rags they found on them, cry out for help along the road that passes near the Lazarus ditch: they are looking for children, mothers, family members... One of these, with a screaming and tormented voice, accuses: "Ramiro, everyone is crying and why don't you cry?". It means: "You knew that, you are in contact with the British! The fault is yours." Ramiro, in a loud voice, yells at her: "I have been crying for three months ... I have run out of tears." Then it becomes silent in the midst of so much pain and so much torment that it cannot be described "(61). He heads towards the center of the town to bring help. From outside the walls In the neck of the mother who runs away from Piazza San Francesco, the fiolìna of the Jone de Caino yells, because he is looking for the shoe he has lost. Elsa de Sciuscino (Bartoccini) pulls the heavy mother who cannot run. They are desperate for the fate of Rina, the sister, because she went shopping at Quadrio's; instead they see her return all ancenderàta (62). People come from the center smeared with blood. They take Tomassino away, paralyzed by the birth, in his three-wheeled pram: it's all bloody. The Eva (Rondoni) has come down for the funds of Gaetano (Severi); the plate with the meat, which he had placed in a cool place in the window, fell below. He cannot go towards the square, because all the stones are falling down. It goes from part below, towards the nuns, saying: "Will the fioli be found this morning?" (63). Commissioner Ramaccioni passes through the Tiberina and returns home seated on his seat rear of a motorcycle driven by a military man. At the end of the Corso, Ramiro gets up for a moment his head from the rubble he has begun to dig and shouts at him: "You saw he disaster have you made? (64). The Giovanna del torroncino goes up the Reggia stream, with sandals in hand to run more expeditiously; he climbs it for a long stretch upwards, until he reaches a field a Civitella; exhausted, she lets herself fall on the lawn. A farmer approaches her; says that Umbertide there is no more. In fact, looking downstream, you only see a white cloud: nothing else ... not even the bell tower ... nothing (66)! The whole class of Maestro Santini headed towards the Pinewood; at the intersection of the road to Civitella, Peppino da Milano (Giuseppe Feligioni) he reunites with the teacher Santini and his schoolmates. Among them is Polenzano, which leads all in the house of the farm under the Castle, led by his family (67), where they are welcomed and refreshed (68). From school many teachers, surrounded like hens by schoolchildren, they continue to move away from the country, still feeling in danger (69). A janitor runs along Via Roma with a small group of elementary school children (70). Of aprons whites swarm the banks of the stream (71). The janitor's sister runs away from the school lunch to check the conditions of the house grandmother paralyzed in a chair; he finds her weeping for the worry of fate it fell to the family '(72). Emilio (Baldassarri), escaped from the rear stairs of the Goodwill, he ran across the Tiber to get as far away from hell as possible; is revised a school to take the bicycle to return home towards Montalto (73). Giuseppe (Golini) also rides a bicycle along the same road. Shortly before the Corvatto, towards Camillo, he improvises a slalom between the traces left on the road by the bullets of the machine guns: holes of a palm, at a distance of about ten meters from each other (74). An unexpected game! Rolando (Tognellini), once hell finished, resumed the road to Pierantonio; he joins two friends - Marisa (Fanelli) and one of her companions - who come out of a chiavicotto under the railway, where they had sheltered (75). A girl tries to cross the Tiber at Salcetta, to return home without going through the center; at one point the water reaches her neck and she is about to drown. Francesco Marignoli saves her. She arrives home all spring and cold (77). More judiciously Rori (Astorre Ramaccioni) fords the Tiber where the water is low, at the radius of Trivilino: in terror he ran away from school without ever raising his eyes from the ground (77). Menco de Trivilino retraced his steps after fleeing to San Benedetto; to return to home, in his underwear he crosses the river at the Corvatto radius (78). 1) Silvano Bernacchi. 2) Maria Letizia Giontella, "Poetry for three voices and three choirs", Municipality of Umbertide, National Competition 25th April, S. Francesco socio-cultural center, 1983. 3) Silvano Bernacchi. 4) Franco Mischianti. 5) Luigi Gambucci. 6) Fabrizio Boldrini, Luigi Gambucci. 7) Warrior Boldrini. 8) Emma Gagliardini. 9) Warrior Gagliardini. 10) Fabrizio Boldrini, Mario Destroyed. 11) Mario Destroyed. 12) Orlando Bucaioni. 13) Mario Destroyed. 14) Domenico Mariotti. 15) Warrior Gagliardini. 16) Class III A, Mavarelli-Pascoli State Middle School, Grandfather, tell me about the war, 2004. Testimony of Giovanna Bottaccioli. 17) Egino Villarini. 18) Ines Guasticchi. 19) Fabrizio Boldrini. 20) Egino Villarini. 21) Gigina Vestrelli. 22 Amelia Lozzi, Gigina Vestrelli. 23) Gigina Vestrelli. 24) Anna Caldari. 25) Silvano Bernacchi. 26) Giuseppe Lisetti. 27) Fabrizio Boldrini. 28) Alfredo Ciarabelli. 29) Marino Giulietti. 30) Elda Bartocci. 31) Giovanna Nanni. 32) Egidio Grassini. 33) Franco Anastasi, Fausta Olimpia Pieroni. 34) Maria Chiasserini. 35 Fausta Olimpia Pieroni. 36 Franco Anastasi. 37) Ornella Duranti. 38) Fausta Olimpia Pieroni. 39) Mario Alpini. 40) Don Luigi Cozzari, letter for the 1st anniversary. 41) Christmas Lisetti. 42) Mario Tosti, The day of the bombing, poem taken from "National Competition XXV Aprile", Municipality of Umbertide, S. Francesco socio-cultural center, 1984. 43) Simonello Simonelli. 44) Luisa Cecchetti. 45) Lea Rapo. 46) Elsa Caprini, Maria Luisa Rapo. 47) Maria Luisa Rapo. 48) Dina Batazzi. 49) Vincenzo Rinaldi. 50) Francesco Martinelli. 51) Vittorio Giornelli. 52) Romano Baldi. 53) Class III A, Mavarelli-Pascoli State Middle School, Grandfather, tell me about the war, unpublished 2004. Testimony by Lorenzo Andreani and Giovanna Bottaccioli. 54) Warrior Gagliardini. 55) Maria Pia Viglino. 56) Giorgio Toraci. 57) Evans Leonardi. 58) Renato Silvestrelli. 59) Franco Mischianti. 60) Marisa Pazzi. 61) Ramiro Nanni, How I, Ramiro, lived the bombing ..., 1979 manuscript. 62) Elsa Bartoccini. 63) Eva Burocchi, interview collected by his nephew Leonardo Tosti on April 25, 1994. 64) Luigi Gambucci. 65) Mario Tosti (curator), Beautiful works !, Municipality of Umbertide, 1995, p. 132; detail of a photograph from the CGIL Alta Valle del Tevere Archive. 66) Giovanna Mancini. 67) Giuseppe Feligioni, Bruno Tarragoni Alunni. 68) Bruno Tarragoni. 69) Giovanna Mancini. 70) Isotta Baldelli. 71) Pia Gagliardini. 72) Cesira Baldelli. 73) Emilio Baldassarri. 74) Giuseppe Golini. 75) Rolando Tognellini. 76) Giuseppa Ceccarelli. 77) Astorre Ramaccioni. 78) Domenico Baldoni. Prime reazioni nel cratere ALL IN THE CRATER The ebb A residual of life sobs, convulsed, in the crater: ghosts, white with dust and terror, flee in search of themselves and their affections; they intersect with those who, for the same reason, arrive running into the cloud that has swallowed up his house. The reciprocal, obsessive request for news is matched by silences or vague, confused, often elusive responses; pitiful lies that prolong hope for a while. The screams fade more and more into soft, whispered words. With the passage of time, the ebb towards the crater becomes a tide, to see, know, help, in any way. Balducci, the medical officer, interrupted his escape. Astonished, he retraces his steps, occasionally photographing the profile of the tormented town that the wind, dissipating the cloud, slowly brings back to the light. The immense cloud of dust, blown by the wind, spread over the people who fled to the Tiber downstream of the bridge: we do not recognize each other, due to the dust and terror. Reassured by the silence of the engines and machine guns, with their hearts in their throats, they all leave the patóllo and venture towards the country, after hell. They find a tremendous silence that hangs over the frantic work of the rescuers. Reason has taken over from terror. In a few minutes they realize how many have passed away who, until recently, lived next to them. From the hills above the town - towards Roccolo, San Benedetto, Civitella - a ghostly scene appeared: a thick smoke covered all the houses. Then, slowly, we begin to glimpse the turret of the Municipality (1). "The tower is on ... and the Collegiate Church too" - thinks Spinelli (Renato Silvestrelli), who is returning to town - "So ... they didn't do anything ... it didn't go so badly". The dead are revealed The hope - opened by the sight of the tallest, intact buildings - that the damage will be limited, soon leaves the people who go back down to the town. Under the tower there are people crying, dirty with dust; someone is with blood on their face. Near the tub with the fountain, poor women and men - foreigners from the Roman dialect - console each other; perhaps they are guests of the Venanzia hotel, who have come to Umbertide as usual to get some flour and other things to eat; someone is full of blood. He almost stumbles upon the corpse of the shoemaker Pierucci. She has a horribly torn thigh, as if dogs have eaten it (2). At that sight, Spinelli (Renato Silvestrelli) whining in the square, towards home, where he meets his older brother, Stanislao (3). Another little boy at first impresses himself; but he gets addicted almost immediately: luckily at fourteen he doesn't realize it (4). But for adults it's different. There are dead! So many deaths! It was a slaughterhouse (5), a huge disaster. Anguish is rampant (6). In the square Arriving in the square, still shrouded in smoke, the dimension of the disaster is evident: it is a massacre. At the corner towards the Regghia, many white bodies, stripped (7). A terrible sight. Those who arrive remain petrified in front of the tragedy (8). It is the whole country mortally wounded. The San Giovanni district is torn apart. It is traumatizing to see from the square, towards Montaguto, the facade of the Capponi hotel: a large part of the post office building and the whole row of houses in the vicolo di San Giovanni, towards the north, have collapsed (14). In front of the Codovini hat shop, the women of the Ceccarelli family who lie face down have been mowed down (15). The mother is on the ground at the entrance to Via Alberti (16), all covered by a gray dust, next to a basket of grass left in the balance (17). A daughter is near the window; one even more inside the shop (18). The Marianella, the youngest, still gives some signs of life (19). A school friend of hers recognizes her, annihilated (20). On the side wall, towards the Town Hall, stands the poster "The two orphans". The live rerun, unscheduled, of the previous evening's film has a very bad ending: it's over for the two orphans. Pouring on the threshold, Giulia (Bartoccioli), the maid, stammers as if to say something to Rolando del Buffè (Fiorucci), who has just arrived by bicycle (21). He breathes, but he no longer has a leg (22); one piece is a few meters away, with a clog still inserted with the little strap (23); is dying. The accountant Martinelli for a moment has the instinct to give her absolution "in articulo mortis"; but he realizes that, not being a priest, he cannot do it (24). It is a chilling situation. Under the billboard of the cinema, some banknotes for salaries are scattered on the ground, around the counter abandoned by Elda (Bebi Ceccarelli) (25). Nobody cares to waste time collecting all those belleróni who have suddenly regained their natural paper value (26). A few minutes ago, Rosanna (Ceccarelli) was with her aunt Dina (Bebi), at home, above the post office. From the window they had greeted Giuseppe (Chicchioni), the latter's boyfriend, who was leaving in Annibale Trentini's car to return from a license to his place in the Navy. When they heard the planes above the square and saw the two long bombs they dropped, they started shouting to the other women of the Ceccarelli family: "Let's run away, let's run away!". Reunited, they ran up the stairs. They were fleeing towards the Regghia bridge, when Virginia, from the window of her uncle Archpriest, advised herself: "Wait, I'll come too!" (27). At the first roar, Elio (Renzini) - who was at her math class - had immediately fled like a bolt of lightning towards the "case nóve", abandoning the books and the teacher with his mother Geltrude (28). La Dina (Bebi) had continued to run towards the Collegiate; Riego, the hat seller, who had difficulty walking, had clung to his hand (29). Instead, the friends had stopped to wait for Virginia, who had come down to the ground but had stopped standing in front of the door of the house under the arches of the priest: she was still uncertain what to do, because she had left her mother at home, who did not he could run like her. The friends tried in vain to insist: "Come away ... let's run away! (30). They are all dead now. The Virginia lies at the corner of the square (31), between Via Stella and the arches of the priest (32); has swollen lips (33). She was the twenty-year-old niece of Don Luigi, graduating in mathematics at the University of Rome (34). Poor daughter! What a sad end has been reserved for her! ... (35). Mother Geltrude has come down from the house; asks those present if they have seen where the daughter has gone; he does not notice that she is at his feet, dead; with a pretext they try to remove it (36). "She is the daughter of Giovanni (Cozzari)", whispers a neighbor from Virginia (37). They cover it as best they can with a bandone (38), from which a leg protrudes askew. Close to her, on the corner towards the Regghia bridge, is Baldo's body, with zuava trousers; he is all curled up, folded in two, with his legs under his torso facing upwards, one hand on his chest. He is barefoot (39); near the leggings (40); one leg resting on the wall (41). Nearby, a tall man, without a hair, is kneeling over the head of a lifeless young man (Licinius Leonessa). He lit a candle near his face, which he tries to clean up from the very thick dust that covers the whole body, making it unrecognizable: you cannot even see if it is a boy or a young girl (42). They were guests of the Capponi hotel: a tall boy with a distinguished father (43). Gianna (Nanni) was with the other schoolgirls of the Terni seamstress who had been displaced on the third floor of Marcello Pucci's house; they had all fled for Piaggiola, towards the Holy Fountain. But she retraced her steps when she heard them say: "Those pore gardeners ... all dead in the square!". His mom is one of them! On Via Alberti, turning after the Bucitino bakery, you cannot reach the end of the alley towards the square, where the herbivores arrange their baskets of vegetables, because it is blocked by rubble. With yes and one shoe, Gianna passes through the tower, along Via Guidalotti and arrives in the square. Baskets of grass are overturned at the beginning of Via Alberti (44). Where Mom should be there are many dead women, one on top of the other. He recognizes Virginia, close to the charities of the grass. She remains paralyzed, frightened: no one understands anything anymore. Fortunately, his father arrives, trying to verify if among those poor mangled, unrecognizable bodies, there is his Annetta. Raise the skirts of the women to see if they have varicose veins, which the mother has very evident from the knee down: "Shut up ... - he whispers after the pitiful check - ... because your mother is there "(45). Hamlet, the radiotelegraphist husband of Tecla, died behind the house, near the Maurino staircase under the vault to the left of the Post Office. He had escaped many battles; instead, now, after having rescued others, he found death to return to the house, where his wife and daughter had remained. Nino de Capucino (Domenico Mariotti) touches him, trying to stick his head in that alley, to see the back of his house, through the arch They yell at him: "Watch out! Far away! Everything falls! ". The house where his parents lived is no longer there. Where the Quadrio oven was, muffled screams can be heard rising from the rubble (46). Next to the arch, groups of men try to free the people who have been imprisoned at the bottom of the stairs of the building above Galen's barbershop. Someone places the cinema billboard over Hamlet's body. Mario Donnini, head of the Cassa di Risparmio office - a tall dark-haired man - screams, his hands and eyes turned to the sky: "Help! ... Are you there?" (47). Look for his wife and children who lived in the post office building, reduced to a pile of stones. With his hands he scrapes among the stones inside the door and throws them into the square (48). Don Giovanni helps her dig. He brings to light a woman with a child in her arms from the debris: she is Donnini's wife and one of the children. The priest lifts the little body to hand it to Guerriero de Schiupitino (Gagliardini), the Oratorian with the telescope, with the precaution that is reserved for those who are still alive; the boy in turn passes it to another person (49). No one has yet realized that the baby is dead. Another corpse is extracted shortly after. Almost immediately the mother Lodina is freed, still unaware of the tragedy that destroyed her offspring. As soon as she sees the light, she worries about the fifteen-year-old who was helping her to look after her children: they heard each other from under the rubble. "Hurry to save Mary, who is still alive", he recommends. The buried girl can hear her, but she no longer has the strength to answer: she is wounded and fainting (50). Other people, nearby, extract the body of Lina (Violins) who expired under a beam, on the door of her house; they take her away lying on a makeshift stretcher, followed by her father Severino completely beside himself (51). Her feet are broken, at the ankles, like Virginia (52). Maria, the girl who helped Lodina, was right under the body of Lina, who shielded her, saving her. Pacieri, del Niccone, tries to get it out, but the more he digs, the more stones come down, instead of those removed. While he does his best, he holds her hand tightly to give her courage and to feel if she is still alive, because she no longer responds to any call. He manages to free her from the rubble after almost half an hour, around 11. She is unconscious. It comes to its senses by the rebounds, on the curbs of Piaggiola, of the cart on which it rests. It is serious and they take her directly to the hospital in Città di Castello, because in Umbertide there is no longer room for anyone (53). Donnini, the head of the Cassa di Risparmio office, has meanwhile realized the terrible tragedy that overwhelmed him: that father comes down from the dilapidated house with his two dead creatures on his arms; and screams and cries (55). A little later a sound of bells is heard: people think it is the signal that all is over; instead it is he who is ringing the big bell, perhaps to ask for help or perhaps because he is out of his mind for the death of his two little children. Madonna (56)! At the base of the same mountain, Natalino (Lisetti) helps to remove the debris, in search of the friends of Galen's barbershop (57). Someone begins to take care of the corpses freed from the rubble, unrecognizable for their wounds, dust and burns. They drag the bodies of the Ceccarelli and Giulia, the maid, who is expiring at this moment into the post office (58). She chose to die right in front of the blowjob in the square, where she used to fill jugs with water for those who asked her in exchange for a few coins or a "thank you" (59). Don Giuseppe della Serra bends the black cassock over the corpses to bless them; he gives holy oil and absolution to the dying (60). The Salesian Don Giacomo (61) also does his utmost. As they carry the dead to the Collegiate Church, lying on makeshift stretchers with doors and shutters (62). A wooden ladder is also used. While waiting to be taken away, they cover them as best they can, with what is there (64). On the Regghia bridge Pompeo (Selleri), having escaped from school, enters the shop of his father cobbler. She finds him sitting behind his work desk. Wounded and bleeding, he looks at his son, recognizes him and asks him: "Go and see 'de la tu' mamma and your 'brothers ...` n du enno [where they are]. "The son would like to help him, seeing him in those conditions (65). "I'm fine ... my leg hurts ... go and see your mother and your brothers" insists father. Pompeo obeys reluctantly. He doesn't want to leave him alone. of the rescuers who drag the poor man out by the feet, crawling him on the ground; a man passes by, with the yellow band of the rescue workers on his arm, covering the eyes of his granddaughter to spare her the horror (66). on the road, in front of his shop (67), towards the wall of the Regghia where he remains lying motionless: they leave him there, believing that he is dead (68), near the pit of an unexploded bomb (69). signs of life (70), but leaves little to hope; they lay him on a frame and take him to the hospital. Shortly afterwards his son Pompeo returns, c he just saw his house destroyed. He no longer finds his father. Then she starts to cry, desperately. "I am armed alone! My house has fallen", he explains to the Meoni - the family of Doctor Vitaliano - who approached him to ask him what he does when he is so young - he is seven years old - all alone (71). They keep him with them, who already have ten children, until they manage to track down his cousins: Giulio (Guardabassi), Wanda, Linda (72). In Via Grilli Quinto (Pazzi), beside himself (73), has laid his already dead wife on a cart, which he desperately pushes towards the hospital. The body - a big woman, all full of blood (74) - jolts inert on the stone curbs of the Piaggiola descent, lying on the same platform that the butcher uses to bring the animals back from the slaughterhouse. It is the terrifying symbol of humanity's degradation in warfare, condemning innocent victims even to the humiliation of animality. Pass through Piazza Marconi, invoking the name of his wife; due to the jolts, Maria's arm slips over the edge of the platform, dangles towards the wheel, where her fingers get caught, mangling. Ines brings Maria Pia (Viglino) back into the door so that she does not witness that torment (75). At the hospital they make the poor husband understand that there is nothing more to be done. Then Quintus goes towards the nearby ditch of Lazarus. It's all bloody; he washes himself with water from the stream (76). He turns upset. He has a bag with butcher's tools, from which a cleaver comes out. He is beside himself. He shouts: "The amazon everyone !!! ... Thugs !! Murderers !!" (77). In Via Mancini On the other side of the ditch, the butcher is echoed by Lina (Silvia Cambiotti), who shouts with her hands in the air, as if she were alone: "... these criminals ... who have played the alarm! So much the madman all ... I as I will do! ... "(78). When she heard the deafening noise of the airplanes, Lina had been the first to escape from the Tobacconists, without asking for permission as it must be done strictly. Seeing them fly very, very low, she ran towards the fields; to try to hide, she had taken refuge in a ditch. Then, having seen them fly higher, he had thought that by now they had finished bombing and that they were probably moving away; then she ran towards the town, imagining that she would find the bridge over the Tiber destroyed. She was dazed; she thanked God for being saved and thought of taking Amalia and her mother-in-law to escape out of the country. Arriving in the square, she saw a dead woman in front of Codovini's shop: "Uh, Sora Maria is dead!" he thought, believing she was the owner of the hat shop. Then, turning his head in the direction of home, he saw that it had become a mountain of rubble on the front towards the alley of San Giovanni! For the Arches of the Priest she went towards the entrance, located at the back, in Via Mancini; she ran up the stairs. Having made the first row, he saw everything open in front: towards the alley of San Giovanni the house had been gutted! She was shocked. From that moment on he didn't understand anything. Marshal Onnis, having seen that she was beside himself, decided to take her over. He took her to drink in the Roscia box office, at the bottom of the Piaggiola. He did not abandon it until he handed it over to his mother, who had left San Cassiano on foot when she learned of the bombing. In Montecastelli he had obtained a lift from Prince Boncompagni of Fontesegale who was headed to Umbertide with the carriage, to look for Maria Renzini and her family, at the request of her parents (79). In the alley of San Giovanni Nina (Concetta Ciammarughi), her daughter Pierina taken to safety, ran towards the town to check the fate of the other family members. She didn't realize she was barefoot; it passed over stones, glass, debris, without feeling any pain or getting hurt. Arriving at the house of her brother (Luigi Mariotti), who lives in the same house as the Cambiotti, she sees that the external wall towards the Vicolo di San Giovanni has collapsed. But the bed, intact, gives hope that it has been saved (80). Lying on another bed, Sergio, the young son of Busabò, glided over the rubble unharmed (81). He tries to go back to his house, in the alley of San Giovanni - Via Petrogalli 20 - Paolino, the railway worker: the door is blocked by the rubble of the row of houses in front. He doesn't know how to get back into the house. It goes to the other side, the one that overlooks the Via Tiberina. He runs along the railway, towards the station, to take a long ladder. He comes back, puts it on the wall of the house, goes up to the window, manages to look inside: he sees the bloody mother. "Oh my God, what do I do!" he thinks, shocked by the emotion and the urge to help her. He makes her put her feet on the first rung, supporting her from below, pointing to the rung below; he descends it, slowly, and takes it to the Tiber to wash it. "'N du' enno [where are they] Argentina and Graziella?" he asks. 'It's ita a pià' `` l salt; pu 'is arvinuta; he took my daughter and flee away! [She went to get the salt; then she came back, took her daughter and they ran away] "(82). In the alley of San Giovanni a girl cries in silence. The Nunziatina is also dead. The Nunziatina! The classmate, the classmate! It is not possible that it is no more (83). In Via Cibo Raffaele Pambuffetti arrived in the village from Colle with his wife (84), Sora Maria, who has no breath left to run, barefoot, and to invoke the name of her daughter Giovannina, asking everyone if they have seen her. Giovanna del torroncino and Carla, the same age as their daughter, reply - lying - that perhaps she is higher up, together with others. The two parents are divided in the search. She goes to call a friend, Ines (Guasticchi), to accompany her. In the square they find everything in the air: curtains, threads of light, shutters, rubble ... Sora Maria begs everyone, continuously: "Have you seen my Giovannina?". She climbs the stairs of the house in Via Cibo, where she knows that her daughter has gone to class. He claps his palms on the door at the top of the first flight of stairs, untouched. Keep calling her: "Giovannina! Giovannina!". Only the dull thud of the rubble pressing on the wood from the inside responds: together with the arch that spanned Via Mancini, the other dark staircase (88) collapsed with access from Via Mariotti, where Remigio (Tonanni) kept the trestles and pails soiled with dye (89). There the teacher and pupil remained buried (90). At the same time Giovannina's father looks for his daughter towards the Regghia (91). "Pora Cici!" Whispers Lidia (Tonanni) looking at the mountain of rubble, at the end of the Corso, who buried her friend (Cecilia Boldrini) (92). The first care A new chaos has taken over the agonizing silence of the instinctive first aid: orders from those who organize, pleas from those waiting for help, harrowing calls from those who are desperate. The rubble is swarming with rescuers, hiding other dead and buried alive. He still digs with his hands, looking for someone alive. Doctor Balducci put down his camera and ran to the scene of the disaster. Aided by Memmina (Boni) (93), the pharmacist gives the first treatments among the debris of the square. Both appear desperate and upset in white coats, soiled with dust and stained with blood (94). A wounded man - that Ricci who sells at the market on Wednesdays - staggers supported in the armpits by two rescuers; one eye dangles on his cheek (95). «The Armida de Caldaro was brought down by the Carbonari, the peasants under the nuns. She is pregnant: the time runs out in a few weeks. Just think ... she was trapped under the bombing: a bomb covered her and a bomb discovered her "(96), opening a way out for her from under the rubble near the stairs of Bruno's tailor's shop, from where he heard muffled screams coming. It is unrecognizable: the black dress has turned white; seven holes on her head trickle down as many streaks of blood onto the dust. Doctor Lupattelli, who cries: he has just separated from his fiancée, Rosanna (Ceccarelli), lifeless under the dust in front of Codovini's shop (97). Don Luigi complains, sitting outside the door of the Collegiate Church: "Help me, I have a broken leg". Everyone is deaf. They flee: white, dusty, weeping (98). "I can't escape ... I have a broken leg!" (99), he pleads. Giuseppe Rondini, the father of the guard, and Valerio (Valeriano Valeri) help him. The archpriest leans behind them; a German soldier kindly helps him. Hopping on his right leg, he reaches a carriage; with that he is transported to the Civic Hospital, where he receives the first treatments for his bleeding face and a tetanus injection. Numerous injured and dying arrive, without the Archpriest, nailed to his bed, being able to do anything for them. All the priests, after having brought first aid and administered the SS. Sacraments, reach Don Luigi, exempting him from his part of responsibility in the management of the parish (100). German soldiers are the most efficient points of support; they help transport the wounded (101) to the hospital, where the doctors - Migliorati and Valdinoci - do the impossible. There are a multitude of wounded bloody, dusty, who complain, carried on the shoulders' (102), on carts (103), on reclining chairs held on either side by two people (104). The mother of the warehouse manager, about eighty years old, Neapolitan, dragged herself there alone with one arm in tatters (105). With the caretèlla and the horse, Giangio Ramaccioni carries the wounded Gigina, which they managed to extract from the rubble (106). Silvana (Bartoccioli) arrives out of breath, so upset that she could not find the hospital. He asks about his sister. Doctor Sandrino Burelli signals to her that she is on the first bed of the ward, covered by a bloody sheet: she is dead, all ruined, almost unrecognizable. One leg will carry it next to the rest of the body only after a few hours (107). Erminia also died "(108), the widow who, having come down to town from the Preggio countryside, was hit by a vehicle when the planes arrived (109). The buried alive Peppino (Francesco Martinelli), the accountant of Ceramics, in front of those great heaps of rubble does not know what to do. He sees one who climbs on the rubble and he too goes up. At a certain moment he hears Quadrio's voice, almost at the edge of the rubble: "I'm Quadrio, help me!". They take the dust off his face; they try to get him out, but a rod on the railing of the stairs is imprisoning him. Peppino manages, with an unrepeatable effort, to raise the railing just enough to get him out and take him to the hospital. More deeply he hears the lamentations of aunt Fernanda (110). From other points of the crater pleadings for help rise. Rigo and Poldo (Coletti) have stopped hoeing the cìcio in the garden; from the Palazzone farm they rushed to Fratta. They are among the first to arrive in the middle of this bedlam, in search of Mimma (Coletti), wife of uncle Astorre, who is in Pietralunga making the crossings. The situation they find is terrible: Rigo has not even seen her at the front. They spot the Mimma, who asks for help from under the rubble where she was imprisoned. They also hear the lamentations of Augusta (Orlandi), the mother of Peppabionda. They reassure those voices and begin to dig with their hands "(111). Other signs of life emerge from the rubble nearby. Bronzone (112) recommends: "I know Feligioni ... with me there is a woman and a fiolina ...... (113). I am Cesira (Ceccagnoli) and Adriana (Fileni), who were surprised by the bombing while they were going to the nuns "'. The little girl complains: "Don't make any noise, be quiet because I want to sleep ..." (115). Not far away, on the other side of the alley, also Peppe (Cambiotti), Lina's father-in-law, made himself heard. They identified it, buried between the third floor and the roof, on the side of Via Mancini; it remained in a niche, protected by some beams. Can't breathe; he is desperate; you want to choke (116). In the Collegiate Church The shouts, the screams and the chaotic shouting are once again fading into an ever more subdued buzz, until it becomes chilling silence as each one becomes aware of the dimension of his own misfortune. There is no strength to curse one's own pain or words to console that of others. They carry more corpses to the Collegiate on makeshift stretchers, lining them up around the polygonal base of the church (117). The master Marsigliotti, Peppìn de Tafàno (Giuseppe Angioletti), Franco (Caldari), Alfredo (Ciarabelli) and Giovanni (Ciangottini) (118) lay down those who were lying in the square on the ground, making them slip from the shutters used for transport. Thirteenth station Jesus is taken down from the Cross He is closed in the tomb: the light of day has become darkness. An attempt is made to make room inside the church by moving the benches (119). The remains they are placed on the floor (121) between the two doors (122). The church of the Madonna della Reggia, protector of the town, has become the destination of all'22: of the dead who, lined up next to each other on the floor, seem find mutual consolation in the common agony; of the living, who hope not discover the family member or friend among those bodies blackened by the fire, whitened by the dust, disfigured, motionless in the last gesture to reject the end. They struggle among the corpses especially those who have news or suspicion of the presence of the their loved ones in the places affected (123). Even the children come to peek, to rule out that there is in the row of corpses someone from family, friends, acquaintances; or just out of curiosity. But they tremble with fear! What a tragedy (124)! Someone points to the dead, all black and smoked, whispering names, nicknames. "She is our teacher of mathematics "tries to prove one pupil to another he cannot recognize Virginia (Cozzari) (125). ... On the stone belt that acts as a seat / around the Church / near the door of ponente / is seated. silent and collected the old Gaetanino ... / ... the floor without benches / is full of dead / lying and lying in bulk, 1 some with their faces covered with a cloth, / some girls still with wooden clogs on their feet, / on one side there is a mother with two daughters / whom I was running after last night / on the square, near the railway / while playing hide and seek; / and near old Esterina, with one elbow / leaning against the altar, / weeps without comfort. / ... Those people that I knew I are no longer there; / have already entered a world / outside mine, with other horizons / without sunrises and sunsets (126). David (Pambuffetti) meets Miss Giulia there, who lives with her family, and learns the news that her sister Giovannina cannot be found (127). People are shocked in the face of such a disaster: a woman does not even notice the chasm in front of the church (128). A child falls into it: because of the smoke he did not see the hole as he ran towards Via Roma. He's wearing shorts. With bare legs he feels that the earth is hot (129), like the mouth of hell. A group of barefoot kids came running from Buzzacchero to the village, but they had to go back because, when they got close to the Collegiate Church, everything is full of glass (130). Aid is organized The efforts made by the first rescuers bear the first fruits: around one o'clock the wounded still on the surface see the light again. They extracted Elvira (Biagioli) from the rubble, which was trapped on the second floor of the Venanzia inn. He could only breathe because a niche had formed around his head under a beam. They had to work hard to free her legs, crushed by stones (131). Her husband takes her with a handcart to the hospital (132). At the same time they manage to free Peppe (Cambiotti), the farrier: he is alive, but desperate. Between her legs, entwined, they found her lifeless granddaughter Amalia (133). Bruna (Brunori) who is next to Suntina (Selleri), the mare Lola and that of Fiordo (134), all dead, are about to take out of the rubble. He begins to breathe with difficulty because there is no air. She is injured in the head and legs; the right side of the body begins to blacken, because the blood no longer circulates. It has been under the rubble for five hours, always in the right senses and with the certainty of having to die for the mountain of rubble that overlooks it. At thirteen she is rescued by three men - one is Pretone (Bargelli) - who, helped more by their courage than by the means at their disposal, have managed to open a passage. Rescuers found her without clothing, indeed, completely naked. She is frightened, desperate, shocked by the feeling of the imminent end she has just experienced. She was left homeless and without money; in the place of Borgo San Giovanni, he sees a heap of rubble and the streets strewn with deaths and blood (135). Shortly after, nearby, they free Rina de Schiantino (Santini), who had found herself buried with Peppino (Rapo). He held her embraced, held tight, and did not let go. She - tripping ... tripping - managed to separate. She started digging with her hands, despite some broken ribs that hurt her; she climbed onto a cart parked in the room where she is locked up. At half past two he manages to escape outside (136). His hands are bruised and his half-head hair burned from the blast of a blast (137). A carabiniere (138) also extracts Peppino, who was not seriously injured in the head and leg; his shirt is all bloody from the wounds of his friends; they take it away from him and throw it away, so as not to impress him more than he already is (139). They take him to Ticchioni's house (140). The general dimensions of the disaster are becoming increasingly dramatic. Everyone learns the gravity of their burden. Lello (Raffaele Simonucci), desperate, wanders among the rubble showing everyone a flask of oil in his hand that he waves in front of him, as a sign of the bizarre fate: "It remained intact in the fall of the house that killed my wife!" . He adored her, Bengasina (141). Then, slowly, he becomes aware of acting: he begins to dig in search of his wife, helped by his brother Fernando, who came together with a friend on a bicycle from Pierantonio (142). They find their daughter's white Tyrolean sweater (143): it is a sign that they are on the right spot. Other family members organize to dig on their own rubble, hiring workers. Over time, the whole community gets organized. We need to focus on the points where the buried have been able to make themselves heard from the bowels of the mountains of debris. The volunteer fire brigade team (144) went into operation. The persons authorized to access the crater for rescue are selected, making them recognizable by a yellow armband (145). Engineer Pucci, Menchino (146) does his utmost. He has always been a very emotional type in the face of death, but this disaster gives him the courage to extricate himself in a situation of enormous drama. He is connected to Smucchia (Riego Rometti), with whom he is very close, despite the fact that they are of opposite political views. They decide what to do in a standing meeting, in the open, between the sacristy of the Collegiate and the bomb pit. They run down to Ceramica (147) to get shovels and picks to add to their hands; to the fingers; to the nails. With the precious help of Primo (Giovannoni), they organize teams of excavators, gathered in a cooperative, who take away the debris with a pick, shovel and cart (148). Paris, the stonecutter, is naturally among the first to be included in the excavation teams (149). The children are assigned the task of bringing fresh water, drawing it with two jugs from the well of Baglioni, at the bottom of the Piaggiola (150). They try to find wood to build rudimentary coffins (152). They clear some walkways in the middle of the rubble. With the tracks and trolleys of the furnace they improvise a runway on rails to transport the debris (153) from the square to the shore of the Regghia, knocking down the parapet (154). In the allied base In the Campo di Cutella the activity was frenetic: the move, which is in full swing, was added to the scheduled flight missions. At eight o'clock a very large convoy left for the Sinello. Except for the vehicle with the workshop, which broke down just outside the runway, all the trucks arrived at their destination independently at eleven o'clock. The auxiliary structures have also been arranged. In the new location everyone was busy raising the curtains. They set up the kitchens and trailers on worked land. Knee-high wheat sways all around under a gentle breeze. By the end of the afternoon, everything will be ready. The staff still to be transferred waited impatiently in the Campo di Cutella. He had to live, sleep and eat in a shack, as most of the officers' tents and equipment have already been taken away, along with the kitchen and canteen. Lunch was regularly provided for the pilots, who returned without damage to the base, landing at exactly eleven o'clock. As soon as digested they will have to leave for another raid against the same bridge over the Tiber in Upper Umbria, which escaped the bombs of the morning: it is good to take a nap on the cots, while the mechanics check the fighter-bombers. 1) Giuseppe Lisetti, Renato Silvestrelli. 2) Renato Silvestrelli. 3) Dora Silvestrelli. 4) Giuseppe Lisetti. 5) Eva Burocchi, interview collected by his nephew Leonardo Tosti on April 25, 1994. 6) Renato Silvestrelli. 7) Umberto Tommasi. 8) Francesco Martinelli. 9-10-11-12) Unpublished photos by Roberto Balducci, kindly made available by Bruno Porrozzi 13) Bruno Porrozzi, Umbertide in the images, Pro Loco Umbertide Association, 1977, p. ninety two. 14) Fausta Olimpia Pieroni. 15) Dina Conti. 16) Rolando Fiorucci. 17) Francesco Martinelli, Renato Silvestrelli. 18) Renato Silvestrelli. 19) Luigi Gambucci. 20) Pietro Corgnolini. 21) Rolando Fiorucci. 22) Giovanni Bottaccioli. 23) Piero Pierini. 24) Francesco Martinelli. 25) Renato Silvestrelli. 26) Clara Rapo. 27) Annunziata Caldari. 28) Elio Renzini. 29) Dina Bebi. 30) Annunziata Caldari, Clara Rapo. 31) Luigi Gambucci. 32) Assunta Baruffi, Annunziata Caldari. 33) Bruno Porrozzi. 34) Giuseppe Cozzari. 35) Don Luigi Cozzari, letter for the 1st anniversary. 36) Elisabetta Bartoccioni. 37) Domenico Mariotti. 38) Umberto Dominici. 39) Maria Luisa Rapo. 40) Elsa Caprini. 41) Elisabetta Bellarosa. 42) Franco Caldari. 43) Marinella Roselli. 44) Maria Luisa Rapo. 45) Giovanna Nanni. 46) Domenico Mariotti. 47) Emma Gagliardini. 48) Mario Barbagianni 49) Warrior Gagliardini. 50) Maria Giovannoni, manuscript of 2003. 51) Elisabetta Lisetti. 52) Franco Caldari. 53) Maria Giovannoni, manuscript of 2003. 54) Municipality of Umbertide, Report of the social-communist municipal administration on the activity carried out from 1946 to 1952, "Tiberina" Typography, Umbertide, 1952. 55) Francesco Martinelli. 56) Elvira Rossi. 57) Christmas Lisetti. 58) Franco Caldari. 59) Silvia Pitocchi and Anna Cambiotti, typescript December 16, 2003. 60) Francesco Martinelli. 61) Fausta Olimpia Pieroni. 62) Lidia Tonanni, Nella Gagliardini. 63) Bruno Porrozzi, Umbertide in the images, Pro Loco Umbertide Association, 1977, p. 94. 64) Franco Caldari. 65) Pompeo Selleri. 66) Ornella Duranti. 67) Franco Anastasi. 68) Dina Batazzi, Bruno Porrozzi. 69) Franco Anastasi. 70) Mario Migliorati. 71) Pompeo Selleri. 72) Linda Micucci. 73) Vittorio Giornelli, Franco Villarini. 74) Annunziata Caldari. 75) Maria Pia Viglino. 76) Velia Nanni. 77) Assunta Baruffi. 78) Gianna Feligioni. 79) Silvia Pitocchi and Anna Cambiotti, typescript December 16, 2003. 80) Concetta Mariotti. 81) Adriano Bottaccioli. 82) Paolo Mazzanti. 83) Marcella Casi. 84) Giovanna Mancini. 85) Bruno Porrozzi, Umbertide and its territory, Pro Loco Umbertide Association, 1983, p. 74. 86) Photo by Roberto Balducci, kindly made available by Bruno Porrozzi. The first is published in Umbertide and its territory, Associazione Pro Loco Umbertide, 1983, p. 75; the other two are unpublished. 87) Unpublished photo by Roberto Balducci, kindly made available by Bruno Porrozzi. 88) Ines Guasticchi. 89) Renato Silvestrelli. 90) Ines Guasticchi. 91) Ines Biti. 92) Lidia Tonanni. 93) Lidia Corradi. 94) Francesco Martinelli, Fausta Olimpia Pieroni. 95) Ornella Duranti. 96) Eva Burocchi, interview collected by his nephew Leonardo Tosti on April 5th, 1994. 97) Anna Caldari. 98) Annunziata Caldari. 99) Giovanna Nanni. 100) Don Luigi Cozzari, letter for the 1st anniversary. 101) Mario Barbagianni, Orlando Bucaioni, Renato Silvestrelli. 102) Sirio Lisetti. 103) Piera Bruni. 104) Domenico Mariotti. 105) Elvira Rossi. 106) Franco Mischianti. 107) Silvana Bartoccioli. 108) Victim: Letizia Santini. 109) Sergio Batazzi. 110) Francesco Martinelli. 111) Rina Alunno Violins. 112) Ines Guasticchi. 113) Warrior Boldrini. 114) Francesco Martinelli. 115) Ines Guasticchi. 116) Silvia Pitocchi and Anna Cambiotti, typescript December 16, 2003. 117) Fabrizio Boldrini. 118) Franco Caldari. 119) Elisabetta Bartoccioni. 120) Leonello Galina. 121) Fabrizio Boldrini. 122) Franco Mischianti. 123) Irma Mariotti, interview collected by Leonardo Tosti on April 25, 1994. 124) Renato Silvestrelli. 125) Sergio Ceccacci. 126) Olimpio Ciarapica, from a poem of 1952. 127) Bruno Tarragoni Alumni. 128) Assunta Baruffi. 129) Leonello Corbucci. 130) Fernando Zucchini. 131) Walter Biagioli. 132) Giorgio Pacciarini. 133) Silvia Pitocchi and Anna Cambiotti, typescript December 16, 2003. 134) Giancarlo Guasticchi. 135) Bruna Brunori, testimony collected by his nephew Matteo - 5th grade - 1985. 136) Rina Santini. 137) Renata Santini. 138) Giuseppe Rapo. 139) Clara Rapo. 140) Lea Rapo. 141) Betto Guardabassi. 142) Mario Simonucci. 143) Elisa Manarini. 144) Eva Burocchi, interview collected by his nephew Leonardo Tosti on April 25, 1994. 145) Ornella Duranti. 146) In Gagliardini. 147) Renato Silvestrelli. 148) Elisabetta Bartoccioni. 149) Raffaele Martini. 150) Mario Migliorati. 151) PRO, London, Operation Record Book, War diary, n ° 5 squadron SAAF, 1944. Taken from: Mario Tosti (curator), Belli Lavori !, Comune di Umbertide, 1995, p. 48. 152) Elisabetta Bartoccioni. 153) Raffaele Martini. 154) Betto Guardabassi. 155) Archive of the Foggia Modeling and Historical Research Group. Tutti nel cratere FROM THE SURROUNDINGS From the amphitheater of the hills that slope down towards the valley, people witnessed the tragedy in dismay. Paradoxically, the conscious terror of those who have seen from afar had the aggravating circumstance of rationality compared to the ancestral one of those who, directly involved, did not understand anything (1). The news of the disaster spread in a flash to nearby towns and cities. The shock of impotence is replaced by the instinct of solidarity with the wounded country. Aid is being organized from various parts. From Monte Acuto The deaf outbursts, which however made the earth tremble, surprised the kids who were running towards the top of the top of the Valcinella, to better see the show. They saw the planes persistently stubbornly, throwing their load of dark objects which, upon touching the ground, emitted tongues of fire and raised enormous columns of blackish smoke. After a few seconds, the burst. Now Umbertide is no longer seen: he drowns in a sea of smoke (2). Below them, in Polgeto, the Travaglini teacher had let all the pupils out of elementary school: they went down to the fields of Zeppulino, they saw the planes that began the dive and then dropped the bombs. "Oh my God, they are dropping falls'ji ovi!", Exclaimed one of the companions. They only heard the explosions, without seeing the houses where the bombs exploded (3). From the Arcelle A child was gathering strips of dark silver paper across the fields, which had rained down from the sky. He had made a bunch of them when the planes had appeared above the Arcelle, circling behind Montacuto and reappearing, in a circle, one behind the other (4). From Niccone Niccone had heard a bang followed by a rumble that never stopped. Mario (Tacconi), a little boy, ran towards the terrace and saw the devices that buzzed, glittering from time to time. After a few seconds, one of them lowered and disappeared behind Montalto; a few seconds ... and saw a silent mushroom rise from Umbertide, higher and higher; after a few moments, he heard a roar like the one just before. Meanwhile the plane was re-entering formation following the others, who had continued to turn in the carousel until they left, disappearing towards Montecorona (5). Here they are called Picchiatelli, with the same nickname given to Junker 87. A1 Niccone no distinctions are made: every killing machine is "hit on the head". Marcello (Milleri) didn't go to school either. From the hills above the Niccone, sheltered behind an old walnut tree, he witnessed the same scene: he continually turned around the trunk so as to remain covered with respect to the planes, which barely peeked with one eye for the sensation that they were pointing towards him. Pietro (Migliorati), having left the farm "Fondeo", (formerly called "Cavaliere Secondo"), was passing by bicycle, on his way to Fratta to have the sheet of a four-day license signed by the "Servizio del Lavoro" by the Carabinieri marshal. of Perugia. At the sound of the planes, he threw himself into a ditch. Terrified by the explosions, he remained in his hiding place for a couple of hours (6). From Trestina From Trestina they saw the planes lower behind Montalto and a cloud of smoke rising above Umbertide, amidst distant thunder (7). From Città di Castello Despite the confusion of the wards, even the hospitalized in the civil hospital of Città di Castello that the Germans have requisitioned, have heard the noise of nearby planes, in successive waves. The news ran quickly: "They bombed Umbertide". But they are inaccurate news; there are no communications. In the hospital we prepare to welcome the wounded, thinking, very naively, that they can be transported by some means. It is difficult to remember that there are none. The German medical officers, impassive, let it be done. They probably already know about the massacre (8). As the details are known, the dimensions of the disaster are perceived. The rumors spread in a flash. It made a particular impression that among the victims there is Amleto B Anelli, son of Ersilia, sister of Ciliberti, a brother-in-law of Venanzio Gabriotti. The firefighters immediately left for Umbertide to bring help (9). In their midst they loaded Sandra del Sellaro (Cecchetti) who had gone to talk to the teachers to hear how her granddaughter is doing at school (10). Aunt and nephew are desperate because people say they bombed the Tiber bridge. Their family lives in the immediate vicinity. "Suddenly a captain, the commander of the hospital, approaches the Inspector Sister Malwida Montemaggi, who had been forced into service together with other volunteer nurses of the Red Cross:" Two of you have to come with us for an external mission ". Mother Veronica has the service bags filled with dressing material, secretly. A German ambulance is expected. Not even a word about the destination, but it is obvious that it is Umbertide. Sitting on the body of the truck used as an ambulance, next to two German soldiers - another is driving - they never spoke during the journey, incredible for the situation of the roads and for the fear of other incursions. They are in sight of the country. Umbertide is wrapped as in a cloud of dust; the tragedy is legible even from a distance. Houses gutted, so as not to remember that they may have been homes. Umbertide is dead. The soldiers descend on the square of the Collegiata and signal the Red Cross women to enter; they stay out. The volunteers find, lined up within the beautiful church, the dead, who seem solemnly ready for a last appeal. Unreal that so many have reached the terrifying appointment together. Some bodies are torn apart; others seem to sleep; many still have terror in their eyes. A cold, great silence that remains inside. Everything happens in hints, without words; also the acknowledgments, the prayers. The people of Umbertide feel the weight of every word and that excruciating silence is pride, it is anger, it is a complete way of expressing oneself that establishes a kind of kinship with each one, an indelible affection. The two Red Cross nurses can do little: better recompose the dead, lower the eyelids of those who have seen death. They decide with a glance that it is right to leave them with their arms stretched out at their sides, in the pride of the "attentive", without placing their hands on the abdomen, in the resigned posture of someone who has expired by natural death. We embrace the survivors without speaking. Those lines of dead, that untranslatable silence is the only important thing "(11). A group of Black Shirts arrived on the train from Castello, including several people from Umbria. They have placed a small machine gun pointing it towards the straight, at the corner of Villa Zampa: perhaps they want to shoot the flies (12)! Private individuals also got organized: a team of volunteers led by Angelo Baldelli left to help Umbertide (13). From Montone Montone has stopped. In the fields they were hoeing maize, when the terrible scene of the planes in the distance, towards Montaguto, presented itself. At times you could see the glint reflected by the sun of the falling bombs; then the explosion and the rising smoke, dominated by the dull noise of the engines (14). “In elementary school they were all in the classroom. The teacher Gina (Gallicchi) had begun to correct the homework; they were practicing on the blackboard, when suddenly they heard people outside shouting in the streets: "Bombard Umbertide! ... Bombard Umbertide!". They all stood up; frightened, they left by heading along the road from where the martyred town could be seen. But looking down, Umbertide could no longer be seen: only rumblings could be heard. A thick cloud of dust had covered everything. At that sight the teacher and her family were desperate for the fate of their loved ones. Vilma, his niece, has begun to cry: she wants to go home, worried about her uncle Tomassino who, paralyzed from birth, will not be able to flee in the three-wheeled wheelchair and save himself. Some children have fled to their homes; the others, accompanied by their parents who came to pick them up, also left. There is no one left in the school "(15). The seminarians, who had been transferred from Città di Castello to Montone a few weeks after a bombing in the Tifernate, were carrying out the test in French class when the noise of the bombers was heard. Someone yelled: "Run away! ... Go outside! ... They bomb Umbertide!". The seminarians ran to the square of the nuns, under the trees. Leaning against the wall, they witnessed the terrible scene: the dive, the bombs, the blaze, the plane going up, the fumaràa that swelled. Now it seems that all of Umbertide is on fire (16)! «From the Capuchin convent, the marshal's son was going straight down to Poder Grande, down below, almost on the plain, passing through Treppiedi, then Valbonella, Capeccio. In one hand he was holding the small saucepan for milk that he fetches from a friendly family every morning; in the other an anthology of Italian: perhaps, even if schools have been closed everywhere, there should be an exam session for privatists, if not at the end of June, at the beginning of next October. He trotted happily towards his goal, behind the wooded hill of the convent; in front and below, a few kilometers away, the plain where the Tiber flows and Umbertide lies, both hidden by small hills. He was walking along a short plateau, almost a terrace overlooking the landscape, with a farmhouse. The Italian anthology was open to a poem he was reviewing: "La Caduta" by Giuseppe Parini. He was repeating the beginning from memory: "When Orion from the sky declining rages / and rain and snow and frost / over the darkened earth pours ...". He hadn't paid much attention to a buzz of planes hovering high up: these days it's an everyday thing. Lifting their heads from the book, the planes, as small as midges, continued to spin in the sky, intertwining with each other as if they were playing. He had kept going when ... when a terrible crash had hit him, and it had reverberated throughout the valley. The first thought was: two planes collided in their circle. But, a moment later, the truth: a dense column of black smoke had risen from behind those last ridges, right where Umbertide stands. At the same time one of those "gnats", suddenly enlarged, had descended to 45 degrees towards the point from which the column of black smoke had risen; a wheelie to get back up and left behind another terrible crash, with a second column of thick smoke. Even the farmer had gone out to see and the truth had imposed itself in all its tragedy: they were bombing Umbertide! The thought followed immediately, terrible: Dad was there. The boy had turned around, arriving breathless at the convent; Everyone was looking out of the window looking towards the town, Realino, Sora Assunta, the others and ... the mother, in tears: "Giulio, and dad?". He had grabbed a woman's bicycle and found them and off! Down to Umbertide with his heart in his throat and with nothing else in mind but his father. He went down the hairpin bends at speeds he will no longer reach on a velocipede; then the straight road, Santa Maria da Sette, after which there are the first houses of Umbertide, a suburb of Santa Maria. He ran into a schoolmate, Lucio Corbucci, who was hurrying in the opposite direction, moving away from the town: "What a mess!" she did, spreading her arms, with her usual smile on her blond face. With his heart in his throat he arrived at the square of the Collegiata, where a huge crater scattered around with debris appeared before him. Imperturbable, in the same posture as always, calm and peaceful as it was to see him every day and in the same spot, the elderly Mr. Reggiani, who immediately addressed him in a calm tone: "Your father is fine, go, he's there in the square". He has rushed: one side of the square, the left one coming from the Collegiate Church, is gone, horribly transformed into a mountain of debris that has "replaced" it. Her father and a municipal guard are bent over a female body that lies prone, or rather, on half of that body, skirts raised, thighs dusty; the other half, from the waist up, is under the debris mountain. He recognizes her by her features: she is Virginia, the math student. "Go up, go to your mother" - the father tells him, raising his head slightly - tell her that I'm fine and that I will arrive as soon as I can »(17). From Faldo Gino de Bufala (Cartucci) and Guido (Caseti) were weeding the tobacco planter near the mouth of the Carpina, when they saw smoke and mattresses flying up from the historic center of Fratta (18). From Corlo When the planes arrived, they worked the corn with the animals. They saw that they were dropping something. Bruno's cousin, the tailor, shouted that they were bombs and started to cry, because he saw that they had fallen in the area near the bridge. Just in those moments Bruno was dying (19). From San Benedetto Maria (Capoccetti) was preparing the white flour cake for the breakfast of her parents who worked in the fields near Righino, above Bertanzi. When he heard the explosions he knew they were bombing. Then, barefoot, she rushed towards the valley to see the fate that had befallen her relatives (20). At the San Lorenzo farm, in the parish of the Collegiata, towards San Benedetto, they were baking bread when the noise of the bombs paralyzed everyone. Then, who fled here, who there: the bread was burned (21). From the Zeppolotto farm on the hills above San Benedetto, Nello - one of the youngest of the group of partisans of San Faustino - witnessed the bombing, immobile and powerless (22). From Civitella Bruno - he is 6 years old - was parrying the sheep on the hill below Civitella, in the Polenzano farm, when the red-faced fighter-bombers flew over him. He saw that they dropped something: to him too they looked like goose eggs which, however, when they fell on the village, raised a black smoke. When they finished, the fun stopped for him. After a while his parents came, crying in despair, to take him home. The little shepherd couldn't understand why they were so desperate. Nothing better could have happened to him: he had avoided spending a day alone with the sheep. For those animals, on the contrary, it really went wrong: they have to be satisfied with a little hay, inside the sheepfold (23). From Pietralunga The piercing scream of the engines pushed to the maximum and then the dark roar of the explosions repeated by the echo, down in the valleys, was a sign of death for the boys in the bush in Pietralunga: "They certainly bomb Umbertide", they thought (24). In Giglioni, in the Pietralunga area, they still don't know anything. The procession on the day of the rogations is parading behind Don Ivo (Andreani); the songs repeat the ancient invocations for the success of sowing and harvests, which on the occasion are above all pleas for a return to normality. In the morning the peasants placed crosses on the wheat fields: a reed stuck on the ground; on the top a split, with the flat leaf of the iris and a few ears of corn from the previous harvest stuck horizontally - to form a cross. Suddenly the news spreads with a buzz, along the double line of faithful, disturbing the monotony of the litanies: "Umbertide was fatally wounded ... It was a disaster ... the people at the Post Office are all dead ... ". The voice fades around Angelica, the teacher sister of Menco de Trivilino (Domenico Baldoni), a postal employee, on whom furtive glances of commiseration are concentrated (25). The sad singing of the litanies resumes with the usual rhythm and volume: "A plague, hunger and beautiful ... free nos, Domine! ... A sudden and sudden death, free nos, Domine! ...". Unfortunately, the opposite is happening: the Lord has not managed to free the world from disease, hunger, war, ... from sudden death. In Umbertide, dozens of people lost their lives in the blink of an eye, just a few hours ago, for no reason other than the absurd one of the war. Fortunately, the faithful in procession do not understand the meaning of their prayers, otherwise they could doubt the will of the Eternal Father. But He understands and shares the plea, so much so that He made the Son die on Calvary to change the foolish behavior of humanity. They are the final recipients of the prayer - the powerful of the world - who do not know Latin or pretend not to understand it. From the mountains of Pietralunga, where they had seen the planes turn over Umbertide and heard the blows of the bombs, a group of partisans of the Cairocchi battalion, near the San Faustino Brigade, immediately went down to the valley. Led by Deputy Commander Rossi, 26, they help collect the dead to take them to the Collegiate Church and the wounded to the hospital (26). They did not risk little, as the republican carabinieri of Umbertide and Castello were around. Still from Pietralunga, just over an hour after the bombing, another truck of rescuers arrived: seven or eight men with shovels and picks, led by Gildo Melgradi, began to dig in the rubble (27). From Gubbio The Bishop, Beniamino Ubaldi, hearing the news, immediately applied the Holy Mass for the victims of the bombing (28). In the seminary in Gubbio, in the interval between one lesson and another, they had noticed planes in the direction of Monte Acuto, which were circling threateningly in the sky area presumably above Umbertide, hidden from their view by the hills to the right of the Assino. Shortly after, the succession of the dark thunder of the bombs announced the tragedy that was sweeping the country. Now it is confirmed on the streets of Gubbio, where the population has poured in dismay. Two seminarians, Pietrino (Pietro Bottaccioli) and Romano (Children) joined the other Umbertide students who attend the Gubbio schools, to return home by train (29). Peppino del Sellaro (Cecchetti) was also in master's classes. Vincenzo (Fiorucci) had taken him for lunch at his house, in Madonna del Ponte, with an excuse: "Let's have a birthday". After lunch, returning to Gubbio, he slowly revealed to him that they had bombed the bridge at Umbertide. In Corso Garibaldi they found a huge crowd talking about the disaster. Peppino's companions arrived with great excitement: he learned that the most affected part of the town was near the bridge and began to cry, because his parents live in that area. His friends console him, including Gastone (Romanelli). They organize a collection, for the eventuality that, returning home, they do not find anyone; the proceeds are given to him by Franco (Belardi), of the Colonni family, owner of the Cementificio Marna (30). From the Assino Valley For the jolt at the first roar, the Iliad had fallen from the hands of Dina (Conti), a girl who, in Pian d'Assino, was preparing for the afternoon school shift (31). The teacher Checca (Fornaci) had sent all the pupils out, sending them under the bridge of the "Apennines". The most curious - Sirio and Japan - had gone to the top of the little patch. Seeing these black dicks fall, they thought it was a joke; they knew nothing that bombings exist (32). Maria (Ines Montanucci) was mowing the grass along a small road. Realizing the danger, she picked up her little son who was playing nearby and threw herself into the nearest shelter (33). Then, all the people went up to the hill, from where Umbertide was discovered: the smoke, which had risen like a cloud from many parts, spread everywhere, hiding the town from view (34). Peppe (Cardinali) watched from behind the oak trunk of the mill beyond the Assino (35). From Montelovesco they heard the thunder of the bombs coming from Umbertide and they saw the smoke dome getting bigger and bigger (36). The mass for the blessing of the crosses had just ended in Camporeggiano. The people in the churchyard saw the planes, the turns, the smoke, but did not hear any noise, shielded by the row of hills towards the Fratta. The cloak of silence made the vision of the apocalypse even more unreal (37). From Pierantonio Maestro Federico Giappichelli was returning from Civitella d'Arno. As soon as the train left Pierantonio, there was an alarm because planes threatened to bomb Umbertide. They all got out and scattered across the fields. They heard the roars: a hell of a lot. The train left around noon. The teacher got off at the station; he went to take the bicycle he had left at the Pambuffettis, where he goes every Wednesday to buy goods for the shop in Lisciano Niccone. He arrived home at three in the afternoon, exhausted and frightened (39). From Collestrada Renato (Codovini), with all the people from Umberto who joined the "Labor Service", was able to distinctly hear the thunder of bombs exploding from there (40). From Perugia The news has arrived in Perugia: the city is full of tension and emotion. Several people are in tears (41). 1) Dina Bebi. 2) Mario Bartocci, manuscript from 1986. 3) Elio Baldacci. 4) Giovanni Maria Bico. 5) Mario Tacconi. 6) Class III A, Mavarelli-Pascoli State Middle School, Grandfather, tell me about the war, 2004. Testimony of Pietro Migliorati. 7) Alda Pieroni. 8) Eliana Pirazzoli, manuscript from 1986. 9) Alvaro Tacchini (curator), Venanzio Gabriotti - Diary, Institute of History and Social Policy Venanzio Gabriotti, Petruzzi Editore, Città di Castello, 1998, pp. 192, 193. 10) Sandra Cecchetti. 11) Eliana Pirazzoli, manuscript from 1986. 12) Renato Silvestrelli. 13) Francesco Martinelli. 14) Giuliano Cappanna. 15) Gina Gallicchi, manuscript of 1995. 16) Luigi Braconi. 17) Giulio Onnis, typescript December 16, 2002. 18) Guido Caseti. 19) Lina Pippolini. 20) Maria Capoccetti. 21) Dina Lucchetti. 22) Leonello Galina. 23) Bruno Mastriforti. 24) Raffaele Mancini, ... At midnight we bet on the rising of the sun ..., Nuova Prhomos Editions, Città di Castello, 1993, p. 67. 25) Angelica Baldoni. 26) Mario Rossi. 27) Luigi Carlini. 28) Beniamino Ubaldi, bishop of Gubbio, letter of 6 May 1944 to the Salesians. 29) Pietro Bottaccioli. 30) Giuseppe Cecchetti. Gastone Romanelli, after a few weeks, will find death among the 40 Martyrs. Cementificio Marna will become Barbetti. 31) Dina Conti. 32) Sirio Lisetti. 33) Class III A, Mavarelli-Pascoli State Middle School, Grandfather, tell me about the war, 2004. Testimony of Maria Montanucci. 34) Dina Conti. 35) Giuseppe Cardinali. 36) Amelia Picciolli. 37) Francesco Silvestri. 38) Frames taken from: From Rome to Trasimeno: the liberation of '44, Uguccione Ranieri di Sorbello Foundation. The images are owned by the Imperial War Museum. 39) Federico Giappichelli. 40) Renato Codovini. 41) Betto Guardabassi. Dai dintorni THE TRAGEDY WAS WORN Solidarity and selfishness Solidarity, reinvigorated by despair or by the narrow escape, pervades the wounded community: we help each other, we are consoled, we are encouraged. The houses, the pantries are opened; beds are made up under every roof. Outraged humanity responds compactly to the inhumanity of violence. Aldo Burelli had been surprised by the bombs while he was delivering a preparation for the slaves. His son Sandrino, a pharmacist like his father, went to the house of the Gonfiacani, in Via Roma, where his parents are; but when he realizes the disaster and the wounded who are being taken to the hospital, he immediately goes there to bring help (2). Anyone who has ascertained the fate of his parents helps to dig, to bring the wounded to the hospital and the corpses to church. There are also those who are thinking of taking advantage of the misfortune of others: the jackals have already set in motion, filling bales of stuff (3). The dismay at such impudence has created a kind of collective psychosis that favors the spread of rumors that seem unlikely or, at least, exaggerated. Someone even claims to have seen the faiths parade from the corpses in the Collegiate Church. We don't want to believe it. The rumor has spread that "black shirts", coming from outside, have grabbed the destroyed houses. A soldier would have taken several gold jewels: from the discussion with another to divide them, one of the two would have been killed (4). It is only to be hoped that they are all rumors without foundation. Family groups try to get together From the stables of Andrea del Sellaro (Cecchetti) along the Regghia, Guerriero de l'Elena (Boldrini) had escaped turning towards San Francesco, because the Corso was immersed in a tide of dust. At the Arco di Piandana he met Giorgio (Bruni), a friend, close to a group of Neapolitan evacuees who were reciting the Ave Maria. He continued towards the Tiber where he saw his mother, who had gone to wash. Passing through the house, they find grandfather Nìcole in front of its rubble, all white with dust: he had been trapped in the entrance of the house in front of Ferruccio, together with others, including Remigio (5). The latter, being very slender, had managed to find a passage through the hole opened by another bomb, widening it just enough to allow the old de Paris (Miccioni) and Nìcole to pass too (6). After a while Brizio (Boldrini) arrives, Guerriero's brother. Crossing the mountain of stones, with his heart in his throat, he turns towards his house: it is no longer there. Sitting on a stone, all white with dust, grandfather Nìcole is waiting for him: he cries, tears run down his face. She helps him up, hugs him. His grandfather whispered to him: "Mother and Warrior are fine, they are waiting for us at their uncle's house (7). Orlando (Bucaioni), Brizio's neighbor, ran towards the town, after having abandoned cane and frogs. After crossing the same hill, he runs towards Piazza San Francesco without even looking back to check the state of his house: he is told that his mother has gone towards the Caminella. From her, when he finds her, he knows that the house is destroyed and that his father is certainly dead, because he has left him in the kitchen to have breakfast (8). Commissioner Ramaccioni wanders around the heap of rubble, who immediately went back down to the village, after having reassured himself of the conditions of his family in his villa on the slopes of Romeggio. He took his wife with him, known in the village as "the young lady" to distinguish her from her mother, "the lady". He wants to realize the disaster and bring help; the dismay and concern are magnified by the thought of the cursed siren that he failed to sound. People, when they see them, rant. Elena de Bartulino swears (9). Her husband, on top of the mound with his arms raised to the sky, yells: "Cowards ... cowards !!" (10). But immediately the urge to dig prevails. Pia (Gagliardini) arrives to ascertain the fate of her mother and sister who were in the shop on the Corso; Gino (Sonaglia) tries to block her and take her away, because it is dangerous, but to no avail (11). The smoke above the place where loved ones presumably were is a dramatic clue for those who are worried about resolving the most dramatic doubt: the death or the life of a family member. For everything else, the strength will be found. Nino (Egidio Grassini) had gone with his father to the tobacco factory, where his mother worked. It looked as if the building had been hit, for it was overhung by a huge cloud of dust; instead it was the cloud that had risen above the historic center, moved over there by a slime from the north wind. They find their mother unharmed; all together they make bundles and evacuate to San Benedetto (12). From Caldarelli, the farmer in front of Peppoletta, Franco (Villarini) embraces his father who is crying, because he has seen columns of smoke rising from Schiupitìno, near his house; Zerullo (Luigi Ceccarelli) consoles him who still does not know that he has lost his wife and two daughters: his whole family (13). The same black mushroom is near the house of Sor Guidi who immediately ran towards the Regghia to track down his sister-in-law; his son Walter also came to pick up his aunt Checchina (14). Margherita (Tosti), putting her head out of Secondo's stable, believed that the thick smoke towards the village was right above her house. She ran in that direction. Fortunately, immediately after, at the beginning of the Fornacino embankment, he met his father with his almost two-year-old brother riding over his shoulder (15). ... To flee clinging to / from a desperate head / to wander in search of survivors, / of a useless survival ... (16). As soon as the Margherita sees them - they are alive! - throws the satchel into a ditch, announcing that he will no longer go to school (17). He continues with them towards the patollo, together with his uncles. Someone calls and looks for relatives, while the first news of deaths arrives. The father, already desperate on his own because he lost his wife two months earlier, repeats to everyone he meets, horrified and anguished: "Beautiful works! Beautiful works!" (18). Gigino (Vestrelli), in search of his wife Giuditta, is upset because he is convinced that it is the poor woman who died in the square, which is actually Virginia (Cozzari). Instead he finds it on the Tiber, among a group of people who ask if they have seen it; she does not realize that she is among them, but completely unrecognizable, so much is she upset and dusty (19). Eva (Rondoni) ran down to the Tiber to see if the nuns' house had gone down. He takes his daughters and Anna de Caldari, the daughter of Armida, who stands door to door. Her husband Peppino went up to the workshop, but he couldn't find the children. Alberto was in the square, where he saw Virginia de Cozzari die, the Bebi ...; thanks be to God he saved himself from Bertanzi. The other smaller male, Pompeo, is hiding near the workshop. Peppino returned to his wife on the Tiber. He whistles in the usual way to track her down. When Eva hears him and sees that he is alone, she removes the desperation by intimating: 'I fioli du enno? [the children where are they?] He didn't win '[don't come] down without threads! You go as you please [take] the threads and bring them down "(20). The Nunziatina de Saltafinestre (Bucatelli) is still trying to track down her mother vegetable garden; Marshal Onnis - who knows her well - asks her what she is doing there, in the midst of that disaster. She replies that she is looking for her mother. The Commissioner, who is with the marshal, tells her - without any caution - that if she is dead he will find her in church. At which, the marshal is very worried (21). Another gardener, Annetta, reappears to her husband and daughter, in despair: she is unrecognizable, although she is shocked and covered with dust. They really recognize her from varicose veins. They go towards the Collegiate Church, where Senta Reggiani tries to alarm everyone by shouting: "Go ... go! Go away, because they come back!" (22). «Many people continue to go up the course of the Regghia; who screams, who cries, who curses; but no one says anything to little Luciana de Zúmbola, who tries to clean her knees, hands and nose, injured by a fall; she cannot understand what happened; it stops on the escarpment of the stream and waits for an infinity of time. At one point he sees his father Gino advancing on the small road, riding his black "Legnano". When he sees her, he jumps off the bicycle, picks her up and holds her tightly; a hug that Luciana will never forget! She doesn't look at him, but hears him crying. They sit on the edge of the field and remain embraced for a long time: she feels she is safe! After recovering a little, the father begins to ask people he knows if they have seen his wife and mother; having no news, he decides to go home. Leave the daughter to acquaintances. After a while he comes back with something to eat, which he has taken from the house. But he found neither his wife nor his mother, nor his youngest son: he is distraught, because he knew where the bombs fell. Try to get your daughter to eat something; then he decides to go even further. When I am under Viuliuo - the farmhouse on the hill - on the field that descends towards the Regghia, Luciana sees the figure of her grandmother with Enzo, her little brother in her arms: she calls her loudly, but her father has already gone off like a rocket. He crossed the stream and in a moment he is on the other side. Zùmbola takes her mother in her arms who, in turn, has her little grandson in her arms: a human bunch "(23). Elisa (Pucci), with her inseparable white towel over her shoulders, stopped on the cypress road: she must retrace her steps, as her first instinctive desire would have been, to return home to the "tree-lined" where 'is Franco, the son of a few months (24). He finds him with Giuditta (Alunni), who has brought him to safety. In Via Spoletini, at the nuns' school, the nuns hand over their children to their parents who gradually present themselves with an excited and weeping voice. Guerriero Corradi, who found it difficult to get out of the photographer's shop in Via Cibo, passes in front of the school on his way to the next door, where he lives. "It's all a ruin," he keeps repeating as in a chant. It proceeds in the middle of a river of weeping and lost people (25). In the house opposite, Giovannino (Migliorati) found his desperate people, because they do not know where his sister Maria is, who went to the Quadrio oven (26). Sora Maria (Pambuffetti), a neighbor, with the vain hope that her daughter Giovannina has already returned from class, arrives in a hurry - bare feet returning to the dust (27). She is exhausted. He continued to wander all the streets, begging for news. Everyone replied in a vague way, without the courage to take away her hope: "I seem to have seen you run away with Gina..." (28). She sits outside, desperate, under the window sill on the ground floor, with her fingers clinging to the fly protection net: she cries silently (29). At that moment the daughter of the Migliorati appears, Maria; she is so contracted that she cannot release her hand on the handle of the leather bag with which she had gone to buy the preserve two hours earlier (30). Giovannino (Duranti) was taken by the hand by Baldo (Ubaldo Morelli), a work colleague of his father, who returns him to his parents on the Tiber near Taschino, where a flood of people has gathered (31). Count Ranieri took over Fausto (Fagioli), with red hair, who lost his mother and sister. He takes him to the Castle of Civitella, seat of the German command (32), where a cousin of the child's mother, recently orphaned, helps in the kitchen (33). Long-term kinship with a maid is sufficient for solidarity. Under the hill of Civitella, Mariolina and Lea (Rapo), after escaping from under the bed, reunited with their grandmother, who had been surprised by the bombing under the Tiber bridge and had brought the clothes with the cart to the cellar of Camillo, hiding them under the barrels (34). Peppino (Lisetti), the shoemaker, returned home to Pian d'Assino and found everyone in great agitation, because the rumor had spread that "Peppino de Montecorona" had remained under the bombing; but they did not know if it was he or Giuseppe Pierini della Badia, the barber's boy Galeno, who really died. Someone notices that the little shoemaker is bleeding from his left leg: he hasn't even noticed that a seed, one of the longest ones, has stuck between the two bones of the leg, letting out only the head (35). Dina (Bebi) had taken refuge in the Lazzaro ditch. When her father found her, he confessed that her cousins, from whom she had recently separated, were dead. Together they went to the Marro, as agreed in the event of a bombing. The hosts welcomed everyone with great hospitality, making Sora Teresa, mother of Dina lie down on the bed. After a while, Peppe (Chicchioni) arrives, the boyfriend, who had gone back to Pierantonio, having heard the rumors about Umbertide. They hug: it is an opportunity to overcome the small disagreements that had shaken their bond (36). Oddly enough, bombs can also have pleasant side effects, for once: they strengthen love! Silvano (Bernacchi), who miraculously escaped the collapse that devastated his grandparents, is rescued by Doctor Porrozzi, who leads him to his home near the iron bridge of the Rio. The little boy is slightly injured. They meet the teacher Dino (Bernacchi), the father, who, having seen the planes and the smoke on Umbertide, had delivered the children and headed home by bicycle. But he does not recognize Silvano, until the doctor tells him: "Your son is here!" (37). Unfortunately, not all of them manage to reunite. Peppino (Baiocco), who had escaped to Piaggiola, set out to look for his mother and sister. She finds her mother with her cousin Franco (Mischianti); no trace of his sister and a tragic presentiment (38). Gigetto de la Posta (Luigi Gambucci) had tracked down his mother and sister to the nuns. Father Baldo was neither at home, where someone had seen him pass, nor with them; then he made them wait, assuring her that he would go looking for him. It goes towards the square from the Collegiata. He glimpses Virginia on the ground at the corner of Via Stella. Aldo Zurli stops him as he senses the reason for his wandering. He points to his father, after having accompanied him for a few steps: he is on the ground in the square, dead, just around the corner, towards the arches of the priest (39). Even Tittina (Fiorucci), around two o'clock, learned that her mother was dead: they found her on the step of the shop, with a cross beam that suffocated her. They take her to the cemetery with a cart (40). Lina (Silvia Cambiotti), with her mother, had gone to the Collegiate to see if her daughter and in-laws were there. No trace of the daughter among those poor bodies. Suddenly, the tremendous confirmation that Amalia is dead. They tell her that they took her away: she would have found her in the cemetery. In fact, the corpses from the Collegiate Church carry them away as they arrive, because they no longer have anything to do with it: carts full of bodies, one on top of the other, tied with ropes. Torn by desperation, Lina drags herself with her mother to the cemetery. In the church he throws himself on his Amalia, who he immediately recognizes in the midst of so many bodies lying on the floor: it is the end. All the unbearable cold, suffered in the glassless house in San Cassiano to keep her daughter safe, did nothing. He led her to die in the house in Via Mancini, after making her struggle unnecessarily. All in vain: so many sacrifices for nothing! She seems to recognize the mother-in-law in one of the other corpses. When in doubt he has to open her mouth to see if she is toothless like Marianna. She has all her teeth: it's not her. She picks up her daughter, with the head resting on her neck. On foot, she heads to Montecastelli, accompanied by her mother. He wants to bury her in the cemetery near his parents 'house: "So much as a mo' Moor [now I'm dying] too!", He thinks. They continually switch over to each other to bring that lifeless little body. They cross the Tiber with Carosciolo's boat in an unreal silence: no words, only the drops of the oars dripping on the river, like tears. Moored on the other bank, they proceed across the fields towards Montecastelli (41). The instinct for normality resurfaces The cloud of dust has not completely dissolved, which resurfaces in people who have not been affected in the closest affections the instinct to continue, despite everything. Life goes on. At the bottom of the Piaggiola, as soon as you begin to see something again, a woman sweeps in front of the house; Aldo (Fiorucci), her son, takes her by the arm and convinces her to flee towards Roccolo, which her father had established as a meeting point in the event of a bombing4 (42). Giovanna del torroncino (Mancini) and Carla have lost their orientation a little and are returning to the Tiberina, almost at Pian d 'Assino. They head towards the town and meet, in front of the Tobacco factory, an acquaintance who reproaches them, as if they had skipped school: "Ma` ndu séte state [where have you been], until now! v'arcercono [they seek]! Sintiréte le bòtte !! ". Never has the threat of a reprimand been so welcome: it is a sign that mothers are alive. Giovanna had feared the worst, because her family lives just behind the station, considered one of the most likely targets of the bombing. At the station he finds his mother and grandfather, who wants to take everyone to his home, to Niccone. But first we need to find the younger brother who is in kindergarten with the nuns. There are many looking for their children: but there is no trace of Luigino. Fortunately, Sister Adele happens to let him out from under the zinale where he had taken refuge, having considered it the most welcoming place: "Here he is, uncle Luigi!", She reassures us. He calls it that, affectionately, because it is the smallest of all4 (43). Sister Adele's petticoat [cassock] has really become the feathery cradle of a hen. As soon as the bombing had ceased, Nino (Grassini), at the bottom of the Piaggiola, had met Bruno again, from whom he had just separated. "Nino! Nino!", "Bruno!", They called each other. Together they had jumped the network that separates Via Vittorio Veneto from the field of the old church of Sant'Erasmo. Along the Regghia, Nino had met his father who had come down from San Benedetto, where he worked. Only then did he realize that he had never separated from the book of philosophy - 1-Emilio ", by Rousseau - which he should have brought to class; he had thrown it away with a kick. But immediately afterwards he had picked it up, thinking that otherwise he would have He had to buy it back: the school, like life, will continue. (44) Maria di Gesuè goes around the Collegiate Church to look for the satchel that his nephew Vittorino (Tognaccini) lost while fleeing from the sacristy to their tavern (45). Gigolétta (Mario Loschi), who has a small smelter's shop near Renzo's workshop, goes to check if the bronze statue of the Unknown Soldier has fallen in order to eventually melt the debris (46). From the Orlando Caldari workshop, recovering from the fright, they try to take the agricultural machinery to shelter in Civitella (47). The relatives of the owner of the shoe factory at the end of the Corso, abundantly scrambled their son Sirio (Lisetti) because he had run away, without notifying anyone. Then they went to retrieve the shoes thrown by the bombs on the banks of the Tiber: but most of them have already been taken by the people (48). Lorenzo (Andreani) and his family went back to the house to get the most necessary things. All loaded, they head towards the countryside. As they go down the Piaggiola, the basket with plates and cups slides from their mother's head to the ground. They collect all the pieces that, with glue and patience, will regain their original function: in the future there will be even less to throw away (49)! La Rosa (Baruffi), with her daughter Sunta, returns to the Tiber to pick up the cart, abandoned with the clothes she was washing (50). The money, which a few minutes ago fluttered around the square from the post office bag undisturbed, has already regained its value. A man looks for the bag he had kept ready near the door of the house with all the essentials, including that little bit of gold and the 100 lire postal vouchers that he paid every month for his daughter. He finds it under the arch of Via Mancini, about twenty meters from home: only the lining remains, but the contents are intact (51). Vera has returned to the Vibi house to get the gold and the money, but the soldiers prevent her from getting on. Tonino (Taticchi) - `l Bove - convinces them to let her pass, assuring them that she is the owner. He accompanies her and takes the opportunity to retrieve a revolver that he had hidden in a safe closet in that house (52). Even in Via Alberti the owners found, in the midst of the rubble, the purse with money - intact - and half a pat of lard, which will be a great company these days (53). The stomach, in fact, does not hear any laws; it knows no bombs, no deaths; when it is time, he arrogantly claims his share. Peppino (Rondoni), around eleven, went home. He found on the ground all the bread dough that had to be brought to the oven: leavened, it was overflowed by the mattra. He made up for it by making pancakes. He cooked and burned them. But when he distributed them to his own and to the people down the Tiber, no one made the griccia (54). At lunchtime, in the Sciabone farmyard - the farmer behind the Commenda, towards Civitella - there is bread and ham for everyone in the shade of the haystack; the effort of Anna (Bartocci) to bring him to safety was not in vain (55). Manco had been `nduvina [not even had been a fortune teller]! Guido (Lamponi) went to get seven rows of bread, which he had collected in the morning from the station oven, and a shoulder of pork. Everything is available to those present (56). Lazarus has brought some vinsanto, what he has prepared for when his son Pietro will sing mass. From the bottles that had become cloudy on the bottom due to the crash of the bombs, by pouring the clear part, he managed to fill a flask (57). Linda, having recovered from kindergarten, arrived along the Tiber from Palazzone, where she found a lot of other tobacconists and potters: someone is at home, others behind the haystack, others still behind the hedge. There are too many to have the courage to ask for hospitality. But there is no need: at half past two the hosts, Poldo and Rigo, distribute a cauldron of soup with chickpeas to everyone (58). Someone, relieved to have escaped, even has the strength to joke. "They did not recognize each other", comments - once the tragedy is over - the collaboration between Alfredo (Ciarabelli) and Giovanni (Ciangottini), who went back and forth from the rubble to the Collegiate Church, at the ends of the same stretcher with the dead person to take to the church: everyone knows that they are of opposite ideas - communist and fascist - with only myopia in common. Gamba de Balùllo manages to be witty. They ask him, "That man, have you [have] seen Trotta?" And he replies: "'n lu know [I don't know] ... trótton all!". In reality he had seen him, Dr. Trotta with his family, and had not hesitated to throw himself on the doctor's daughter, Lycia, obeying the splendid girl who begged: "Cover me, cover me!" (59). Animals also need consolation. Domenico (Duranti) crosses the bridge over the Regghia carrying with him the cage with the greenfinch Picchiottino, who is silent; he is vented by what he chirped for help, from under the table, where the cage from the window had been thrown (60). The eggs that had been laid to hatch in the house of the Boriosi hatched in fact due to the great noise: the chicks could not resist coming into the world to see what had happened. Now they console themselves in the breast of the mistress who has adapted to brood for the emergency, at Santa Maria da Sette (61). For the hierarchies nothing seems to have happened. An SS officer, accompanied by one of the militia, went to Marro to check the fate of the bag of money that disappeared from the post office. They ask Peppe della Fascina (Giuseppe Venti) who had brought the package from the station for an explanation: luckily he can show the receipt signed by an employee. Alongside the military, Gigino Ceccarelli - from the Post Office - must attend the bureaucratic task, despite being overwhelmed by grief for his exterminated family (63). Displacement As soon as you have found your relatives, you need to look for accommodation outside the country, to spend the night and to survive in the next few days, until when - who knows when? - life will not be reborn - will it be reborn? - in the destroyed country. A desperate multitude pours into the countryside: it is a biblical exodus. The family of Guerriero (Corradi), the photographer, is headed for the house in Preggio. He and father Antaeus in front; on bicycles; behind his wife, his daughters with the nanny (Emilia Matteucci) and the essentials on the cart pulled by a white-tailed horse, which Checco de Camillo was able to make available. They had to wait for the return of his wife Maria, who had gone to look for Umberto, the boy in charge of taking medicines: she had reappeared, white with dust, after being reassured by the pharmacist that the apprentice photographer was safe and that he had fled in the direction of San Benedetto. Other people have joined, taking advantage of the means to upload something. When the cart, after the level crossing, is just beyond the bridge over the Regghia, the father goes back to warn: "Stop, ... the dead are passing". The gig stops. The standing men take off their hats: on the first stretcher a woman with purple feet. More stretchers pass and someone asks whose miserable remains are. The transporters, on their way to the Collegiate Church, respond like automatons to what little they know (64). The teacher Gina (Gallicchi) was left alone with her daughter Luciana; he does not return to the temporary home in Montone, but sets out along the road that leads to the cemetery. Arrived at the curve of the cemetery she sits down on the grass, scrutinizing the faces of the people who come up from Umbertide, anxious to have some certain news. Everyone looks at her and no one speaks; fear can be read on their faces. They walk slowly, because they have bags, parcels and clothes in their hands that are used for temporary accommodation with friends or relatives. Look at those people who pass in silence as in a procession; he does not have the courage to ask anything, because he fears bad news. After a few hours of agonizing waiting, she sees Peppe, her husband, appear among the many people. Then exult with joy; goes to meet him; they hug. He picks up his daughter and fills her with kisses. It ensures that all their loved ones are safe (65). Around noon, grandfather Mancini leaves for Niccone with Giovanna del torroncino, her granddaughter, on the barrel of the bicycle and the rest of the family. When I am at the beginning of the bridge, the spectacle is terrible: mountains of rubble ... people screaming ... praying ... calling for help ...; the air is red-dust. Grandpa recommends: "Don't look ... don't look !! (66). Pistulino (Quintilio Tosti) with his family - his son riding a horse and his daughter by the hand - crosses the Tiber under the Gamboni lock: the water bubbling under his feet calms, after so much noise. They are directed to the farmhouse of their sister Ida, towards Niccone, whose family had replaced Milli, the farmer who had been sent away from the farm because of socialist ideas (67). Next to his parents' house destroyed by bombs, Nino de Capucino (Domenico Mariotti) saw Virgilio's (Bovari) bicycle perfectly efficient: it would be very useful for the transfer to Preggio which he is about to tackle, on foot, with the whole family; even if there is little to take away, other than what they are wearing. He tries in vain to borrow it from his master, but cannot find it. He decides to take it anyway: it is not the time for ceremonies. The family leaves for Preggio, with the support of Virgil's bicycle (68). Brutus (Boldrini), informed by someone that his daughter Cecilia is from Caporalino, arrives all out of breath to the Petrelle, where he discovers that the report was wrong: he finds his niece Adriana and not his daughter, who is buried, together with her friends and Bruno , under a mountain of stones. The uncle, when he realizes the misunderstanding, is unable to hide his disappointment in his face (69). Peppino da Milano (Feligioni) looks for his relatives coming down from Civitella through the fields; at the Cornacchia farm he finds his mother, aunt Ines and grandparents, desperate for his fate and for his father, who is still under the rubble, alive (70). Olimpia (Pieroni) and his family tried to flee towards the Abbey. They force them to go through the Madonna del Moro, where they meet Dante Baldelli and Giselda Ciangottini, who suggest they resume the straight instead of the river bank, otherwise they will arrive with difficulty. Along the way they stop at the house of the Fornaci, distant relatives as well as family friends, who offer food; then they leave again in the direction of the Colle, with the children Bettina and Marcello (71). 1) Drawing by Adriano Bottaccioli. 2) Maurizio Burelli. 3) Warrior Boldrini. 4 Mario Rossi, deputy commander of the Cairocchi battalion. 5) Warrior Boldrini. 6) Lidia Tonanni. 7) Fabrizio Boldrini. 8) Orlando Bucaioni. 9) Fabrizio Boldrini. 10) Mario Migliorati. 11) Pia Gagliardini. 12) Egidio Grassini. 13) Franco Villarini. 14) Ines Biti. 15) Margherita Tosti, manuscript of 1985. 16) Mario Tosti, The day of the bombing, poem taken from "National Competition XXV Aprile", Municipality of Umbertide, S. Francesco socio-cultural center, 1984. 17) Quintilio Tosti, oral testimony collected by his nephew Marco - 5th grade - 1985. 18) Margherita Tosti, manuscript of 1985. 19) Gigina Vestrelli. 20) Eva Burocchi, interview collected by his nephew Leonardo Tosti on April 25, 1994. 21) Annunziata Bucatelli. 22) Giovanna Nanni. 23) Luciana Sonaglia, 2001 manuscript. 24) Annunziata Caldari. 25) Lidia Corradi. 26) Giovanni Migliorati. 27) Lidia Corradi. 28) Ines Guasticchi. 29) Maria and Giovanni Migliorati. 30) Maria Migliorati. 31) Giovanni Duranti. 32) Saints Improved. 33) Fausto Fagioli. 34) Maria Luisa Rapo. 35) Giuseppe Lisetti. 36) Dina Bebi. 37) Silvano Bernacchi. 38) Giuseppe Baiocco. 39) Luigi Gambucci. 40) Annunziata Fiorucci. 41) Silvia Pitocchi and Anna Cambiotti, typescript December 16, 2003. 42) Aldo Fiorucci. 43) Giovanna Mancini. 44) Egidio Grassini. 45) Vittorio Tognaccini. 46) Renato Silvestrelli. 47) Amedeo Faloci. 48) Sirio Lisetti. 49) Lorenzo Andreani. 50) Assunta Baruffi. 51) Annunziata Fiorucci. 52) Vera Vibi. 53) Maria Chiasserini. 54) Eva Burocchi, interview collected by his nephew Leonardo Tosti on April 25, 1994. 55) Anna Bartocci. 56) Ines Biti. 57) Class III A, Mavarelli-Pascoli State Middle School, Grandfather, tell me about the war, 2004. Testimony of Giovanna Bottaccioli. 58) Linda Micucci. 59) Luigi Guiducci. 60) Maria Duranti. 61) Rina Boriosi. 62 Bruno Porrozzi, Umbertide in the pictures, Pro Loco Umbertide Association, 1977, p. 93. 63) Muzio Venti. 64) Lydia Corradi. 65) Gina Gallicchi, manuscript of 1995. 66) Giovanna Mancini. 67) Quintilio Tosti, oral testimony collected by his nephew Marco - 5th grade - 1985. 68) Domenico Mariotti. 69) Adriana Ciarabelli. 70) Giuseppe Feligioni. 71) Fausta Olimpia Pieroni. Prime reazioni nel cratere Tutti nel cratere Dai dintorni La tragedia si è consumata La seconda incursione - Catarsi La tragedia si è consumata THE SECOND RAID Word has spread that in the afternoon they will return to bomb, because in the morning they did not hit the bridge. Natalino (Lisetti) warned everyone he met. The Archpriest also has this presentiment (1). The few people left in the village, because they are engaged in excavations (2) or in taking away the indispensable (3) from the houses, are with ears pricked. It's just after four (4). Suddenly there is a stampede in the square: at the telephone point in the sentry box of the level crossing, the news of the arrival of another raid has arrived from Perugia (5). After a while, at 4:25 pm, the sirens sound in Città di Castello (6). The alarm spreads among the people, from person to person (7). Everyone flees like lightning towards the nearest safe place, in every direction: the Caminella (8), the slaughterhouse (9), the hospital, the furnace, the fields towards the Tiber (10). This time, after the morning disaster, no one underestimates the danger. Rescuers are also forced to flee. For the buried alive it is the coup de grace: when they realize it, they lose all hope. ronino de Bronzone (Antonio Feligioni), who in the late morning had managed to signal his presence and give instructions on how to be taken out, was about to be released; at this point he feels definitively lost (11) and screams in despair. Someone has the courage to stay to take advantage of the silence, which could make us perceive other traces of life. They hear the moans of a little girl. Perhaps it is Adriana, the niece of Quadrio Bebi (12) that Bronzone had reported near him, together with Cesira (Ceccagnoli). The planes from the direction of the Pantano approach Umbertide, strafing from time to time. At the height of the Canadà - the poplars that line the Tiber towards Montecorona - the fighter-bombers surprise the Pieroni, who are forced to hide; their children, now tired, fell asleep like dormice (13). La Loredana (Trentini) is returning to the Pantano, capecióna as before because Velia hadn't even started cutting her hair in the Corso hairdresser. At the Badia, right above her, she hears the machine gun crackle of an airplane. He has the impression that the little man who guides him is shooting at her. He throws himself on the ground in the middle of a field with stubble; blood comes out. Thinks you are hurt. Terrified she starts running. He climbs over a wall and falls behind, hitting his head on the ground. She feels doomed (14). The flock of red-tipped planes is the same as the one it bombed in the morning. The fighter-bombers proceed in formation from Montecorona; they pass Umbertide in the direction of Montone. Maybe it was a false alarm. A child, Benito, parries the pigs on the hill. To pass the time he had climbed to the top of a very thin cherry tree, as tall as an albaróne, playing swinging. Look, intrigued, at the German anti-aircraft battery that tries to counter the air attack from the position of Santa Maria da Sette: the bullets explode overhead, exploding like fireworks; some piece of metal falls around him. Not at all intimidated, he witnesses the show in ecstasy, blissfully continuing on his swing (15). Above Corlo, a plane suddenly veers left towards Sant'Anna (16), then dives into the bridge with the sun behind it (17). The others start to turn over the Faldo plain (18). It is a quarter past four (19). The multitude that had left the village since the morning, watches from the hills, dismayed and silent, aware of the new imminent havoc. The family of Guerriero (Corradi), the photographer, arrived in Montaguto on the cart pulled by the white-tailed breaker which, despite its size, can barely trudge along the uphill hairpin bends; they tried to make him rest, taking advantage of the stops to exchange news with all those passing by. Some people of the group remained in Romeggio, welcomed by Don Checco (Francesco Corradi), whom his grandfather Anteo wanted to greet together with the other brothers. They saw the planes appear on the horizon that suddenly fell downwards: "They dive!" someone says. "They drop the bombs", warns another (20). Gigetto (Luigi Gambucci) is halfway up the hill of Romeggio, together with his mother. He sees the first pair of bombs fall into the valley below, enveloping their home in a sea of smoke. "They took our house in full [they hit our house]", he whispers (21): the Vibi palace has been gutted. Within hours, his family was deprived of his father and his home. Among those rubble, on the first floor, also the relics of Garibaldi's passage disappear: the iron bed where he had slept, a saber and a painting with the General, who was the terror of children (22); the red enamel cup used by the hero of the two worlds, held like an oracle on the window sill above the rinsing machine (23). The symphony begins again (24): one at a time, the planes detach from the circle, strafe (25) and, in a dive, try to hit the bridge. The second pair of bombs falls near Trivilino; one remains unexploded (26). Another coppiola hits Camillo's house (27): the beams fly up, as in a firework (28). Nino de Capucino (Domenico Mariotti) sees her jump from Polgeto, where he arrived with the whole family and Virgil's bicycle (29). The ANAS warehouse near Maddoli is pulverized (30). Other bombs explode on the banks of the Tiber, throwing stones up to the slaughterhouse (31). One remains unexploded on the stone in front of Peppino Rondoni's house (32). Some boys who were coming down from the hill of Romeggio, where they had gone to look for the splinters, attend the show (34). Again, a great fuss arises over the town (35). Other young people hid in a small ditch on the edge of the same road. The aircraft that regain altitude pass very close to them, in the gully between Romeggio and Colle delle Vecchie. The boys distinguish the pilots very well and have the impression of being seen. They curl up even more in the ditch, for fear of being machine-gunned; the heart beats very strongly with fear, but above all with the thrill of seeing a bombing plane and its pilot up close (36). On the opposite side of the valley, towards the Marro, a terrified woman is unable to hold back the urine, which she spreads on the ground in front of everyone (37). The Fornaci ladies, always impeccable and refined, lie with their feet soaked in the Regghia, behind the crag that shelters them, too low to contain them (38). On the outskirts of the town, the rescuers who were busy in the excavations crouched in temporary shelters. At Caminella they threw themselves into the holes left by the roots of the uprooted poplars, where the carcasses of sick animals are usually buried (39). Settimio (Burberi) has his work cut out for his son Dolfo's head inside the hole, who stands up pointing to each plane when he dives: "Here he is ... here he is!" (40). Next to them Carlo (Polidori), another teenager, whimpers: "Oh my God, my casine!". At the same time the displacement of a bomb causes it to fall into the Tiber (41). The splinters hiss over the heads of people lying on the ground behind the river banks (42). Several people poured under the crag beyond the house in front of the hospital, towards the furnace. Here comes Emma (Roselletti) who was loading the last box of books on the cart with the horse and checking that it did not remain on the ground in favor of something he cares less about. She is terrified of having already suffered a bombing in Rome, in the area of the freight yard of the Prenestina station (43). From the market, many fled to the Piobbico garden and threw themselves into a ditch to collect rainwater, all getting dirty (44). Along the Reggiani orchard, at the Lazzaro ditch, Clementina says the rosary, while another old blasphemy because they machine guns, too (46). Mario (Destroyed) watched the scene paralyzed from the Gamboni lock, embracing a plant; to the unconsciousness of the morning, the experience just lived has made the terror take over (47). After this second undertaking, the pilots write down in their flight log the result that appeared to their eyes: they assert that the road was centered twice to the west of the bridge and once to the east; that three more shots fell just north of the bridge, on the stone; all the others did not hit the road bridge, but enveloped it in smoke and dust without inflicting damage. In reality, once again the bombs missed the target: only the first pair of bombs touched the target and another damaged the national road. The successive shots drifted further and further away, due to the cloud of smoke, like in the morning. This raid also failed. You return to the base without credits. When the planes fly over Ulderico's shop in Montecorona, at the level crossing at the end of the straight, in Pierini's house it is a pain. They have lost hope. Teresa, Peppino's new mother, is making the dress to bury her son who has not returned from Galen's barbershop (48). Up there, in the cockpits, they can't see or hear anything. During the return to the base camp, they console themselves by strafing a truck, which is destroyed by fire, and an electric locomotive: this is the sop given to the Pierantonio station (49). Visibility: bad. No AA over the target. Landing: 5.40 pm. Total flight time: 31.00 hours. 1) Don Luigi Cozzari, letter for the 1st anniversary (1945). 2) Christmas Lisetti. 3) Adolfo Burberi, Bruno Burberi. 4) PRO, London, Operation Record Book, Detail of work carried out, SAAF, 239th "Wing Desert Air Force", 5th air squadron. 5) Fabrizio Boldrini, Bruno Burberi. 6) Alvaro Tacchini (curator), Venanzio Gabriotti - Diary, Institute of Political and Social History Venanzio Gabriotti, Petruzzi Editore, Città di Castello, 1998, p. 192. 7) Franco Anastasi. 8) Fabrizio Boldrini, Bruno Burberi. 9) Betto Guardabassi. 10) Franco Anastasi. 11) Giuseppe Feligioni. 12) Mario Simonucci. 13) Fausta Olimpia Pieroni. 14) Loredana Trentini. 15) Benito Broncolo. 16) Angelo Santucci. 17) Franco Anastasi. 18) Willemo Ramaccioni, oral testimony collected by his son Carlo - 5th grade - 1985. 19) PRO, London, Operation Record Book, Detail of work carried out, SAAF, 239th "Wing Desert Air Force", 5th air squadron. 20) Lidia Corradi. 21) Luigi Gambucci. 22) Renato Silvestrelli. 23) Ruggero Polidori. 24) Bruno Burberi. 25) Velia Nanni. 26) Luigi Gambucci. 27) Franco Anastasi, Luigi Gambucci. 28) Margherita Tosti. 29) Domenico Mariotti. 30) Luigi Gambucci. 31) Betto Guardabassi. 32) Eva Burocchi, interview collected by his nephew Leonardo Tosti on April 25, 1994. 33) Bruno Porrozzi, Zlmbertide in the images, Pro Loco Umbertide Association, 1977, p. 94. 34) Giorgio Bruni. 35) Franco Anastasi, Fabrizio Boldrini. 36) Willemo Ramaccioni, oral testimony collected by his son Carlo - 5th grade - 1985. 37) Christmas Lisetti. 38) Warrior Gagliardini. 39) Fabrizio Boldrini. 40) Bruno Burberi. 41) Adolfo Burberi. 42) Giovanna Nanni. 43) Emma Roselletti. Taken from: Simona Bellucci and Edda Sonaglia (curators), "Group of women on March 8" by Umbertide; videotape. 44) Domenico Manuali. 45) PRO: Public Record Office, London, Operation Record Book, Detail of work carried out, SAAF, 239th "Wing Desert Air Force", 5th air squadron. Taken from: Mario Tosti (curator), Beautiful works !, Municipality of Umbertide, 1995, p. 50. 46) Assunta Baruffi. 47) Mario Destroyed. 48) Fausta Olimpia Pieroni. 49) Archive of the Umbrian Central Railway. Will to rise again Only a few weeks have passed since the disaster that nature - driven by the reproductive instinct of the species - has already begun to react. Perhaps she has no feelings: she has not noticed anything. Or he has already forgotten those strange thunders out of the blue. Or it has a soul: it wants to encourage men to raise their heads. The swallows screech again, in their beaten garrules hunting for insects among the ruins. New seeds have taken root, managing to pierce the carpet of dust: in the vegetable gardens the weed is spreading patches of green. Even among the debris of the apocalypse the stem of a few poppies spread bright red petals. Nature seems to herald the miracle of the country's resurrection, defying wickedness and encouraging hope. Fifteenth station Jesus rises from the tomb The will to react is also creeping into men's pain: collective tragedy tempers individual dramas; the pain of the neighbor contains and holds back one's own despair, soothing it. From the terraces of the hills all around the town, where we were welcomed, guarded, cared for, protected (2), we anxiously await the allied soldiers to bring peace and freedom. We do not have time to realize the paradox that the expected liberators will wear the same uniforms and wave the same banners of the twelve apostles, who sowed death along the Calvary of St. John. "We are forced to desire the arrival of an enemy to drive out another, more ferocious enemy ... Poor Italy! [Venanzio Gabriotti]" (3). The anxiety of going home, the hope of starting over makes us feel an extraordinary, inexplicable, incredible strength within us. Life after death touched upon is new life. We have the feeling that the martyrdom of our dead was not in vain: it was the tremendous passage towards a new redemption from the indolence of having passively witnessed the degradation of the founding values of civilization. All men have purified themselves - in a global catharsis - on a new Cross; on millions of crosses. Jesus died again with our dead, to save us and to rise again, together with humanity. A better world Life will be reborn: it will soothe pains, heal wounds. Paolino, the railway worker, will be able to bring flowers, together with new children, to the coffin that contains all his family; as well as Peppe de Moscióne (Bernacchi), his old neighbor in the alley of San Giovanni. Pompeo (Selleri) will have the strength to exhume his father shoemaker from the cemetery of Castello, where many times, from the Tifernate college, he had gone to visit him to honor his memory and draw courage. He will see the bones again, with the silver ring on his finger - the gold one he had given to the Fatherland - and with a broken leg (4). He will put the remains of his parents next to each other in Umbertide. He will resign himself to imagining close to them the bodies of the brothers that he will look for in vain in all the cemetery (5): no one will find any trace of them (6), as if they had sublimated themselves. Luciano's mother (Bebi) will find a sad serenity, in the eternally black dress of mourning. All together - we, the Germans, the Anglo-American allies - will have to have the courage to ask for forgiveness, for the acts of barbarism that each has on the conscience and the duty to forgive, as individuals and as States. A better world will be born from the tragedy. An imperfect world We know it will be an imperfect world. Heroes like Hamlet, Luciano, Linda, Maria, Fausto and all the others who died for the love of their loved ones will be forgotten. The marshal will risk being purged, despite his exemplary behavior, in a difficult balance between the obligations of the hierarchy and the duties of morality. The jackals will get rich with what they grabbed from the ruins while the others wept or helped the most unfortunate. The most acrobatic opportunists will acquire merit, to the detriment of those who have really raised their heads against evil. Even when it was clear that the wickedness of the individual has exceeded the limits of the rules of war, it will be easy to achieve impunity behind the alibi of the chain of command, of obedience to the superior, of the risk of life in case of disobedience: legitimate self-protection. . There will be enormous difficulties of investigation in tracing individual faults. In barbarism, with the end of reason, subjective responsibility fades into the spiral of hatred, revenge, terror, the survival instinct from which every individual is sucked. "In war everything is possible (7). But the war is not! There will be no more war! This will be the last! We are convinced that the sacrifice of the dead and the living will forever guarantee lasting, eternal peace: it is not possible that the tragedy experienced did not teach humanity everything! Forever! By now we are vaccinated: against dictatorship and against war. We have not learned the lesson from the history books that we are unable to read and could easily forget. We have lived this tragedy (8)! The martyrs of the Calvary of St. John live beyond life, inside our heads: the testimony of their sacrifice has been imprinted in the social chromosomes of our community, not only as a memory but as a teaching. We have witnessed that there is no Manichean separation between peoples of good and peoples of evil; but that there are good and perverse parts, according to the quality of the objectives they pursue. Within each part, the individual can maintain the autonomy of expressing his own nature, generous or evil, in his personal behavior, within the limits allowed by the environmental constraints that war magnifies. We have experienced that there are no collective faults. This time we have experienced firsthand that war is an abomination: not only because it tortures and kills, beyond all imaginable limits of perversion; but above all because, with the end of the rule of law, it empties man - every man, wherever he is on the side - of his faculty to judge and operate freely, according to his own will, nature, culture. War castrates man of the capacity for will that distinguishes him from animals. Man becomes an animal. Men become herds of animals. States become barbarians. The first gunshot generates a void in the categories of reason, law, ethics, in which men of good will lose the possibility of action and proposal: they cannot speak a language they do not know, use the tools that they do not know. they want to fight. It would be an unequal battle. They have to wait for the end of the war to restart the work of peacemakers with the restoration of the rule of law. These are the most disturbing effects of the state of war. The last useful war This, which still continues to sow tragedies along the path of blood to Berlin, will be the last war - adjectives can barely get out of our mouths - just and useful. It is really hard for us to admit that every day we approach the still fresh mounds of earth where our dead rest; yet, perhaps, this is the first time in human history that violence has served any good. This conflict defeated the abominable project of Nazism, with its diabolical atrocities. It has shown - and taught - that the terrifying destructive power of modern weapons has expanded the battlefields to the cities and the defenseless, hitherto essentially reserved for professionals, albeit unfortunate men. From today wars are no longer terrible competitions between soldiers, but tremendous instruments of destruction of peoples. Now half the world knows this, for having lived it on their own flesh and soul: common people will no longer have excuses to ignore themselves, nor will leaders have instruments of plagiarism towards unaware populations. This will be the last conflict: on the graves of our dead a new civilization will be founded, based on freedom, on democracy which, combined with awareness, will be a guarantee of indefinite peace. Plowshares and pruning spears will be built from the swords (9). Peace is not free It will not be free peace. We must avoid the risk that the other half of the world, unaware tomorrow as we yesterday, will repeat our same mistakes. We will have to help her to fight against ignorance and poverty, so that she can understand. Even before that, we must understand that our help does not respond only to the duty of solidarity but also to the selfishness of protecting our own peace: indifference towards distant outbreaks will be paid with greater virulence when these flare up on us. If cooperation does not replace exploitation, marginalized peoples - when they acquire awareness and discover secular abuses - will seek justice with the improper weapons to which they have been trained: ferocity, cruelty, hatred, fanaticism. The dangers The first, more subtle, danger to maintaining peace lies inside our heads. History teaches us that the memory of past mistakes is destined to fade with time and with generations. As the wounds - as is natural - heal and the pains ease, even in the survivors the memory of the single facts will fade. Even more the memory of the tragedy will fade in the minds of those who have only been able to imagine it from rare black and white images or from stories that will be perceived as unreal, impossible: sad fairy tales served up by old stoned. It is unthinkable that the generations of the third millennium are moved by past stories. just as we no longer shed tears for Cesare Battisti or the Bandiera brothers. Our duty It is up to us - only to us - to act immediately to prevent the recurrence of the evil. «At the origins of civilization, no one had questioned whether a war was just or legitimate: it was simply an instrument of the arrogance of the strong, who did not have to justify themselves to anyone. Then, with the Middle Ages, theories on just war arose, linking it to the pursuit of more or less noble aims. After the Spanish conquest of America, a new, modern legitimation of war was introduced, with the intention of justifying the dominion over the Indians and their world: war is the way in which the king, that is the sovereign state, does it justice. And since the sovereign state is such to the extent that it is sufficient in itself and cannot turn to a third authority for justice, if its own right is violated, justice is done with war, because it does not recognize any other authority above. self. War is the king's instrument of justice; it is a form of jurisdiction. War, as an expression of sovereignty and the figure of the modern state, is at the center of the system of international relations: it is a legitimate and, indeed, ordinary institution. It is up to us to undermine the concept of absolute sovereignty: no state can be considered self-sufficient. The task of prosecuting crimes between states, of claiming justice, of ensuring peace and security belongs to the international community, to a higher third which is the community of peoples "(10). Strengthened by freedom and democracy for the first time savored, we will immediately have to build supranational instruments capable of governing conflicts between peoples in the name of all humanity, avoiding confusing justice with revenge, law with force. We have the duty to enable our children to follow an obligatory, natural, definitive, obvious path. Apodittico: like the sun, the air, the universe. If we fail to leave this legacy, we will condemn them to relive other tragedies - on their own skin - to understand what we have undergone and learned. We will have betrayed our main duty as fathers by leaving them naked. The duty of the children The duty of the children will be to remember - without emotion - our history, which is the premise of their history; not to give in to the instinct to minimize the danger of new wars, attacks on freedom and democracy; defend and strengthen the tools - which we will have built - for the prevention and peaceful settlement of conflicts between peoples. Future generations will have to distill and cultivate the moral of our testimony: there was a terrible war in this valley too; the bombs, real, fell on their houses, they tore their relatives to pieces; the community to which they belong has no privileges of immunity to violence. The one just lived must be the last war; there can be no more useful wars, because they will have to be prevented in any case; any unfortunate future declaration of war will be the sign of the most tragic defeat of a world of forgetfulness. Our children will have to consider the problems of the rest of the world as their own, avoiding the risk that the well-being we have conquered becomes, for their consciences, an anesthetic to solidarity; while it will appear as an intolerable privilege in the eyes of the marginalized. To wake up from the torpor of opulence and addiction to violence, they will not have to wait for the unimaginable to happen: even the powerful and not just other humble shoemakers, sweepers, bricklayers, such as those of the Borgo di San Giovanni, become victims of barbarism; let the symbols of power collapse and not poor huts; that half the world is witnessing the atrocious spectacle, for some gimmick, and not just the diggers of Montone or the shepherds of Valcinella. If, even in this tragic eventuality, our children will jump indignantly in their armchairs, as if they discovered only in that moment the outrage of violence, without realizing that they are witnessing the last episode of a continuous series, in every corner of the world; if they will stubbornly respond to violence with blind violence instead of dialogue, feeling like the good sheriffs of the planet: then they will have the responsibility of having nullified the sacrifice of the dead of St. John and of those of all the other wars. The hope If that were the prospect, it wouldn't be worth it not even worth rolling up our sleeves to start over, in the hope that there is granted to see the birth of the new world (11). We are sure that man cannot be like this stupid not to have learned everything, forever! ... Now my heart is beating fast, I punch the pillow, then a nearby hand looks for my face and caresses me sweetly. Maybe I'll be able to sleep, now I feel the peace, peace is beautiful ... (12) 2) Raffaele Mancini, ... At midnight we bet on the rising of the sun ..., Edizioni Nuova Prhomos, Città di Castello, 1993. 3) Alvaro Tacchini (curator), Venanzio Gabriotti - Diary, Institute of Political and Social History Venanzio Gabriotti, Petruzzi Editore, Città di Castello, 1998, p. 94. 4) Pompeo Selleri. 5) Linda Micucci. 6) Umbertide Municipal Archive, 30 September 1944. 7) Albert Kesselring, Memories of war, Garzanti, 1954, p. 263. 8) Francesco Martinelli. 9) Prophet Isaac, Chap. II. 10) Raniero La Valle, "The end of modernity", The return of the war, Editions "1'altrapagina", Città di Castello, 2002. 11) Bruno Orsini, typescript from 1990. 12) Giuseppe Avorio, Peace is beautiful, "National Competition 25th April", Municipality of Umbertide, S. Francesco socio-cultural center, 1994. 13) Mario Tosti (curator), Beautiful works !, Municipality of Umbertide, 1995, p. 37. PHOTO GALLERY La seconda incursione - Catarsi

25 April April 25 in Umbertide means more things. Joy and pain, death and liberation ... 1944 with the bombing; the 1945 liberation. The first, ours, you can deepen with the pages of Alvaro Tacchini on "the Atlas of memory " with the contextualization of the events that our people underwent when they crossed the front in April 1944; in Fabio Mariotti's " Paths of Memory ", one can relive the pain of an entire community that will count 70 victims; with the "V oci della memoria " it will be possible to enter in an attempt to keep the memory of the people who lost their lives that day. April 25, 1944: The bombing of Borgo San Giovanni and the death of 70 fellow citizens (edited by Fabio Mariotti) Twelve British Curtiss P - 40 Kittyhawk aircraft departed from the Cutella field airport in Puglia to destroy the road bridge over the Tiber and make it more difficult for the Germans to retreat. It was April 25, 1944. A date that the people of Umbria will not forget. Between 9 and 9.30 the allied squadron flew the sky over Umbertide, with its load of two large-caliber bombs per plane (altogether about 4 tons of explosives ). After several vaults above Romeggio, the planes headed towards Serra Partucci, in favor of the sun, from which they swooped down towards the bridge over the Tiber. But the bombs (as Roberto Sciurpa wrote in his volume “Umbertide in the 20th century 1900 - 1946, from which this information is taken) were not yet“ intelligent ”(if ever there will be intelligent bombs) and they often missed the target. This unfortunately also happened to Umbertide. The bombs, dropped at regular intervals of about 30 seconds between one couple and the other, instead of hitting the bridge, all but two ended up on the houses in the historic center. It was a massacre. 70 people, including 46 women, were buried under the rubble. This is war. These are what today they call "side effects" that always and inexorably affect civilians, the most defenseless people. To avoid even these effects, there is only one universal system, stop wars and always work for peace. La ricostruzione video de "Il nostro Calvario" Presentiamo un estratto video, su gentile concessione di Mario Tosti, dal DVD “L’alba della libertà” realizzato nel 2004 dall’Istituto di storia politica sociale Venanzio Capriotti e dal Centro socio culturale San Francesco di Umbertide, in occasione del 60º anniversario della liberazione dell’alta Valle del Tevere , luglio 1944. Progetto diviso in quattro parti: la prima, che mostriamo come estratto nel nostro video, si intitola “Il nostro calvario. Il bombardamento di un paese inerme“; le altre parti del Dvd erano “Passaggi del tempo" sulla liberazione di Umbertide, “Mutazioni” sulla liberazione di Città di Castello ed infine “La bomba intelligente. la bonifica di una bomba inesplosa dopo sessant’anni di letargo” ritrovata sul greto del Tevere ad Umbertide. Le immagini storiche sono tratte dal libro “il nostro calvario di Mario Tosti. Le scene dal vivo invece sono tratte dalla rievocazione “l’ultima ora“ di Giampiero Frondini; le voci dei testimoni erano state registrate nel 1984. Voce narrante Luciano Bettucci, animazioni Valerio Rosi. Il progetto Ottant'anni Nel 2024 è nato il progetto "Ottant'anni", con una pagina completamente dedicata al ricordo della tragedia per eccellenza umbertidese. Progetto a cura di Mario Tosti, Unitre di Umbertide, il Centro Culturale San Francesco, con il Patrocinio del Comune di Umbertide. Realizzato con la collaborazione di Corrado Baldoni, Mario Bani, Serio Bargelli, Federico Ciarabelli, Francesco Deplanu, Sergio Magrini Alunno, Massimo Pascolini, Antonio Renzini, Luca Silvioni, Pietro Taverniti, Romano Viti. Cliccando qua di seguito si aprirà la pagina completa dedicata al 1944 e quella in divenire, mese per mese, del 1945 : Questa sotto è la pagina dell'opuscolo realizzato per portare la memoria nelle scuole superiori di Umbertide ed è stato realizzato da Antonio Renzini; cliccandola si torna alla Home del sito dove si può procedere anche qua mese per mese dal 1944 al 1945 nella nostra storia. The atlas of the Memory v to the page THE Routes of Memory v to the page Voices of Memori a go to page And then the other 25 April, that of 1945 with the liberation and the end of the war, a national event that is celebrated throughout Italy. Liberation that occurred in a broader military context connected with the front of Eastern Europe and the "French" one: on 25 April with "Elba day" they united. The release with the actions of the CLNAI can be explored with the link to "April 25, 1945" on the site dedicated by RaiCultura. At the same time American and Soviet troops joined at Torgau on the Elbe River. The action revealed the end of the Nazi system which occurred a few days later with the Battle of Berlin, giving the sensation of an ephemeral concord that was in reality only military. By following the link you can reach an in-depth page on Elbe Day. April 25, 1945 - 2020: Seventy-five years from the Liberation (edited by Fabio Mariotti) April 25, 1945 is the day on which the Upper Italy National Liberation Committee (CLNAI) - whose command was based in Milan and was chaired by Alfredo Pizzoni, Luigi Longo, Emilio Sereni, Sandro Pertini and Leo Valiani (present among others the president designate Rodolfo Morandi, Giustino Arpesani and Achille Marazza) - proclaimed a general insurrection in all the territories still occupied by the Nazi-fascists, indicating to all the partisan forces active in Northern Italy that are part of the Volunteer Corps of Freedom to attack the fascist presidia and Germans by imposing surrender, days before the arrival of the allied troops; at the same time, CLNAI personally issued legislative decrees, assuming power "in the name of the Italian people and as a delegate of the Italian Government". Since then April 25 has been a national holiday, the anniversary of the liberation of Italy. It is in fact a fundamental day for the history of Italy as a symbol of the victorious struggle of military and political resistance carried out by the allied armed forces, the Italian Cobelligerant Army and the partisan forces during the Second World War starting from 8 September 1943 against the fascist government of the Italian Social Republic and the Nazi occupation. 25 aprile 1945 April 25, 1945 v to the external page Elbe Day v to the external page Help us remember umbertidestoria@gmail.com

TEXTS and LINKS to CONSULT In this section you will find the references to the printed texts published and to the online resources of Umbertide history. Like the whole site, this list is also up for grabs. Please let us know about new or escaped "resources" to be included in "Bibliography" and "Sitography". BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Antonio Guerrini: History of the land of Fratta now Umbertide from its origins to the year 1845 (for Antonio Guerrini completed by Genesio Perugini) - Tip. Tiberina Umbertide, 1883 2. Francesco Mavarelli: Historical information and praise from the Company of Disciplinati of S. Maria Nuova and S. Croce in the Land of Fratta (Umbertide) - Stab. Tipografico Tiberino, 1899 3. Francesco Mavarelli: On the art of blacksmiths in the land of Fratta (Umbertide) - Memories and documents - Stab. Tipografico Tiberino, 1903 4. Umberto Pesci: History of Umbertide - Tip. R. Fruttini, Gualdo Tadino, 1932 5. Giulio Briziarelli: Umbertide and Umbertidesi in history - Unione Arti Grafiche, Città di Castello, 1959 6. Bruno Porrozzi: Our Castles - History and legend - Ed. Italian Red Cross, Subcommittee of Umbertide, 1959 7. Bruno Porrozzi: Umbertide in images from the 16th century to the present day - Ed. Pro Loco, Umbertide, 1977 8. Bruno Porrozzi: Statutes of the Fratta dei Figliuoli di Uberto (Umbertide) of 1521 - Ed. Pro Loco Umbertide, 1980 9. Bruno Porrozzi: Umbertide and its territory: history and images - Ed. Pro Loco, Umbertide, 1983 10. Bruno Porrozzi: Umbria, city region - Ed. Politecnico Perugino, Umbertide, 1986 11. Bruno Porrozzi: Umbertide - Origin and aspects of socio-health services - Ed. Mavarelli Middle School, Umbertide, 1988 12. Controstudio: Recovery and Restoration Project of the Teatro dei Riuniti in Umbertide - Ed. Tema, 1990 13. Bruno Porrozzi: Umbertide - Man in toponymy - Ed. Pro Loco, Urnbertide, 1992 14. Nicola Lucarelli: Domenico Bruni (1758 - 1821) - Biography of an emasculated singer - Ed. Municipality of Umbertide, 1992 15. Bruno Porrozzi: Umbertide - Rights of the former Preggio hospital - Ed. Pro Loco, Umbertide, 1993 16. Raffaele Mancini: ... At midnight we bet on the rising of the sun (San Faustino south) - Ed. Nuova Phromos, Città di Castello, 1993 17. Walter Orebaugh - Carol Jose: The Consul (An American diplomat joins the Italian Resistance) - Ed. Centro Socio Culturale S. Francesco Umbertide, Nuova Prhomos Città di Castello, 1994 18. Renato Codovini - Pietro Vispi: Luca Signorelli's paintings at Fratta Perugina - Polyglot Printing House of the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, 1994 19. Mario Tosti: Beautiful works! (Information, documents, testimonies and images on life and death events that occurred in the Municipality of Umbertide during the Second World War) - Ed. Municipality of Umbertide, 1995 20. Bruno Porrozzi: Umbertide - The Middle School from 1860 to today - E. Pro Loco, Umbertide, 1995 21. Mario Tosti: Five cypresses - June 24, 1944 Retaliation in Serra Partucci - Local publishing group, 2013 22. Maria Cecilia Moretti - Lorena Beneduce Filippini - Fausto Minciarelli: The Tiber and Umbertide (edited by Sestilio Polimanti) - Tipolitografìa Petruzzi, Città di Castello, 1995 23. Renato Codovini - Pietro Víspi: The living room and the work of Pico della Mirandola in Umbertide 24. Gian Luca Radicchia: The Sacred Hermitage of Monte Corona - Ed. Guerra, Perugia, 1997 25. Bruno Porrozzi: Umbertide - The work of Francesco Mavarelli - Ed. Pro Loco, Umbertide, 1998 26. Simona Bellucci: Le Tabacchine (A city, a factory: the Umbertide plant) - Ed. Municipality of Umbertide, 1998 27. Bruno Porrozzi: Umbertide - Me ne sgulìno (Essential vocabulary, idioms, nicknames, sayings, proverbs, aphorisms and ... more in the Umbertidese dialect) - Ed. Pro Loco, Umbertide, 1999 28. Pietro Bottaccíoli, Luigi Marioli - Anna Rita Vagnarelli: Pilgrims on the roads of Romualdo and Francesco - Ed. GESP, Città di Castello, 1999 29. Bruno Porrozzi: Statutes and Orders of the Fraternity of Santa Croce in Fratta (Umbertide) from 1567 to 1741 - Ed. Pro Loco, Umbertide, 2001 30. Roberto Sciurpa: Umbertide from the origins to the sixteenth century - Petruzzi Editore, Città di Castello, 2007 31. Renato Codovini - Roberto Sciurpa: Umbertide in the 17th century - Ed. GESP, Città di Castello, 2004 32. Renato Codovini - Roberto Sciurpa: Umbertide in the XVIII century - Ed. GESP, Città di Castello, 2003 33. Renato Codovini - Roberto Sciurpa: Umbertide in the 19th century - Ed. GESP, Città di Castello, 2001 34. Roberto Sciurpa: Umbertide in the 20th century 1900 - 1946 - Ed. GESP, Città di Castello, 2005 35. Roberto Sciurpa: Avis - Solidarity citizenship 36. Giovanni Bottaccioli: Penetola, not all the dead die - Municipality of Umbertide, 2005 37. Marilena De Vecchi Ranieri: Civitella Ranieri - a thousand years of history, by the "Uguccione Ranieri di Sorbello Foundation" 38. Between memory and history - the allies in Perugia and Umbria - Perugia, 1998 a edited by the "Uguccione Ranieri di Sorbello Foundation" 39. Giuseppe Cozzari: The Burelli family of Umbertide 40. Raffaele Mancini: Letter to a brother - Municipality of Umbertide, 1998 41. Edited by Luana Cenciaioli: Umbrians and Etruscans - border people in Monte Acuto and in the territory of Umbertide - Municipality of Umbertide, 1998 42. Angelo Boldrini: My diary (edited by his daughter Roberta) - Nuova Phromos, 1992 43. Alberto Briganti: Beyond the clouds, the serene - Nuovo Studio Tecna - Rome, 1994 44. Alessandro Cancian: Umbertide 1944 - 1946 - Municipality of Umbertide, 1994 45. Bruno Guerri - Giulio Pieroni: Proposal for the recovery of the historic core - Municipality of Umbertide, 1994 46. Luca Bruni: Letters from the Russian front - Municipality of Umbertide, 1994 47. By Prof. Claudia Picottini and class III A 2004-05 of the middle school “Mavarelli-Pascoli: Grandfather, tell me about the war - Municipality of Umbertide, 2005 48. Simona Bellucci: Tobacco and tobacconists - Tobacco Museum - San Giustino, 2009 49. Giovanni Cornolò - Giuseppe Severi: The Umbrian Central Railway - Arcipelago Edizioni - Milan, 2004 50. Umbria Research Agency: Umbertide. Economy and society: the municipality and the territory - Perugia, 2008 51. Angelo Galmacci: Verna - between history and legend ... - Municipality of Umbertide 52. Edda Corgnolini: I'll tell you, I've told you, I'll tell you again - Municipality of Umbertide, 2004 53. M. Enrica Sacchi De Angelis: The castles of Santa Giuliana .... - University of Perugia, 1984 54. Francesco Alunni Pierucci: Socialism in Umbria (1860-1920) - Perugia, 1960 55. Luca Sportellini: The Sanctuary of Maria Santissima Assunta in Rasina - Fabrizio Fabbri Editore, 2011 56. Renato Codovini: Jewish presence in Fratta Perugina in the 14th and 15th centuries - Local Publishing Group, 2011 57. Renato Codovini: The Conventual Franciscan friars of Fratta Perugina - Umbertide 2011 58. Renato Codovini: Study of a Lombard military surveillance tower and a house annexed to it in the eighth century - Umbertide, 2012 59. Pietro Vispi: The Collegiate Church of Santa Maria della Reggia - Umbertide, 2001 60. Simona Bellucci, The incomplete modernization. Farmers and owners of Umbertide between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Edimont, Vittà di Castello, 2004. 61. Mario Tosti: “Our ordeal” - Ed. Petruzzi - Città di Castello, 2005 62. Giovanna Benni: Castle and rural lordships in the Upper Tiber valley between the Early and Late Middle Ages. The territory of Umbertide (Perugia, Italy) Oxford, John and Erica Hedges 2006 pp. VIII-198 tables papers (British Archaeological Reports (BAR). International Series 1506. Notebooks on Medieval Topography. Documentary and Field Research 4), 2006. 63. Amedeo Massetti: Two centuries on the march - Umbertide and the band - Petruzzi Editore, Città di Castello, 2007 64. Mario and Menco. The doctors of the past ..., - Silvano Conti, Edimont, 2007 65. Paola Avorio: “Three walnuts” - Ed. Petruzzi - Città di Castello - 2011 66. Scortecci Donatella (edited by): The middle and upper valley of the Tiber from Antiquity to the Middle Ages: proceedings of the study day ; Umbertide, May 26, 2012 - Daidalos, 2014. Of this latest publication we insert specifically the internal sections that see several young Umbertidesi as authors: The historical-archaeological landscape of the Upper Tiber Valley between Antiquity and the Middle Ages Scortecci, Donatella. • p. 3-18 For an Archaeological Map of Umbria in the framework of the Regional Landscape Plan Ciarapica, Ambra • Manconi, Dorica. • p. 19-28 The centuriate landscape of Tifernum Tiberinum and Perusia: first considerations Waiters, Paolo • Mattioli, Tommaso. • p. 29-62 Settlement news from the Sansepolcro area. Population dynamics from the Paleolithic to the Early Middle Ages Laurenzi, Gian Piero. • p. 63-100 The ancient road system in the Upper Tiber valley Boldrini, Luca. • p. 101-143 Umbertide, the Tiber and the territory Cenciaioli, Luana. • p. 145-162 Old and new acquisitions in Umbertide: the testimonies from the territory and the excavation of Piazza del Mercato Occhilupo, Sergio. • p. 163-184 A small Villanovan burial ground in San Martino in Campo di Perugia near the Tiber Occhilupo, Sergio. • p. 185-196 The temple in loc. Caipicchi (Nogna) Fiorini, Lucio • Di Miceli, Andrea. • p. 197-216 The reuse of play buildings in post-Roman Umbria Marcattili, Francesco. • p. 217-236 The Upper Tiber Valley between the Early and Late Middle Ages: urban settlement and rural landscape. Benni, Giovanna. • p. 237-288 The castle of Certalto between written sources and material data Pascolini, Alessio. • p. 289-322 67. Sestilio Polimanti: "Vocabulary of the dialect of Umbertide and its territory. Collection of lexicons, proverbs, idioms, nicknames, stornelli and toponyms", Nuova Prhomos, 2018. 68. Simona Bellucci: Umbertide in the 20th century 1943-2000, Nuova Prhomos, 2018. 69. Angelo Angeletti: “If only the stones are left to speak”, Digital book Srl, Città di Castello, 2019. 70. Pietro Vispi (and photo by Paolo Ippoliti): "Talking stones." If they keep silent, the stones will cry. "., Local publishing group, Umbertide, 2021. NB: For the dissemination of the history of Umbertide, with an in-depth study of the popular traditions of our area, we recall the project with the 25 issues of the " Calendar of Umbertide ". Calendars published from 1992 to 2016 by Adriano Bottaccioli, Fabio Mariotti, Amedeo Massetti, Walter Rondoni, Mario Tosti. SITOGRAPHY Historic portal of the Municipality of Umbertide: http://www.umbertideturismo.it/Storia-History-Imphotos-e-video-Images-and-videos-Manifestazioni-Events-Musei-Museums-Monumenti-Monuments-Tevere-Tiber Umbertide GAAT website: http://www.netemedia.net/gaat/umbertide.htm Santa Croce Museum: https://www.sistemamuseo.it/ita/2/musei/54/umbertide-umbria-museo-comunale-di-santa-croce/ Historical Association of the Upper Tiber Valley: https://sites.google.com/site/altoteverestorica/Attivit SIUSA (Unified Information System for Archival Superintendencies) on Umbertide: http://siusa.archivi.beniculturali.it/cgi-bin/pagina.pl?TipoPag=prodente&Chiave=50311&RicProgetto=reg-umb&fbclid=IwAR2ydRABe1Uw3MxVbj3WkZrexe4eu0lBSPZe_991_1LwwGoww Ranieri di Sorbello Foundation: http://www.fondazioneranieri.org/it/la-fondazione/ Statutes of the Fratta : http://www.cemir.it/easyne2/Download.aspx?Code=CEMIR&filename=Archivi/CEMIR/PDF/0000/624.PDF NB: information on the Bibliography up to 2001 comes from from the site: http://www.umbertideturismo.it/content/download/238724/2541781/file/Libri%20sulla%20storia%20di%20Fratta%20-%20Umbertide.pdf Help us remember umbertidestoria@gmail.com EH Carr "Change is certain. Progress is not "

Sanctuary of Maria Santissima Assunta in Rasina The ruins of an imposing architectural structure in the hills of the Niccone valley curated by Fabio Mariotti The Sanctuary is located in the Municipality of Umbertide, on the hills north of the Niccone valley, in the immediate vicinity of the Rocca di Rasina, in the center of a plateau about 600 meters high and surrounded by thick wood. Very little is known about this imposing church also because there is no historical documentation on its origins and the writings that are interested in it can be counted on the fingertips. The information reported here is taken from the book "The Sanctuary of Maria Santissima Assunta in Rasina" by the Perugian architect Luca Sportellini published in 2011 which has as an interesting subtitle "Analysis and proposal for attribution to Francesco di Giorgio Martini". Lo Sportellini, in fact, on the basis of an accurate technical study and on the historical period in which the work is presumed to have been completed, puts forward the fascinating hypothesis that the project of the church was drawn up by the famous Renaissance architect Francesco di Giorgio Martini, among other things, for the project of the Ducal Palace of Urbino. It is clear that this is only a hypothesis and, to use the same words of the author of the text, "this hypothesis is still considered an open question that will have to be carefully evaluated by specific skills before being able to definitively establish if really there was an involvement of the great architect and if so, to what extent should a debt be recognized to his work ". To enter into the merits of the structure, it is an organism with a central Greek cross plan, whose arms measure up to 24 m. and whose vault reaches a height of about 14 m. (a considerable size, considering that it was built in the open countryside, in a particularly isolated area). In Sportellini's opinion, other elements, "including the presence of Doric architectural orders, the pre-existing chapel incorporated in the Lauretan manner, the crossed vault set on a basic pseudoctagon, make this building exceptional to the point of being able to a certain interest in the history of Italian architecture of the late 15th century ". It is assumed that the construction of the sanctuary began between 1485 and 1491 and ended between 1501 and 1504. The construction of sanctuaries dedicated to the Madonna is in fact one of the main trends of Italian architecture at the end of the 15th and the beginning of the sixteenth century. It is therefore very probable that the foundation of the Rasina church was due to a miracle that occurred through the intercession of the Madonna to whom the chapel on which the sanctuary was later built was dedicated. This would also explain the location of the structure in such an isolated and not easily accessible place. From the few archival information found, it appears that the church in 1800 must have already been in a state of semi-abandonment and then finally went into disuse with the first collapses and structural injuries that occurred at the beginning of the 1900s, in particular on the occasion of the Umbrian-Aretino earthquake. in 1917, while the definitive collapse of the central vault, already seriously compromised, was determined by the 1997 earthquake. The now secular state of neglect and its considerable size unfortunately suggest that its complete reconstruction is difficult if not impossible. At least an intervention that would prevent its definitive disappearance would be desirable. Photo: - Superintendence for Historical, Artistic, Ethno-anthropological Heritage (1942) - Peppe Cecchetti - Amedeo Massetti (2011) Sources: "The Sanctuary of Maria Santissima Assunta in Rasina" - Luca Sportellini - EFFE Fabrizio Fabbri Editore Srl - 2011 1942. Photo Superintendence of Historic Heritage 1942. The interior of the church 1942. Image of the vault 1942. Glimpses of the interior 2011. Glimpses of the interior 2011. Some pictures of the ruins

Departures The stories of those who left and often came back: in the meantime, let's start with the stories of Settimio and Gino. Gino Monsignori, i mari australi e la Svizzera Settimio Presciutti e la Svizzera Departures Settimio Presciutti and Switzerland (edited by Loredana Presciutti) " Settimio Presciutti was born in 1924 And wife in 1951 Annunziata Bomboletti three years younger, born in 1927. Both coming from peasant families, they moved to Umbertide in the Corvatto area (after the sports field along the strada tiberina) where my father had built a small house. Porter for the masons first, he takes the elementary school certificate thanks to the “ Maestrone” Lamberto Beatini and participates in the street competition (he does not win it, recommendations already existed at the time). He then decides to buy a three-wheeler to transport breach and anything else for construction. However, he was defrauded in the purchase by the seller, signed the bills of exchange, got into debt and was forced to emigrate to Switzerland in 1960, alone, leaving me and my mother to earn it to live he worked by the hour in various homes. Photo: Settimio a Ruti in Switzerland In Ruti in the canton of Zurich, he is employed as a worker in blast furnaces, plants used in the steel industry to produce cast iron starting from ferrous material where temperatures of 1200 ° C were used. Working in this environment without protection, he inhaled fine dust whose accumulation led to respiratory problems that forced him, even after returning home for several months to expectorate. black from the residue it had accumulated. 1/1 Photo: Documents of Septimius and Annunziata After about 8 months, unable to live alone, he also asks his wife find a job, otherwise he would have returned to Italy. And so my mother also left in February 1961, leaving me with dear friends who lived next to their apartment, who treated me like a daughter and whom I continued to call uncles until their death. My mother worked at Maschinenfabrik, a company that produced textile machines and he worked there until 1964 when they both left Switzerland to return to Italy. A document of the “Direktion der Polizei Fremdenpolizei” of May 20, 1964, found folded inside the passports, reminds us of the situation of our emigrants. It is a " Residence permit for family members ", with the details written in German and then in Italian and Spanish: “ From your application for an employment permit, or insurance for the issuance of a residence permit, it appears that there are family members with you who obviously intend to reside in the Canton of Zurich as well. We expressly draw your attention to the directives valid for the whole of Switzerland, according to which family members of foreign workers can only be allowed to stay without gainful activity with the head of the household after the latter has spent three years in Switzerland without interruption. Before that date, family members can stay here only temporarily, for visiting reasons. We have provisionally granted or secured a residence permit to take up employment in the Canton of Zurich. In doing so, we have assumed that your family members will leave Switzerland within three months of accounting for your entry. You therefore have the right to decide whether, under these conditions, you would prefer to give up taking up employment and staying in the Canton of Zurich. " Photo: Settimio and Annunziata to Rudi in Switzerland Settimio Presciutti e la Svizzera Thanks to these sacrifices, my father finished the house he had begun to build as soon as he got married on several occasions during his vacation. I believe the greatest pain for my parents was to leave me in Italy; my mother always told me about the sorrow she felt when, returning for short periods of vacation, I called her "aunt" . " Photo: Settimio at work in front of the new house at "Corvatto" Sources: - Family archive Presciutti - Photo: fam. Presciutti Gino Monsignori, the southern seas e Switzerland Australia (edited by Miriam Monsignori) "My father, Gino Monsignori, in the summer of 1954 is an ambitious young man of just 22 who wants nothing more than to create a future of greater well-being and growth than the conditions, albeit dignified, given the war and the large family, which he lived until then. He had tried to create his future in Italy, applying to join the Guardia di Finanza (rejected because he was too young, he had not yet turned 18), in the Railway, but since then if you did not have the "right knowledge" (obviously not those related to competence ...) it was not easy to enter the "good places" and the residual jobs that were found were seasonal and did not give enough economic satisfactions that could create the foundations of that future to which he aspired so much. So, this enterprising young man, one morning in August 1954, takes the train of the old FCU (which then worked well or badly) and went to Perugia to the Provincial Labor and Maximum Occupation Office (established in 1948 and until 1996 which then also acted as emigration centers, based in the most suitable locations for expatriation and repatriation of workers), to ask if there were places in the world where they could go to work. They replied that yes, there would be a country that is looking for labor, it is a bit far away and is called Australia. Well, he answers, takes the question and takes it home. In 1951 an agreement was signed between Italy and Australia by which the two Governments undertook to assist the permanent emigration of suitable persons from Italy to Australia. He talks about it with a friend, Enzo Grottelli, who also comes from an even larger and more needy family who asks him to fill out an application for him too. In November they are both called to go to Milan to carry out all the medical examinations necessary to verify eligibility to emigrate to that country, because Australia does not want sick but healthy and strong people to enter its soil to carry out the activities for which it requires personnel. They stay in Milan for three days where they undergo medical examinations by Australian doctors supported by Italian staff, and where their profiles are also examined and their people checked. Gino Monsignori, i mari australi e la Svizzera At the end of the three days, paid by the Australian Consulate, they are sent back home telling them that the suitable ones would be notified by letter with the date and place of departure. The letter arrives and sets the departure for Australia for the month of February 1955 from the port of Genoa. Gino and Enzo embark together from the port of Genoa, the journey lasts over a month during which they have the opportunity to learn some notions of the English language through the teaching of staff made available by the Australian government. On the outward journey, the ship passed through Port SAID passing through the SUEZ CHANNEL, beyond which it reached the RED SEA, stopping in ADEN, a city of YEMEN at the other outlet of the CHANNEL, where it was refueled and then left again for the 'INDIAN OCEAN and, after another 10 days at sea, touched the coasts of a new stage of the journey, COLOMBO, in SRI LANKA, south of INDIA. A few hours of rest and they left for FREMANTLE, the first port of Australia, where they arrived after another 14 days on the OCEAN without seeing land. A day and a night of rest and, off to Melbourne, another five days of travel and they finally arrived at their destination. In Melbourne they got off and were escorted out of the city to what we now call shelters. There they were really welcoming, it was a neighborhood made up of many wooden houses where a maximum of two people stayed and in which Gino and Enzo stayed about three days after which they told them that there was work in Tasmania and if they wanted they could try to go there. They accepted and again took back a ship and in about six hours they reached the wild island Tasmania today, let alone then. After docking at Porth Arthur and reaching the capital Hobarth they were accompanied to the interior of the island where they were building a hydroelectric power station. There they explained to them that the work consisted of creating artificial passages to divert the waters in favor of the power plant. Gino recalls a landscape rich in waters, rivers and very tall trees, so high that to see the sun he had to raise his eyes to the sky where weak rays of sun filtered through the thick vegetation. Gino's outward journey There, too, they made the houses available to them for a maximum of two people, then they had the canteen to eat and they also gave them blocks with which they could return the money for the trip as they were paid by the companies. The work was not bad but there were only a month left because beyond that there was nothing, they were isolated and life was just work and even if they were there to earn it was not good, they were still twenty years old. Gino, the first on the right, with two friends in Australia So Gino and Enzo returned to Melbourne and from there they went to Queensland, to Ingham, a beautiful town where there was a need for staff to cut sugar cane. Very strenuous work, remember that you have never sweated so much in your life! He did it for three seasons, he worked at a piece rate and earned a lot, to understand: what in Italy he earned in a month with an average job Gino managed to earn in a day! Gino gave all that money back to his family who was building a new house, in part they contributed to this and in part to other needs. At a certain point, however, he felt the lack, not of home, but of his country, Italy, where he had lived, of our culture that when one has the opportunity to see other countries one realizes even more how special it is. , and that's what you miss, nothing more. This is why Gino decided to return to Italy, while his dear friend Enzo wanted to stay there, where he married an Australian lady, has two children and a farm of over 50 hectares where he grows sugar cane. He came back to see Gino twice, the last about 6 years ago, they stayed in touch and there is no Christmas, Easter, birthdays when the phone rings early in the morning and at home we all say “this is Enzo! Answer dad ”, if the phone is slow to ring in those days it is a big concern. Frames from the documentary on Italian emigrants in Ingham in Australia made by Maio Torrisi: " Gentleman of the flashing blade ". Work area of Gino Monsignori and Enzo Grottelli My father says that the return trip in 1958 was beautiful, he came home, he had more money in his pocket and it was a kind of cruise. This time he was alone, Enzo as I said wanted to stay there, the only element of sadness. He wanted to change his route, left Sydney with the ship Castel Felice ( read here the story of the ship ) of the Sitmar company passing through Java, Sumatra (Jelon island !!!!) and up to Singapore crossing the Suez Canal again to dock this time in the port of Naples. From the return trip Gino brought back this parchment which appears to be the evolution of the ex-votos of many overseas emigrants, no longer thanks to God and the wish for a safe journey, but an "institutional" attestation to the ancient sea divinity of the journey in oceans. Swiss Upon returning from Australia, in the summer of 1959, my father stopped by the family to help her with the work in the countryside in Campaola where my grandparents had agricultural land to cultivate and the forest from which they drew family sustenance. But after having had that experience on the other side of the planet, it is easy to understand how Campaola, a town in the mountains that divide Umbertide from Gubbio, was narrow due to its wide views. So at the beginning of 1960 this time he took a train and, first he headed to France and then to Switzerland where there was a large group of people from Umberto I including his brother-in-law, Floridi Evelino. He immediately went to the German canton in the Zurich area and there he began looking for a job and a place to live. He stopped in Rümlang, a small town in the Canton of Zurich in the Dielsdorf district where there was a beautiful productive fabric, with many more or less large factories. In one of these he immediately found work, a job that he continued throughout the period he remained in Switzerland. The factory where Gino worked The story continues with a curious anecdote: since he had won some money at the Totocalcio (Italian habit), he had managed to rent a room near the workplace he had just found. It was a small room that was located above a butcher's shop, equipped with all comforts and above all it was only his and he did not have to share it with anyone. Every now and then he came home, for the Christmas holidays, in the summer for the holidays. The journeys were an odyssey, trains full of compatriots generally coming from the south who brought typical products from their countries of origin, from oranges from Sicily to salami and chillies from Calabria and oil from Puglia. My father told me that once during the journey to Switzerland, one of the wagons began to drip olive juice from the passenger suitcases placed high on the luggage racks! Train journeys were always very crowded and chaotic, people crammed standing along the corridors with the famous cardboard suitcases piled in the intercommunicating passage between two carriages. This happened up to Chiasso, a city on the border with Switzerland. Noise was the watershed: people were identified there, the necessary carriages were added to seat all passengers. Everyone had to have their seats until they reached their travel destination. On one of these return trips my father Gino met Adriana, my mother whom he then married in September 1963. He decided to take her with him to Switzerland where he had a good job and a good accommodation. At this point the room was a bit small, so he looked for an accommodation more suited to his new status as a "married man". He found a large apartment to share with another couple with shared kitchen use. The roommates were from Puglia. Some time after the beginning of the cohabitation, my father, speaking with the owner of the apartment, realized however that he was the one to pay most of the rent and so the cohabitation was interrupted. My parents, given the experience, worked to find an apartment just for them. However, it was not easy to get a decent rented house because the Swiss were very suspicious of foreigners and had to be referenced. My father's reference was a gentleman who worked in the Zurich city hall who acted as guarantor for this young couple who thus managed to obtain a small apartment, a room, a kitchen and a bathroom in Rümlang. My mother, after a first period of acclimatization and arrangement of the house, had decided that she too wanted to look for a job and so first with my father on Saturday morning and then alone she went in search of a job asking in the numerous factories in the country. He found one in a rather large factory where he was not very comfortable. So she left that occupation and soon after she found a job in a small Jewish factory that made pantyhose where she was in charge of what we would now call "quality control". She really liked the work, the environment made up of many young Italian girls from all regions, from north to south, from Veneto, Friuli, Puglia rather than Sicily. It was a wonderful time for Gino and Adriana, they always tell me that they saw a lot of money, they had a nice house, jobs they liked and they were integrating into the rigid Swiss environment both with language and habits. Then one beautiful day in March of '66 my mother realized she was expecting a baby and from there my father immediately wanted to move house and for this he made use of that person again. he worked in the municipality which acted as guarantor for a bank-owned apartment with two bedrooms in a new building. I arrived in November '66 two days after the Florence flood. My grandmother Caterina who came to see her granddaughter did not know until the end if she would be able to pass by train in that Italy divided in two by the flooded Arno in Florence that prevented the passage of trains. My father was waiting for his mother-in-law in Milan to accompany her to a country that seemed so far from the reality from which she came, even the climate, the cold and the abundant snow at that time. My grandmother always told me that in the morning when she went out to the streets of Rümlang to do the shopping, everyone greeted her, they were obsequious (remember that one day during a snowstorm her umbrella slipped away and a gentleman who passed bring it back). She didn't understand their language because they spoke German, they were kind and courteous, according to her, because they mistook her for Swiss because of her fair complexion and light brown hair. The same thing happened to my mother Adriana, blonde blue eyes, her easy integration also passed from here ... Then when I was born, everything was more difficult, also because I did not eat and consequently I did not grow, I had problems with milk so Gino and Adriana took me back to Italy to my maternal grandmother who kept me until my parents decided they could not stay there with me away and that is the spring of 1968. My father remembers that when he went to the Zurich station to contact the manager who would be responsible for organizing the transport of the furniture from their home to Umbertide by train, the latter, after having gone to see where they lived to understand the expedition to be made. She said: "You Italians are all the same, when to start feeling good going home ...". Sources: - Presciutti Loredana - Monsignors Miriam - Presciutti Family Archive - Archives of the Monsignori family - https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/it/articles/041807/2009-10-29/ - https://www.australiaforeveryone.com.au/ships-sitmar.html Help us remember umbertidestoria@gmail.com Edmondo de Amicis ... " Piled there like horses On the cold prow bitten by the winds, They migrate to inhospitable and distant lands; Tattered and emaciated, They cross the seas to look for bread. "... (1882) "The Emigrants"

Arrivals Who arrived ... or was practically born in Umbertide, here are some of our stories: Dritan Kamel e Kalida Adil Tiziana Dritan Kamel e Kalida Adil Dritan (edited by Francesco Deplanu) Dritan arrived in Italy at the age of 19, in March 1991; on that same date Albanian immigration to Italy resumed. Today in our Umbertide more than 500 citizens are of the first generation Albanian or already born Italian, a population attributable to this emigration wave. It was not the first in the centuries: “Piana degli Albanesi” in Sicily, several towns of the Pollino in Calabria, Campomarino in Molise are some of the areas that were populated by Albanians since the Middle Ages; migratory flows also connected with the crisis and then the fall of the Eastern Roman Empire, in addition to the death of Scanderbeg which marked the apex of Albanian independence from the Ottoman Empire (here the biography of the Albanian identity hero in Italian, downloadable in .pdf , written by Fan S. Noli). These arbëreshe communities remind us of the proximity of the Italian and Albanian coasts and the history that concerned them. "Skanderbeg and his warriors" in National Museum " Gjergj Kastrioti Skënderbeu " By Avi1111 dr. avishai teicher - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=34192184 In the last months of 1989, however, the Berlin Wall collapsed. For the "popular democracies" of Eastern Europe, which had become dictatorial regimes, a period of instability began which quickly led to the implosion of these political systems. In Tirana in February 1991 there was the demolition of the statue of the dictator Enver Hoxha and there were numerous riots in the country. Immediately afterwards, emigration to Italy began. Dritan arrived on the coasts of the P uglia in Brindisi in early March : two large Albanian merchant ships, the “Tirana” and the “Liriya”, loaded with 6,500 people, arrived in the port on 6 March, followed by others. The arrival in Brindisi lasted a few days, the immigrants were quickly brought back to Albania. But the unpreparedness for the arrival of a flow of thousands of people left the authorities and the population of Brindisi alone to manage the landing. Subsequently, the disembarked people were locked up in the stadium and chaotically supplied with bread and water under the control of the army. Dritan says: " I was among the last who did not want to return (accept the transfer to Albania proposed by the authorities ed), they called us the" non-surrendered ", we even went without eating, in the end they took us to Modena for a few days ". Meanwhile in Albania the social and political situation of what remained of the Hoxa regime was felt to be unbearable. For some time not only had material life been difficult but respect for personal freedom had been severely limited in the country: in the documentary "Anija" by Roland Sejko the starting situation is described and it is recalled that already in 1978 three Albanian boys had been sentenced to death for having thought of emigrating to Italy. The Italian government, meanwhile, chose the forced repatriation of most of the people. Dritan recalls that on the same day (about a week after arrival ed) of a riot in Tirana against the Italian Embassy he was brought back: " the same day a bus arrives, they tell us that we have to go to Bologna to get the documents instead they board a plane for Albania. Once we got off with military vehicles they took us to prison, but two cousins and I understand the intention and as soon as the opportunity arises we jump out of the vehicle and take advantage of not being imprisoned ". He returned in August with the Vlora, a ship for the transport of sugar that was diverted to Italy, was filled with people beyond belief, it is thought 20,000. This time Dritan stayed for a few weeks. The arrival of this cargo and the conditions of the emigrants are mentioned in another Italian documentary “La dolce Nave”. In the following years Dritan returned again to Italy and settled in Umbertide. For 25 years he has been working steadily in the most innovative development sectors in central Italy, linked to engineering which are a flagship of the Umbertidese production system. As soon as he was able to work he rented an apartment to marry his beloved girl who joined him; then he continued to build his family between new born and the arrival of his parents from Albania. Now he has long since acquired Italian citizenship and has forged strong bonds of friendship and esteem, even if he always thinks about the place where he was born. A similar fate for many young Albanians who have since settled in Umbertide and have given life to what can be defined as an "ethnic colony" in a land of emigration, where the first who integrated have acted as economic and moral support for the new you arrive through family channels. Like Dritan, the Albanian community has integrated with the desire to establish itself above all in work: in the construction sector, for example, there are already about 20 companies and Registered "self-employed workers" and present in Umbertide. The desire to integrate with stability is also evidenced by the gender ratio of the resident emigrant population: the Albanian is the only ethnic group with an equal ratio between "males" and "females", 280 to 281 in the last census. Willingness to settle in Umbertide in a stable manner confirmed by the comparison with the census of December 2005 which counted 394 Albanian residents: then the "males" were 210, while the "females" were only 184. Shijak photo in 1964: Dritan came from Shijak, 11 km from Durres (Dures) and 31 km from Tirana. In the English Wikipedia entry you can read “ reported population of around 12,853 people as of 2007. In reality the population is smaller as many people who claim residency in Shijak actually reside permanently elsewhere. ". In short, emigration continued in its area of origin and mainly concerned young people. This is also confirmed by the fact that the natural demographic growth of the Shijak population decreased from 2003 to 2007 by almost 60%. Many Albanian children who arrived in the 1990s are now adults and live in Umbertide with their children ... and now someone with their first grandchildren. Children and grandchildren who are and will be bearers of a double identity: Umbertidesi and linked to the land of origin of their fathers. We thank Dritan for telling us his story and allowing us to enrich us. Sources: - Oral sources - https://www.empresite.it/Attivita/MC-COSTRUZIONI/citta/UMBERTIDE/ - https://www.dnb.com/business-directory/company-information.specialty-contractors.it.perugia.umbertide.html?page=1 -Photo by Shijak in 1964: By Agim Faja - Self-photographed, Attribution, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php curid = 10665893 - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Skanderbeg_and_his_warriors_in_skanderbeg_museum,_Kruje.JPG#/media/File:Skanderbeg_and_his_warriors_in_skanderbeg_museum,_Kruje.JPG -https: //cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shijak - http://www.vatrarberesh.it/bibostazione/ebooks/scanderbegnoli.pdf Kamel and Kalida (edited by Francesco Deplanu) Among those who have chosen Umbertide to live there is Kamel who formed here his family. Very young Kamel, born in Algiers, sought to know the ways of life in other countries. He came to us for the first time in 1991, he settled there in 1995 but this year, about a month ago, he felt forced to leave Umbertide, now an Italian citizen, to seek a better life in Manchester in England. Fig. 1: Algiers from Wikipedia. The user who originally uploaded the file was Dolphin Jedi from English Wikipedia Dolphin Jedi - English Wikipedia (Original text: Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons.), CC BY-SA 3.0, https: // commons. wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31689311 His wife Kalida, says that " Kamel was a young 20-year-old boy, smart, full of dreams with a great desire to travel and discover the other side of the horizon, being convinced that there would be a better future awaiting him, despite that in Algeria he was well off, there was neither war nor economic crisis, but he was looking for something different, so he launched a small tour visiting many countries, Switzerland, Spain, Libya, Austria, Hungary, Morocco, and then Italy. the first time he came to Italy was in 1991 but only with a tourist visa, and something snapped that on his return to Algeria made him think of returning there to live there, he returned another time to Italy, to Umbertide, but to looking for work, it was not so easy to find it when you do not speak the language and when there is a great distrust from people towards everything that is different. Kamel, however, did not give up and got busy and did all the possible trade, bricklayer, gardener, worked in the tobacco fields and over time in the mechanical industry. ". For 20 years Kamel worked in various medium-sized companies in the mechanical field of Umbria but never managed to get a permanent contract. Kalida continues: “ For Kamel it was not always fun, life got very hard with that young boy, it was more and more difficult to find houses for rent because people did not trust him, but he dreamed of stability. After so much suffering he always managed to find a good soul who granted him the benefit of the doubt, so in 1995 he managed to obtain his first residence permit thanks to a stable employment contract and a house. ". Like many emigrants, after a few years Kamel felt the need to settle down, get married and start a family. He will marry Kalida, a cultured young man who already knows the local Algerian variant in addition to Arabic, the Berber which is the language of his parents, English and French. Fig. 2: Algiers. The neighborhood where Kalida was born. Fig. 3-4: Traditional Algerian Cous Cous and Mint Tea prepared by Kalida. Kalida says: “ in 2004 he and I get married, I am a young graduate in finance full of life plans. My departure for Italy provoked in me a feeling of great enthusiasm and great sadness, I was leaving my land for another stranger, I was leaving my loved ones ignoring what was waiting for me. I am a woman who traveled a lot as a child, France, Spain, Portugal, Tunisia, UK, in short, for me living in Italy would have been a long vacation, but it wasn't at all. My arrival in Umbertide was a big change in my life, I, a girl born in Algiers, capital of Algeria, was used to the big city I find myself in a small town, the rhythms of life were completely different, but this was not the biggest problem. So I faced the obstacle of the language, but I challenged myself to study it and I did it, then taking the middle school certificate with top marks. The thing that made me suffer the most, however, was the gaze of the people, it was something that killed me more and more, I was not seen as a woman but as a "Moroccan" with a veil! I must say that I have faced many very unpleasant situations, luckily I was strong in character and I have always tried to moving forward, studying, playing sports, after the birth of my 3 children I became more and more involved in their school career, trying to participate in all school activities; without ever losing sight of my dream of working but I soon realized that with my veil I will never be given the chance to work, I was like "an alien". it was so scary, finally I surrendered to the harsh reality, I was always there to justify myself for that that I was, I wanted to shout loud and loud to the whole world that the veil was covering my hair and not my brain! For 15 years I haven't been able to get a I work in Umbertide, and it was not easy for us to resist with a salary paying everything (rent, bills, expenses ...) but we have always made sure with great sacrifices, the relationship I had with Umbertide has always been love and hate, of course I have not only had bad things in my life in this city, on the contrary, it has given me the opportunity to meet some fantastic people who have accompanied me along my life path. " " Thanks to these people I was able to face the nostalgia of my country and my family, I love Italy, my children were born there and they have an unconditional love for Umbertide, with them I have always spoken the 3 languages, Arabic, French and Italian but mostly ľItalian and they almost always speak Italian between them but unfortunately for economic and social reasons we had to leave this land, looking for economic and mental well-being elsewhere. It was not an easy choice at all but in life you have to risk and therefore, for a second time in our life, we were forced to leave land and loved ones in search of a country that offers us a chance to work both, without any prejudice, my dream was to be judged for what I was and for my abilities and not for what I was wearing. " Fig. 5: The "Skyscraper" seen from the Piazzetta . I would never have left ľItaly if I had been given ľopportunity to work. " When asked for which country she misses most now that she is in England Kalida replies "Italy", even if from Algeria she stresses "I miss my mother" and then continues to tell us that "there are many things I miss about Umbertide, first of all my friends and friends, the small pleasant moments we shared together such as having breakfast, going shopping, sitting in the Piazzetta to see the children playing together while eating a good ice cream. "The Piazzetta, or rather the square of the" skyscraper "which replaced the" gardens "of previous generations as a summer meeting point, was the main place where children and young people of different cultures met especially in the summer. those relationships that have allowed us to get to know each other more in depth, starting with eating the tastiest dishes together and thus consolidating friendships. Kalida concludes “ from Umbertide I miss the sun and good food, take a stroll to the market on Wednesdays, take a long walk in the evening after dinner, here in Manchester, on the other hand, I don't feel safe in the evening. ". Fig. 6-7-8: Manchester in England Sources: - Texts written directly in Italian by Kalida S. - Photo by Kalida S. and Francesco Deplanu Adil Adil's family moved to Umbertide a few months after he was born from a mining town in central Morocco: Khouribga. Adil lives and it's always lived in Umbertide. Image of Adil's parents' hometown clock. Khouribga's clock: Energievision [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]. From Wikipedia: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File: ساعة_خريبكة_ l% 27horloge_de_khouribga_1.jpg (edited by Adil BA) “After 2 years of visits the doctor told my mom that she couldn't help my brother in any way. His problems were irreversible, but with specific surgery and medications he could live a few more years. << You have to move to Europe, lady >> And so it was that my family moved to Italy at the dawn of 1982. A casual and dramatic event changed the course of events, forever. My brother lived until March 3, 2000 and found fantastic doctors, nurses who still greet me today and tell about when they held me in their arms, people who cared about his and our health. I have lived in Umbertide since I was aware of myself, when my parents moved I was 3 months old, so I did not experience the change, the emigration. Just thinking about leaving my home, whatever the reason, makes me very sad. I lived 2 cultures, one at home and one outside, at school, at the camp, at Garibaldi with friends. I have always had the possibility to choose my thought and I have always formed it with more interpretations. I knew what it was like here, I saw what it was like there, and it was a fortune that I can never thank enough for. At school I was the only one, not in the classroom, but in the whole school to come from another country. They were certainly different times, but when you are a child there are no differences. However, I learned early enough that I was "other than", only that in some areas I was a little more different ... it always depended on the interlocutor. This was an important lesson, as not everyone generalized with me I didn't generalize and I still don't do it with others. Growing up and coming out of the glass bubble of the school I had a few more problems, I had to deal with some aspects of life that made me suffer but undoubtedly also grow. I found myself being neither meat nor fish. Too black for someone, too white for someone else. I went through a period in which you ultimately have to choose whether to play the victim and mourn yourself or to treasure what happened to you and still continue to have faith in humanity. Trust that then pays off because a person's qualities go beyond prejudices. I had job opportunities, I met people who initially looked at me with doubt and with whom I built thirty-year friendships. Transversal friendships, regardless of political, religious, football, or social background. I have had and have disagreements, especially when the topic of discussion is religion, but I have also learned not to always put it on a personal level. I learned to measure myself with others serenely not to “feel myself in the crosshairs.” There will always be those who think differently regardless, it is the founding aspect of a multiracial society. Basically, I had to move to find my home. ". Sources: - Written texts by Adil BA - Photo by Energievision [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]. From Wikipedia: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File: ساعة_خريبكة_ l% 27horloge_de_khouribga_1.jpg Tiziana (edited by Francesco Deplanu) Tiziana arrived from Colombia, a journey back across the ocean to get to Italy. Tiziana has blue eyes that come from afar. Barbara began a long journey from Maratea to Colombia, after three generations Tiziana landed, on a reverse journey, in the hills above Pierantonio. Emigration moves away from the original nucleus, breaks roles and power relations, allowed and allows women to assert themselves beyond socially prepared screens and “destinies”. On trips across the border, luck, skills and, often, choices of love mix places and possibilities. Barbara Iannini left Italy and left to reach Colombia. He chose who to love and his career destiny. He had three children in a new "foreign" land. One of these, Elisa, married Pierluigi a young man who emigrated to Colombia from Foligno. Tiziana, their daughter, retraced her grandmother's journey backwards, from Bogota to Maratea, where she fell in love and then married a local boy. Today his is a large family with 4 children who are in the hills of our area. His children studied and studied in Pierantonio and Umbertide. Tiziana at her wedding in Italy Tiziana states that " Umbrian people are kind, cordial, sincere and Umbria, both in my husband and in me, has always exercised a certain fascination for the green of its woods, for the history of centuries that it has left traces in every city and its castles that dominate the narrow valleys from the heights . ". Listening to Tiziana's family story, one enters a female narrative perspective, where choices of life and affections characterize the “minor” story of emigration. Because Barbara, Elisa and Tiziana have come to terms not only with the need for economic affirmation or cultural training, but they have done so with their multiple role as mothers, workers, sisters. They have worked and lived by taking care of the growth of children with double identity, both "going" and "returning". In 1979 a work by a third generation Italian-American writer, “Umbertine” by Helen Barolini, appeared in North American literature. The need for a female narrative revealed for the first time the “minor” aspect of the female perspective in living in a new world and dealing with one's own identity. Tiziana's stories have the same tenor, but they end in a more complex way: the identity from a female perspective formed in the country of arrival is broken and recomposed again in the "old" country. Barbara, known as Barbarina, in the 30s of the last century, followed the brothers overseas and worked in their porcelain shop, then married Carlo Rovida and with him she began a career as an entrepreneur. Today his work is more than visible, his company founded in 1943, San Marcos , a confectionery industry with restaurant and bakery, is an excellence in Colombia. His role, all the more difficult to achieve given his "gender", is mentioned in a dedicated page on the same site of the company in the page dedicated to " Women's Day " ... with its own title in Italian, written by Valentina sister of Tiziana. Image by Barbara and text from: https://www.sanmarcos1943.com/barbara-iannini/ Here you can read: “ El día de la mujer es muy important para la panadería San Marcos: nuestra fundadora Barbara Iannini was a powerful y valiente mujer. Su labor como mujer de negocios fue todo un ejemplo para la comunidad italiano de Bogotá que siempre vio en her a figure admirable, but sobretodo, su presencia fue una gran inspiración para muchas de las empleadas más antiguas del establecimiento. If it happened to the 28 years of edad (tarde para la época) and gracias a on impulse logro that at the moment the panadería San Marcos was the principal productora de pan in the city of Bogotá. He was looking for a muchas de las empleadas de la empresa que la recuerdan con cariño por haberlas aconsejado de manera correcta en muchos problemas domésticos: siempre las alentó en las dificultades y las incentivó a ser mujeres independientes en todo sentido. ". Tiziana grew up in the large family connected to the community of second generation "Italians" or to those who subsequently reached Colombia from our country. The grandfather founded, among others, the " Leonardo da Vinci " school in Bogotà, a private school where, in addition to Spanish, the language of one's own tradition was studied; norm that concerned in Colombia a multitude of languages brought by the emigratory and indigenous mix. However, Tiziana completed her university studies, already engaged to Antonio, in Milan in Mechanical Engineering with a biomedical address. But adjusting to life in the city proved difficult. Not so much for the difference between an Italian language studied in Colombia compared to the real one with which she was confronted, but for the limitation in human relationships: the detachment from others, a frenetic life based on the activities to be carried out turned out to be opposed to the way of life for Tiziana Colombian; a life full of joy, of value to friendship and open to relationships with others. These aspects linked to human relationships now Tiziana feels she has rediscovered them starting with the meetings she had with small children and other mothers in the square of Pierantonio. What certainly differentiates the life structure in Colombia from the Italian one is the minor social division; a division that seems insurmountable in Colombia. The division between rich and poor, in a country of extreme poverty, is clear, even among young people, to which is added a difference between those who descend from an American or Spanish "stock" and other ethnic groups. Some time ago Tiziana recalled how Bogota had "six million inhabitants, of which four are poor and of these one million are destitute". Among the poor who have an even worse situation is the female gender, underpaid and exploited. Tiziana remembers how the values of her family have always been opposed to this triple division, economic, ethnic and gender: " Since I was a child I felt close to those who were marginalized by my classmates due to their economic condition or the color of their skin " . These beliefs depended on the upbringing and example of her family, especially her grandmother Barbara and her mother Elisa: " Just tell you one of the many wonderful things that my mother and grandmother did to make you happy, at least for one day, of orphaned and abandoned girls: on the occasion of my sister's first communion she organized the party at the orphanage run by Italian nuns, who were customers of the shop. He also called one of the best entertainers in the square and he worked all afternoon and did not want to be paid, he offered his work for free because he understood the purpose for which the party was dedicated. I still have before my eyes the enchanted and joyful gazes of those little girls who had never witnessed games like this, had never known the warmth of a family and never caressed their mother's face ". In the center, at the wedding of her niece, Barbarina Iannini, surrounded by her family. Today Umbertide is home to about 80 people from South America. Those who leave their country bring with them their habits, sounds and music, pride in their culture or religion and, as in the case of Tiziana's grandmother, culinary traditions. From any country you leave and in any country you arrive. Identity is not lost but readapts and changes, it becomes double. Pierluigi, Tiziana's father strengthened in his family both the "nostalgia" of Italy and the use of the language also carried out for his love for Italian music and opera. All this contributed to the choice of Tiziana who left Colombia, a big city and came to live in a small rural nucleus of our hills. Sources: - Oral source - Photo: Tiziana's family archive. - https://www.sanmarcos1943.com - https://www.sanmarcos1943.com/barbara-iannini/ Help us remember umbertidestoria@gmail.com Fernand Braudel "History is nothing more than a constant questioning of past times in the name of the problems, curiosities and even anxieties and anxieties of the present time that surround us and besiege us" Tiziana

In questa sezione, con le sue sottosezioni, viene presentata la storia documentale ed archivistica, che tende soprattutto a descrivere gli accadimenti istituzionali e politici.  History In this section, with its subsections, documentary and archival history is presented, which tends above all to describe institutional and political events. For the moment we will focus on the main town, Fratta and then Umbertide, and on the hilly and flat rural territory. The main settlements present in the municipal territory are still not investigated, some such as Preggio with an established settlement history even older than the current Umbertide; we will try in the continuation of this adventure to heal these shortcomings. The history of the populations who inhabited our territory, the productive use they made of it, the settlements built, centralized and isolated, touch a horizon of aspects so broad that they all deserve to be addressed. Our intent, in fact, is to present all the different "perspectives" with which the "history" of our country can be reconstructed. The "short time" in fact, the guideline of the research reported in the subsections described above, gives us a story focused on the birth and history of the main agglomeration of Fratta / Umbertide, but allows us to see only the institutional-political events, as far as they can add up in a millennial diachronic sequence. While the development and consequences of economic structures require an investigation that you seek with a "long time" to be recognized, they are detailed in the " Thematic history " page . At the moment for the subsections " From Antiquity to '700 " and for " Nineteenth century and Risorgimento " we present a historical reconstruction based on paper archives starting from the XII century, while we will subsequently analyze more adequately the history of our most fragmented territory, that is to say that up to the origins. " The Fratta of the sixteenth century" and " The War of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany " retrace the events and social life of the sixteenth century. Together with them, for the same historical period, we have created the subsection on the Statutes of the Fratta of 1521, which allows you to read and download the Statutes in a complete transcription in the vernacular with an interactive internal search mode. And many more The contemporaneity will be investigated above all in the section " From the twentieth century to today ", benefiting from a greater series of historical sources and news. The reference sources of the first two subsections are those of the SIUSA (Unified Information System for Archival Superintendencies) which in 2010-11 with Sargentini Cristiana and Santolamazza Rossella drafted and corrected the relative entry on "Fratta / Umbertide". As regards the history in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, also for our country it was necessary to resort to the statutory sources of Perugia, which constitute the reference regulatory framework for the communities scattered in the countryside; in particular the Perugian reform of 1396, with which the roles of castellan and podestà of Sigillo, Montone and Fratta, up to then carried out by two distinct officials, were unified forming "unum officium et unum corpus castellanantia cum potestaria". With this resolution, a "vir bonus et fidelis" was designated to administer each of those communities. The territory of the castle of Fratta from that moment had different "institutional profiles": from sec. XIV - sec. XVIII was a " Community" of the "State of the Church", a denomination which, due to the loss of archival material, with certainty will return only in the period 1815 - 1870, after the short period in which Fratta was part, from 1798-1814, of the Communities of Lazio in the French period; in the 1859 it was established as a "Municipality" and then equipped with a " Civil State Office" in Umbria, 1860 - 1865. In this period, in 1862, it passed from the name of Fratta to that of "Umbertide". A bibliography " Texts and links to consult" with the studies published on Umbertide and his history and society and a sitography to deepen on the web, they will allow us to continue in the knowledge of our Umbertide. The page on the " Degree Thesis " will host the parts or complete theses of young and old who have wanted to study our territory in some aspect and wish to make it a common cultural heritage. Photo: Umbertide da Montacuto: the growth of the city to the south of the original nucleus of Fratta. Help us remember umbertidestoria@gmail.com Winston Churchill "The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see." "The more you can look back, the more you will be able to see forward."

Descrizione dell'Umbertide storica: dal Castello di Fratta ad Umbertide. Immagini e mappe storiche del nostro paese. From the Castle of Fratta to Umbertide ( edited by Francesco Deplanu) The first evidence of the castle of Fratta dates back to 1189. In fact, the deed with which "Fracta Filiorum Uberti", previously owned by the successors of Arimberto, was subjected to Perugia by the Marquis Ugolino di Uguccione, ascendant of the Marquises of Petrelle. Over the centuries the territory of Fratta it only once experienced a domination other than that of Perugia. In fact, in 1550, for a few months, the castle with all its territory, villas and rents was run by Paolo and Giovanni di Niccolò Vitelli Domicelli from Città di Castello. This did not mean a stable and peaceful life for the Castello della Fratta, on the SIUSA site we read: " In 1351 Fratta was devastated, on the occasion of the battles between the Visconti and Perugia, by the army of Giovanni di Cantuccio Gabrielli di Gubbio, captain of the archbishop of Milan. In the following decades, Fratta and its territory suffered the consequences of the clashes between the mercenary captain Braccio Fortebraccio da Montone and two thousand horses sent by Ladislao d'Angiò king of Naples, between 1403 and 1408; it was again devastated, in 1478, thanks to the plague, by the troops of Federico Duke of Urbino and, the following year, by the Florentines. Finally, Valentino too, at the head of the papal troops, moving towards Fossato di Vico, occupied it in 1500. " Also in this period the history of Fratta depended on the political life of Perugia, the struggles between the different opposing factions that took place in Perugia from the second half of the fourteenth century to the first decades of the following century often had repercussions in our country. In fact, on the Siusa website you can continue to read: "at the castle of Fratta, on various occasions, the exiles found refuge; it was the main interest of the Perugians, therefore, to" recover "or recapture the aforementioned castle. In 1385, for example, Fratta was occupied by the exiles, thanks to an uprising led by Tommaso di Ciardolino, captain of the guard; reconquered the following year by Albertino di Nino di Guidalotto and by Mattiolo di Angeluccio di Colle, being captain of the Perugia Pellino di Cucco Baglioni war, Fratta was extensively restored, in the defensive structures and equipped with an imposing fortress. " Thus our "Rocca" came to life. The construction was thus entrusted from Perugia to Alberto Guidalotti, the architect was named "Trocascio", or Angeluccio di Ceccolo. It was finished in 1389. Today the Rocca is consisting of large walls that at the base reach a width of 2.40 meters, is more than 30 meters high, presents with two circular towers, a square bulwark and two doors with a drawbridge, although today only one remains. Other episodes of occupations and recoveries took place in the years 1394, 1431 and 1495. During the rebellions for the salt gabelles in Perugia and then the famous "salt war" of 1540 Fratta, however, remained faithful to the papacy and thus saved himself from the destruction of the walls that he would otherwise have suffered. fig. 1 and 2: La Rocca in the 60s and a few years ago. Of this period there remain the precious Statutes of 1521 " ... of the sacred statutes of the notable castle of Fratta of the filioli de Uberto countryside of Perosa of the door of sancto Angelo ". A statute in the vernacular that also gives us a picture of the language used, although adequate for a clearer and more common linguistic expression in contemporary Tuscan. The notary, " Marino di Domenico di Marino Sponta of the dictum castle of Fratta, minimum servant of the community " rewrites the ruined ones of 1362. According to Francesco Mavarelli, who wrote about them in 1903 in “ Of the art of the Blacksmiths in the Land of Fratta (Umbertide). Memories and Documents ", they were only adequate copies of those of 1362 which had gone over time and were ruined. But what was Fratta like in the 16th century? In addition to information from Cyprian Piccolpasso there are also two maps of the sixteenth century that can tell us about it. let's start from these less known by Ubaldo Giorgi and Ignazio Danti. Thanks to the historian Fabrizio Cece who kindly provided it to us, we have an image, a detail, taken from the Map of the Diocese of Gubbio drawn by Don Ubaldo Giorgi in 1573. The intent to represent the Diocese with all its parishes characterizes the map : among others you can see S. Maria, S. Antonio, one of the first patrons of Fratta, S. Andrea and, in the center of the walls of Fratta, S. Giovanni. Fig. 1 and 2: Map of the Diocese of Gubbio drawn by Don Ubaldo Giorgi in 1573 and Detail of Fratta. Photo provided by Fabrizio Cece from the Diocesian Archives. Here we present, instead, the Texas University website that you can browse and zoom to see the description of Fratta in 1584 by Ignazio Danti. Here is the direct link to the portal of Texas University . Fratta owns the bridge over the Tiber, the only one on the map before "Ponte di Pattolo", "Ponte Felcino", "Ponte di Val di Ceppolo" north of Perugia. Yup they can see several designs of towers in the city with a part extended south of the bridge along the Tiber. Above all, as we indicated at the beginning, we have the best known map of Piccolpasso from 1565 with the representation of "Fratta" and then of its main quadrilateral defensive walls (at this link of the Municipality of Umbertide you can download the two documents in .pdf). In this period, Piccolpasso reports, the Community of Fratta presents itself as a place where " The men of this country sleep diligent, ingenious and solicitous and circumspect because their little site for the continuous exercise make it fruitful as a large countryside and a very large place. you work very well with archebugi and auction arms ". Further on, according to what Mavarelli and Prof. Porrozzi also report, the men of Fratta " have no cattle or pasture ". The city occupies " 138 reeds " of earth and " fires about 80 ", or 80 families. In the period between the middle of the sixteenth and the last years of the seventeenth century, the loss of much of the documentation of the municipal historical archive does not allow us to establish whether there have been particular changes in the institutions. The crucial year for the documentation is 1799: in fact, a large number of municipal papers were destroyed in a fire in the public square. Guerrini writes in his " History of the land of Fratta, now Umbertide ": " when in 1799 a gang of wicked brigands with blind vandalism and fury burned in the public square, as an infamous holocaust at the foot of the tree of Liberty, all the books and papers of the Town Hall ". TO starting from the mid-eighteenth century there is a fatigue towards the assumption of public responsibilities and a progressive worsening of some problems, such as the training of the bussolo (to choose the various institutional figures) and the choice of officers. From that moment on were introduced norms and new institutional figures that would allow the proper functioning of the government of the Community of Fratta. Thus it was from the point of view of the management of public offices it continued with a certain organizational difficulty, until in 1787 Pius VI, in April 1785, with an appointment of the then governor general of Umbria, Monsignor Angelo Altieri, found in the Perugian lawyer Silvestro Bruschi, the judge commissioner and general visitor of the communities of the territory of Perugia including the Community of Fratta . On January 28, 1787 the general council of Fratta was held and they emerged, according to what they report Sargentini Cristiana e Santolamazza Rossella who edited the item Fratta / Umbertide on the SIUSA site, " conspicuous administrative irregularities to be ascribed to the admixture in the exercise of the functions assumed by the administrators, to which was added a heavy debt of Fratta towards Perugia. Two were therefore proposed. assistants on public affairs, the canon Don Emanuele Cantabrana and the layman Paolo Mazzaforti, as practitioners of the interests of the community; moreover, having found that the number of councilors was not fixed, Bruschi ordered that the entanglement be carried out in his presence. decree established that the presence of at least twenty-four councilors was essential, << possessors, of good morals, and capable >>, the same number, that is, of the individuals who made up the magistracy's compass, up to the maximum number of thirty with the honorary members; and that, for the session to be valid, at least two thirds of the councilors were required . Particular attention was paid to the drafting and conservation of public writings, in such a way that << each of the four priors is given his key to the public case, where in addition to the documents and original receipts of interest, the community is kept closed the great seal. custodial and all the others, except that of the letters to remain with the secretary, according to the usual >>; moreover, that << it is the responsibility of the magistrate to do it, that all the books are kept exactly from the secretary, and that he is always at par in the register of deeds >> ". Silvestro Bruschi concluded the minutes of the visit to the Fratta Community with an approval dated September 16, 1787. The era of the French and then Napoleonic Revolution was coming, even for a an unimportant territory such as that of Fratta, changes arrived. With the proclamation of the Roman Republic, on February 15, 1798, the innovative principles of French administrative policy entered the former papal territories by right. The constitutional charter, published on March 17, contemplates the classic tripartition between legislative power, entrusted to two chambers (Senate and Tribunate), judicial power, exercised by elected and irremovable judges, to the courts, executive power attributed to five consuls. Four ministries (justice and police, interior, finance, marine warfare and foreign affairs), the large police headquarters (national treasury) and large accounting (national computisteria) depend on this. The territory of the State is divided into eight departments: Metauro ( Ancona), the Musone (Macerata), the Tronto (Fermo), the Trasimeno (Perugia), the Clitunno (Spoleto), the Cimino (Viterbo), the Tiber (Rome), the Circeo (Anagni). In turn, the departments are divided into cantons, and within the latter, which constitute the smallest of the state circumscriptions, the ancient pontifical communities undergo an incisive process of homogenization, as only the centers with more than 10,000 inhabitants constitute their own municipality, governed by building blocks, while the others are grouped together until this minimum population threshold is reached. Fratta thus became part of the Trasimeno Department, based in Perugia, as "Canton" with his own consular prefect: Giuseppe Savelli. The local company of the National Guard was also organized, with its own commander, the papal coat of arms was demolished and the municipality was given the name of municipality. But the Republic fell after 18 months with the surrender (29 September 1799) to the Neapolitan and Austrian armies. Fratta thus returned again under the state of the Church. Sources: - Antonio Guerrini: History of the land of Fratta now Umbertide from its origins until the year 1845 (for Antonio Guerrini completed by Genesio Perugini) - Tip. Tiberina Umbertide, 1883 -Francesco Mavarelli: On the art of blacksmiths in the land of Fratta (Umbertide) - Memories and documents - Stab. Tipografico Tiberino, 1903 - Cipriano Piccolpasso, The plants and portraits of the cities and lands of Umbria submitted to the Government of the city of Perugia , edited by G. Cecchini, Publisher of the National Institute of Archeology and History of Art, Rome 1963. - Bruno Porrozzi (edited by), Umbertide in the images. From the 1500s to the present day , Pro Loco Association Umbertide, Rubini and Petruzzi Typolithography, Città di Castello, 1977. - SIUSA (Unified Information System for Archival Superintendencies) on Umbertide http://siusa.archivi.beniculturali.it/cgi-bin/pagina.pl?TipoPag=prodente&Chiave=50311&RicProgetto=reg-umb&fbclid=IwAR2ydRABe1Uw3MxVbj3WkZrexe4eu0lBSPZe_991_1LwwGoww - http://siusa.archivi.beniculturali.it/cgi-bin/pagina.pl?TipoPag=profist&Chiave=84&RicProgetto=reg%2dumb - http://siusa.archivi.beniculturali.it/cgi-bin/pagina.pl?TipoPag=comparc&Chiave=330615&RicProgetto=reg%2dumb - https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth187370/m1/1/zoom/?resolution=6&lat=4964.5&lon=4844 http://www.umbertideturismo.it/content/download/293210/3113338/file/Immagine%20di%20Fratta%20disegnata%20nel%201665.pdf Photo: Fabrizio Cece Photo: Francesco Deplanu Photos: historical photos of Umbertide from the web and from various private archives to which we applied the " umbertidestoria " watermark in this way we try to avoid that the further disclosure on our part favors purposes not consonant with our intentions exclusively social and cultural. Help us remember umbertidestoria@gmail.com Marc Bloch , Apology of history « The story is there science of men over time "

ROBERTO MORELLI Caduto ad appena 19 anni combattendo a Montelungo contro la Divisione tedesca Goering con la divisa del nuovo esercito italiano di liberazione di Amedeo Massetti Roberto Morelli era nato a Città di Castello il 10 luglio 1924 da genitori entrambi umbertidesi ed era rimasto legato strettamente alla nostra città, dove ritornava presso i suoi parenti ogni volta che gli impegni scolastici glielo permettevano. Finiti gli studi superiori aveva deciso di diventare ufficiale di marina e per questo aveva raggiunto l'Accademia Navale a Venezia nell'agosto del 1943, per seguire il previsto tirocinio. Sopravvenne l'8 settembre; tutti i giovani concorrenti furono imbarcati sulla nave "Vespucci" il giorno 10 e trasferiti a Brindisi nella sede dell'ex collegio navale, dopo una navigazione piena di pericoli. Nella nuova sede un certo numero di loro lasciò l'Accademia per rientrare in famiglia; la maggioranza rimase, tra questi anche i nove ragazzi, compreso il Morelli, che decisero di non lasciar passare altro tempo per dare un contributo immediato alla rinascita della Patria. Si arruolarono così, dopo aver lasciato quasi clandestinamente l'Accademia, nel 514º Battaglione Bersaglieri Allievi Ufficiali che faceva parte del 12º Raggruppamento motorizzato costituitosi a S. Pietro Vernotico, a poca distanza da Brindisi. II raggruppamento fu portato in linea e nel sanguinoso combattimento dell'8 dicembre 1943 per la conquista di Montelungo, dei nove ragazzi che avevano lasciato l'Accademia cinque caddero, tra cui Roberto, e quattro furono feriti affrontando i veterani della divisione tedesca Goering. La vicenda dei nove ragazzi é stata ricordata con elevate parole anche dall'allora Presidente del Consiglio Carlo Azelio Ciampi , in occasione della sua visita all'Accademia Navale di Livorno nel dicembre 1993 e, a suo tempo, dal Generale Clark, comandante della 9ª Armata Americana in un suo nobile messaggio al 51º battaglione Bersaglieri dopo la battaglia di Montelungo. Motivazione della Medaglia d'Argento al Valor Militare alla Memoria "Arruolatosi volontario partecipava a successive azioni contro i tedeschi, dimostrando in ogni circostanza sprezzo del pericolo. Durante un duro combattimento, conscio della necessità di rifornire di munizioni la sua arma, attraversava più volte la zona battuta dal tiro di armi automatiche avversarie. Ferito in uno di questi tentativi, ricusava di raggiungere il posto di medicazione e visto morire il porta-arma tiratore alla mitragliatrice lo sostituiva. Una raffica micidiale, colpendolo una seconda volta, troncava la sua nobile vita". Una via intitolata a Roberto Morelli Una nuova via nella zona edificata delle Fontanelle. Accanto a quelle intitolate a Massimiliano Kolbe, ai Maestri del Lavoro, a Don Bosco, alle Maestre Pie Filippini e al dottor Mario Migliorati, ce n'è ora una dedicata a un ragazzo morto in guerra a 19 anni: Roberto Morelli, medaglia d'argento al valor militare. Un nome meno conosciuto, di un giovane che riposa nel cimitero di Umbertide, e che l'8 dicembre 1943 cadde a Montelungo, bersagliere volontario dell'appena ricostituito esercito italiano di liberazione. L'Amministrazione comunale ha aderito alle richieste delle associazioni combattentistiche umbertidesi, uniformandosi nell'opera da sempre tesa a ricordare tutti quei cittadini che caddero eroicamente nelle tragiche vicende vissute dal popolo italiano. Così come avvenuto in passato per Pucci, Rosati e Starnini, domenica 7 settembre il sindaco Becchetti ha scoperto la targa della nuova strada adiacente a piazza Berlinguer. La cerimonia è iniziata alle 11 al cimitero. Una messa celebrata da don Gerardo Balbi davanti alla tomba dell'eroico ragazzo. Tante le autorità presenti e tanti i labari delle associazioni di ex combattenti. Con commosse parole, all'omelia, il sacerdote ha ricordato il sacrificio di Roberto e la donazione della sua giovane vita. E infine la preghiera del marinaio letta da Marco Baldassarri, tra le note del "silenzio" del trombettiere della Banda della Marina Militare di La Spezia che ha presenziato al rito. Subito dopo, nella piazza delle Fontanelle, la cerimonia di intitolazione della nuova via. Il Sindaco ha salutato le autorità presenti e tutti gli intervenuti. "Con questa semplice cerimonia - ha detto Becchetti - continuiamo nell'opera che l'Amministrazione comunale ha da tempo avviato: quella di ricordare quei concittadini che, in particolari momenti storici, in momenti estremamente difficili, si sono trovati a dover scegliere, ed hanno, onestamente e coerentemente con i propri principi, fatto scelte coraggiose, pagando con la propria vita." Il Capitano di Fregata avvocato Giuseppe Conforto, dell'Associazione Nazionale Marinai d'Italia, ha tenuto la commemorazione ufficiale e con elevate parole ha ricordato la figura di Roberto Morelli, dall'Accademia Navale a Venezia alla battaglia di Montelungo. Ha messo in evidenza il coraggio e i nobili ideali che ispirarono il giovane nella sua scelta che dovette poi pagare col sacrificio della vita. Quindi, davanti all"'attenti" del picchetto d'onore comandato dal sottotenente Giorgio Cordioli, e alla Banda della Marina che intonava un brano musicale, lo scoprimento della targa. Un momento molto emozionante. Molte le autorità presenti: il vice Prefetto dottor Roberto Aragno, il tenente colonnello Passeri in rappresentanza del generale Franco Stella, il tenente colonnello Cosimo Chiarelli, comandante provinciale di Carabinieri, il generale Federico Marzollo con alfiere e medagliere del 514º Battaglione Bersaglieri, il generale Civello Luccioli con medagliere del Nastro Azzurro di Perugia, l'avvocato Mancini, vice presidente dell'Associazione Forze Armate Regolari della Guerra di Liberazione e i rappresentanti umbertidesi delle Associazioni Alpini, Bersaglieri, Marinai, Combattenti Guerra di Liberazione, famiglie dei Caduti. Per la famiglia di Roberto Morelli c'era il fratello Renato e la cugina Elena . Conclusa la cerimonia, la Fanfara della Marina Militare di La Spezia ha percorso le vie cittadine suonando briosi motivi e, seguita da molte persone, è giunta in piazza Matteotti. Sopra il palco ha tenuto un breve concerto per i cittadini presenti entusiasmando tutti per la brillante ed appassionata esecuzione dei brani proposti. La battaglia di Montelungo La battaglia di Montelungo è, secondo gli storici, l'evento più importante della Guerra di Liberazione. Infatti, ai piedi di questa altura che domina la via Casilina a Sud di Cassino, nella stretta di Mignano, il 14º Raggruppamento Motorizzato Italiano, formato tutto da volontari e che si può definire la cellula fondamentale del nuovo esercito, sostenne il primo combattimento che segnò l'inizio della riscossa italiana. La lotta fu dura; le perdite elevatissime: 320 tra morti, feriti e dispersi. Il monte, quel giorno, non fu conquistato; l'azione dovette essere sospesa per l'insufficiente appoggio dell'artiglieria, per la fitta nebbia e per lo scarso coordinamento con gli Alleati. Ripresa la lotta, il 16 dicembre il monte fu preso. L'avvenimento dimostrò agli Alleati la ferma volontà del popolo italiano di riscattare un passato che non gli apparteneva più. Fino a quel momento gli italiani avevano combattuto con le armi che erano rimaste in dotazione, cioè antiquate e scarse; da quel momento gli Alleati si premurarono di farne un reparto moderno ed efficiente. Nacque così, il 17 aprile 1944, con l'apporto della divisione paracadutisti Nembo (della quale fece parte il concittadino Domenico Brunori) il Corpo Italiano di Liberazione e, successivamente, nell'agosto 1944, i Gruppi di Combattimento Friuli, Mantova, Piceno, Legnano dove combatté e morì il nostro concittadino Starnini e non ultimo il Cremona , nel quale combatterono tanti giovani umbertidesi tra i quali Rosati e Pucci caduti in battaglia e la Medaglia d'Argento Guerriero Leonardi . Fonti: Articolo di Amedeo Massetti su “Umbertide Cronache n. 4 - 1997”

THE COAT OF ARMS OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF UMBERTIDE Reflections by Roberto Sciurpa The coat of arms of the municipality of Umbertide dates back to 1189 when the Fratta was subjected to Perugia and changed its original coat of arms (the lily). Guerrini describes it in detail (1) and it is worth reporting its description because over the years it has undergone not marginal adaptations and some interesting details have even disappeared. “... This was composed of the figure of a bridge over running water and in a red field. The bridge has three arches and in the middle of their lights there are initial letters FOV which mean Fracta oppidum Uberti and which therefore by solemn vow of public calamity were converted into Fracta oppidum Virginis. Above the three pillars there are three towers, with the Virgin Patroness of the Castle dominating in the middle; and to the right the Grifo, which indicates the dependence on Perugia; on the left the emblem of the Apostolic Chamber which signifies the high dominion of the Pontiff. And finally an ornate crown encloses the shield all around where we can read these words: Defensores Populi et insignis Comunitatis Terrae Fractae ”. The italics are by Guerrini who wants to highlight the essential characteristics of the coat of arms. The interpretative doubt is linked to the letter "V" which is found in the light of the arch and which for some means "Uberti" and for others "Virginis" (according to Guerrini both would be right). As it is easy to guess, the two sides, at least in the past, were conditioned by logic. belonging (clerical or anti-clerical), but today that both the iconoclastic wave of the Enlightenment and the acrimonious antipapalian resentment linked to the events of the Risorgimento has faded, it is possible to express a serene and detached judgment on the matter. Indeed, a thorough reflection could lead. at least according to my point of view, to reconstruct the truth also on another interesting detail linked to local history, as I will say later. But let's proceed in order: 1. In the space of a few decades at Fratta there were two important events: the opening to worship of the Church of Santa Maria della Reggia and the Tuscan siege of the troops of the Grand Duke. The first (last years of the 16th century) marked a fundamental stage in the faith and customs of the people. The monumental temple that housed the miraculous image of the Madonna, so dear to the piety of the faithful, had finally been completed. From that moment, thanks also to the majestic visibility of her house, the Madonna became the point of reference for all the people. The old patrons (S. Andrea and S. Erasmo) still venerated and loved, slowly faded into the background because the ancient castle was increasingly entrusted to the patronage of the Virgin. In November 1643, in fact, during the siege of the Tuscan troops, the inhabitants overwhelmed by fear gathered in the church of San Giovanni inside the city walls, to implore the Madonna for salvation. It was not a question of winning or losing a battle, but of surviving or dying in the rubble and flames of a fortress that would surely have been razed to the ground, according to the military custom of the time. The people of Fratta, on that occasion, entrusted themselves to the Virgin and not to the secular patrons. A lot of water mixed with sleet fell; the Tiber swelled, discouraging any attempt to ford; the siege was lifted without firing a cannon shot; the Tuscans left and there was talk of a "miracle", giving rise to the conviction of the miracle granted by the Madonna to a castle which thus became oppidum Virginis. And the image of the Madonna inserted above the central tower of the coat of arms, now disappeared with the other surrounding details, seems to reinforce the belief that FOV meant Fracta oppidum Virginis at least from this period onwards. At each centenary anniversary, the "miracle" was commemorated with great solemnity by popular piety. This event consists of the "solemn vote for public calamity" of which Guerrini speaks and which makes Giulio Briziarelli so doubtful that he wonders what the miraculous event had been. (2) 2. I believe that Umbertide is one of the few cities, if not the only one, that has left the ancient Protectors, considered everywhere sacred and untouchable because they are linked to the faith and traditions of one people, to entrust itself to the protection of another, although of higher rank such as the Virgin. And that detail I mentioned in the introduction is also linked to this fact. This is the canvas placed in the church of San Bernardino. Certainly the official accreditation that sees reproduced the image of St. Anthony in adoration, as indicated in some photographic publications relating to the city and in tourist brochures, is incorrect. The symbolism of sacred iconography is an important key to understanding and must be kept in the utmost consideration. The character represented is a martyr because the angel shows a palm which is the symbol of martyrdom (St. Anthony is not a martyr). Furthermore, the person represented is also a bishop, as evidenced by the presence of the miter and the crosier. The abbots are comparable to the office of bishop, but in the pictorial works they are represented with their typical habit and not with the solemn vestments of the bishop's office. The presence of the angel is emblematic. It is true that in sacred iconography the figure of the angel is very widespread, but in the specific case it is said that in the life of St. Erasmus the legend speaks of the recurring role of an angel who accompanied the holy bishop to Syria, then to Dalmatia. , finally to Formia and to martyrdom. If the legend is combined with the reproduced subjects, the Immaculate Conception and the castle of Fratta, it can reasonably be assumed that that saint character had something to do with the small village and that he was even the protector who entrusted his protégés to the superior protection. of the Virgin. The canvas, therefore, could represent the "miracle" of 1643 and "The consignment" of the city to the Madonna by Sant'Erasmo. Popular tradition (3) has always indicated in the painting the memory of the prodigy. hypothesis was founded, the canvas should date back to around 1644 and it could be observed that the dome of the church of Santa Maria della Reggia was no longer there at the time. It is true, but it is a secondary detail, in my opinion, because the completion works of the dome, begun around 1621, were not yet completed. Perhaps the temple was covered by wooden scaffolding and the upper part of the church was incomplete, aesthetically uninteresting and indefinite so it was preferred to reproduce it with its characteristics originals. 3. During 1862, the Mayor of the time had appointed a commission to study the change of the name of the city. A measure to this effect was suggested by a dispatch from the government commissioner at the request of the Ministry of the Interior to avoid confusion caused by the numerous toponyms bearing the name of Fratta. "The commission was composed of the municipal secretary Dr. Ruggero Burelli, the chief engineer of the Municipality of Genesio Perugini, who was completing the history of Fratta left incomplete by the canonical uncle Antonio Guerrini who died in 1845, and by the lawyer Costantino Magi Spinetti. The report presented to the Mayor closed by suggesting a range of four possible names and advocated that of Umberta or Umbertide because it is more closely linked to the memory of its alleged founders descendants of Uberto Ranieri. "Fracta filiorum Uberti is always called even in the ancient Perugian statutes", mentioned a passage in the report. It is worth noting that it does not state that Uberto or Umberto is also the name indicated by the letter "V" contained in the coat of arms (FOV) in order to reinforce the indication suggested in favor of the choice of Umberta or Umbertide by the City Council. It would seem evident that in the conviction of the three commissioners that "V" did not refer to any of the Ranieri, but meant something of different. 4. In Lauri's Latin, the ancient and correct expression of the Perugian statutes “Fracta filiorum Uberti” becomes “Fracta insigne Ubertinorum oppidum”, with a very strange philological contamination. In this regard, it is useful to recall the sharp judgment that Luigi Bonazzi gives of the cited author: “With Bonciario we generally returned to Latin vomit. The fellow disciple, Baldassarre Ansidei, prefect of the Vatican library, and the scholar Giambattista Lauri, both placed between one century and the next, continued to latin with fury, especially Lauri, on the same themes as the fellow citizen rhetorician, one until 1614 , the other up to 1629 ... " (4) . Uberto Ranieri's descendants are called by Lauri "Umbertini" as if the sons of Pietro, Giovanni or Giacomo could be called "Pietrini, Giovannini or Giacobini". Such a license is completely foreign to the Latin language, as indeed to the Italian one, which at most could have tolerated Ranierorum and never Ubertinorum. But the Latins and the Latinists have always prefixed gens to noble names, therefore gens Claudia, gens Cornelia, gens Fabia, and, if anything. "gens Raniera" would have been the correct expression. Bonazzi's judgment on Lauri's "Latin with furore" seems completely founded. It seems very strange, therefore, that the letter "V" stands for "Uberti" because this does not correspond to the historical truth as the founders were his sons (Ugo, Ingilberto and Benedetto) and even more strange that it stands for “Ubertinorum” due to philological incompatibility. I agree with what Guerrini affirms, towards whom I have respect and admiration for the seriousness and scruple, unrelated to some of his critics, with whom he has treated the history of the Land of Fratta. Personally, however, on the basis of the considerations set out in n. 4, I have serious doubts that 'Y' could mean "Uberti", even before 1643. That letter could, in fact, refer to Ugolino who ceded the Fratta to Perugia on February 12, 1189 or to the much better known Ugo, king of Italy, from which the Ranieri descended. It seems strange that history is entrusted with the name of Uberto who had the sole merit of having given birth to the person who rebuilt the castle destroyed by the Goths. One of Uberto's sons, an important element not to be underestimated , was called just Ugo as the most famous ancestor (the grandfather). Note: (1) See History of the Land of Fratta now Umbertide, Tipografia Tiberina, 1883, page 174. (2) See Umbertide and Umbertidesi in history, Unione Arti Grafiche, Città di Castello, 1959, page 247. (3) Testimony of the Bishop of Gubbio, Monsignor Pietro Bottaccioli. (4) Luigi Bonazzi, History of Perugia, Vol. 11, p. 251, Union of Graphic Arts, Città di Castello. 1960. Sources: “A FREE MAN - Roberto Sciurpa, a passionate civil commitment” - by Federico Sciurpa - Petruzzi publisher, Città di Castello, June 2012 Roberto Sciurpa tells the story of Umbertide to school pupils The Municipality of Umbertide Enlargement of the coat of arms of Umbertide located to the right of the access door Unknown author. The Madonna and Sant'Erasmo. Roberto Sciurpa and Petruzz i, in 2007, during the press of the last volume of the history of Umbertide. The cover of the book that his son Federico dedicated to his father Roberto The royal decree of 29.3.1863 authorizing the name change The poster communicating the name change from Fratta to Umbertide