War in My Town (10 page)

“How far up are they?” asked Cesar. “How much time do you think we have?” He took off his hat and wiped his brow as he began walking up the hill.

“When I saw them, at the rate they were burying those mines, they’ll be here probably the day after tomorrow. Maybe earlier if they send an advance guard.”

“That’s it then,” said Cesar sternly. “The front is moving up the mountain through Eglio. We need to tell everyone now!”

“I’ll go ahead,” said Demetrio, his voice trembling. He turned on his heel, stumbling a little in his haste. Swiftly, he mounted the buggy and clicked his tongue at the mule as he snapped the reins. In an instant, he was off, his cart jogging wildly toward the village.

Grabbing his sickle, Cesar ran ahead of everyone, his pace quickening to reach the footpath back to Eglio.

I ran after him, my blood pumping wildly through my veins.

I looked back at my mother and sisters as they scaled the trellised hillside. Pina and Aurelia struggled up the steep hill, grasping at the ground for leverage while helping Mamma along, their worn out shoes digging into the red earth.

“Cesar, what are we going to do?” I scampered alongside him like a puppy.

“I don’t know,” said Cesar. His voice betrayed his alarm. “But we have to spread the word.” He stopped suddenly and took my arm, jerking me to a stop. “But no matter what, you need to stay away from them — the Nazis. Do you understand? Stay as far away as you can. You need to stay safe.”

I bobbed my head up and down in quick, short bursts. I couldn’t find the words to answer him. His nervousness increased
my
fear. My brave and stalwart brother, afraid? I had never seen him this way. We scrambled upward on the hillside to the footpath where Evelina’s house was in plain view. I figured that Demetrio had made it into town and delivered the crushing news because Evelina’s red blanket hung from the window for all to see.

We went directly to Ferrari’s bar, which shouldered both the square and the main avenue. Ferrari’s wireless was delivering the news to the huddled villagers. The Allies had made it to the Gothic Line. Our little town and all its people were now in the middle of the only front left defended by the Nazis in Italy.

Chapter 17

In late September 1944, an envoy of Nazi soldiers rode into town. There was no need for Evelina’s red blanket as the entire town was now on high alert. The soldiers stopped their three vehicles in the town piazza, adjacent to Ferrari’s bar.

The townspeople scattered and ran to take cover in their hiding places. Some hid in their basements, some in their barns, some in their chestnut drying huts. The men had all gone into hiding the day before at the urging of their families. The rest of the village expected to be hidden by the time the soldiers finally made it up to Eglio, but the soldiers arrived sooner than we expected. We had hoped that they would pass through and proceed on over the ridge and into the next town. But it was not to be.

The soldiers dismounted from their trucks, rifles ready for any possible conflict. The only townspeople visible were our frightened elders or women shielding their children and running away.

Pina and Aurelia and I were at the fountain, filling pails with water before the soldiers rolled in. We dropped our pails when we heard the trucks coming and ran to hide under the archway passage in the middle of town just behind the fountain. As we stood still, I peered from the archway and saw two jeeps filled with the soldiers.

“Listen, everyone!” shouted someone in Italian as he and the others descended from one of the jeeps. He was the only one not in uniform, and he held up his hands to show that he bore no weapons. “There is no need to fear the soldiers. They will not hurt you if you cooperate with them.” He spoke with a northern Italian dialect and his tone was placating rather than threatening. He was obviously an Italian guide and interpreter, working for the Nazis.

“Pina, what do think they want with us?” I whispered.

“I don’t know, but stay close to me.” Pina gingerly reached her hand around to me as I hid behind her. She gently pushed me against the wall so that I couldn’t be seen. I closed my eyes and rested against the cool masonry of the archway. My heart pounding, I continued to listen intently.

“The officers and soldiers in the Fuehrer’s Army stationed to this front are on their way to your village. They will be using your homes as lodging and will require your assistance with other necessary preparations.” As he spoke, the soldiers remained standing with guns in hand.

As we listened, we were unaware that the soldiers from the other jeep had walked up to the archway behind us. I heard a harsh bark from behind and recognized it as German. My sisters and I whirled around simultaneously to see four Nazi soldiers with their bayoneted rifles pointed at us. We had been so focused on the soldiers in the piazza that we didn’t hear the others approaching. My heart felt as though it would jump out of my chest. I had never been so close to German soldiers before. I can recall to this day every detail of their uniforms, the color of the stitch work, their stature and their faces.

A short soldier snapped at us from the back, his voice shrill. My sisters and I stood there petrified. I was closest to him, so close that I saw the spittle fly out of his mouth as he shouted. His eyes were steel gray and watery. He couldn’t have been older than twenty, if that. We had not the slightest notion of what he could be saying.

Then the taller one shouted something, obviously growing frustrated that we didn’t understand. His tone was angry and urgent, his teeth like a wolf’s fangs.

“
Pattat, pattat!
” The little one shouted again. In a mixed moment of sheer terror and reflex, I felt an uncontrollable urge to laugh at the little man as he yelled in his German accent. I could not suppress a huge snort and I laughed out loud before I could catch and stop myself. Aurelia and Pina shushed me and Pina slapped me across the mouth.

The little soldier oozed fury, his almost transparent skin flushing red with anger. He pursed his lips and walked toward us. I was terrified, thinking of what he might do to me. He thrust the barrel of his gun at me and continued his tirade, yelling in German. I still didn’t understand what he was saying and that appeared to frustrate him even further. He proceeded to rap me on the head quite forcefully with the tip of his rifle. The other soldiers behind him walked to his side, still pointing their weapons.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Pina nodding in an exaggerated fashion and repeating, “She is a child. She didn’t mean it. She is sorry. Please forgive her.” The short soldier continued to shout at me. His words were like bullets. Aurelia worked her way in front and tried to move me behind her to shield me from his wrath.

In a moment of pure instinct, I turned and ran. It did not occur to me that they could have fired at point blank range and killed me on the spot. My resolve to be strong and resilient had evaporated. All I could think of was to run to my mother. Mamma was at Vincenzo’s house. His house was in the valley beyond the village, hidden from view off the main road. It was the safest house in the village because of its location and my family was always welcome there.

Run to Mamma
. The panic was rising up and my throat felt tight. My breath came in short bursts. My wooden shoes were slippery on the cobblestones and in my frenzy to get to the safe house I slipped and fell on my knees, scraping the skin. My destination was in front of me now and I burst through the door, letting my emotion pour out. Mamma was the first to reach me and scooped me up in her arms.

“Bruna!” she gasped. “What is it?” She held my face in her hands, and noticed the blood running down to my ankles from my scraped knees. “What happened?”

As I held onto her, I could see other people beyond the alcove in the adjacent room. Alfezio, Vincenzo and his family, Ida and Oreste, their son Dante, my brother Cesar and Mery. A horrible realization struck me. If the soldiers were following me, I would have brought them straight to all these people that I loved.

“They’re in town…” I finally choked out. I could barely form the words. “They have guns.” My breath wouldn’t steady itself as I gasped for oxygen.

Vincenzo stepped into the alcove to the door. Behind me I heard a thump and clunk as he locked it.

Cesar was close behind mother. He was already at my side. He took my hands and held them to his chest. “Bruna, just breathe,” he said calmly. “Look at me.” He grasped my skinny arms in his strong hands and tried to get me to focus as I gasped for breath. My big brother’s voice was comforting. “Stay calm now.”

I nodded and did as I was told. The cadence of his words was soothing. My sobs waned and I stopped gasping. I nodded to him that I was all right. That was when we heard the distinct clicking of boots outside. I will never forget that sound, like the ominous regular tolling of the church funeral bell.

There was a silent pause and then the locked door splintered and burst open, its wood unable to withstand the force of a booted foot. The German soldiers who had chased me were now positioned on the threshold, their rifles pointed into the center of the room.

One of them began shouting at us again, pointing his rifle. He stepped in as if he were entering an enemy bunker. The others spilled in.

A growly command came from a soldier with ice-blue eyes. He strode over to Vincenzo, who was closest to the door, and poked his ribs with the barrel of his gun, motioning for him to raise his hands. The old man winced and complied.

“Hands in the air!” Everyone finally understood. We all put our hands up.

“Please,” said Cesar raising his hands and trying to contain his obvious fury. “Don’t hurt the women.”

The one with the blue eyes marched forcefully over to Cesar and hit him in the stomach with the butt of his rifle. Cesar doubled over in agony, gasping in pain. Everyone cried out. The soldier then raised his knee and hit Cesar in the face as he was doubled over. Blood spurted out of his nose, but still he said nothing. His face was twisted and covered in blood.

“Please don’t hurt my son!” Mamma knelt on the floor and clasped her hands, begging for mercy. She looked at the soldier with the ice-blue eyes. Mery, tears running down her face, held onto mother’s shoulders, trying to pull her back.

“Stop, Mamma,” she whispered. “They’ll hurt you, too.”

I was helpless, trembling behind Mamma, holding onto her for fear that they would hit her.

A soldier who had walked in after the rest seemed different from the others. He stood taller and spoke calmly. He was cleaner and his uniform was fancier.

Two of the soldiers walked over, pulled Cesar to his feet and shoved him in the direction of the door. Fear overtook Mamma and she wailed. She threw herself at the feet of the soldier who had just entered and held her clasped hands up to him.

“Mercy, please, I beg you,” Mamma cried.

I cried silently, my hands over my ears, trying to muffle my mother’s words. But Mamma’s pleading fell on deaf ears. The soldiers began prodding all the men with their rifles, pushing them out the door. The calm soldier looked at the crying women in the room. We were all worried that we would never see Cesar or the other men alive again. I held on tightly to my mother.

“All you women,” said the calm one in broken Italian, “come with us.”

Still weeping, we did as we were told, not making eye contact, too afraid to even give the soldiers a sideways glance. I prayed that they would spare us. I prayed that the tall one wasn’t being calm just to trick us into submission. “Mamma,” I whispered, tears streaming down my face. My mother’s arms were like wings over my shoulders and Mery’s. She had regained her composure.

“Hush,” she replied under her breath. “Everything will be all right. They won’t hurt us. We are not important enough to them.” For the first time in my life, I didn’t believe my mother.

Chapter 18

At gunpoint from Vincenzo’s house, we women were led back into the piazza. Now the piazza was filled with women and children who had been rounded up from all over the village. The men, except for the elderly, were gone. I saw my friends with their sisters and mothers, clinging to one another.

“Bruna, look for your sisters,” Mamma said. “Help me find them.”

I scanned the piazza toward the valley overlooking Barga and then north over to Sassi. All I could see was more soldiers coming. More of them in their mossy green uniforms and dirty boots, some walking, some riding in trucks bearing huge artillery gunners. There were hundreds of them now, not dozens as Demetrio had first estimated.

I looked south, over to the steep incline toward the cemetery. That was when I saw Aurelia and Pina struggling with Nonna who was extremely agitated. She was waving her cane threateningly at the German soldiers, upset at having been pulled from her home at this hour of the day.

“Look, Mamma,” I said and pointed to them. They looked as bewildered and frightened as everyone else around them. “There are the other girls! Let’s try and get to them!”

“Are you mad?” whispered Mery. “They’ll shoot us all.”

“They’re busy gathering everyone up,” I said. “Besides, I want to help with Nonna and find out whether Nonno is safe.”

Very slowly and cautiously, we nudged our way through the crowd. Some of the soldiers were still coming into the piazza with newly rounded-up villagers, their hands hoisted over their heads. There was a low hum of whimpers and cries in the air.

We were just a few steps away from joining the rest of our family when the neatly dressed commander began to speak in German again. When we finally reached my sisters and nonna, we discreetly held hands and kept our eyes downcast, so we would not draw too much attention to ourselves. We also tried to keep Nonna calm.

The Italian interpreter translated what the commander was saying. “Listen, everyone,” he repeated. “You will not be harmed if you co-operate.” He looked at the crowd, making eye contact as if to assure us that he was being truthful. “The officers will take their positions in the homes they feel are suitable to their needs. Obviously, those families whose houses are occupied by the soldiers will need to stay elsewhere.