Partisan Diary by Ada Gobetti & Jomarie Alano

Author:Ada Gobetti & Jomarie Alano
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2014-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

I let him leave, and then, when I heard that his car had left, I left too. I went to Teta’s, and notified Paolo and Ettore also, telling them to go to Meana, where I would join them in the evening. Then I found Longo, whom I begged to accompany me to Mompantero Vecchio. I could not go there by the usual road, through Urbiano and Braida, which were totally occupied by the Germans and the Fascists. I had to take a detour through San Giuseppe, passing through places that I did not know very well. Very familiar with the area, Longo consented willingly and we left immediately. It was around five o’clock when we arrived at Mompantero Vecchio, a small group of grange at the bottom of a esplanade of pastures that appeared, like a terrace, on the barren, steep flank of the Rocciamelone. Laghi had not yet arrived. Night was falling and an icy wind was blowing. We retreated to a grangia, around a lit fire, with some partisans who told us about the adventures of the group after the last roundup. The bulk of them had already moved toward the Colle della Croce di Ferro, from where, if necessary, it would be possible to go down into the Lanzo Valley. But the situation is not a happy one. It is already cold outside and, at that altitude, it can snow at any moment, which would make any movement extremely dangerous, not to say impossible, while the supply of foodstuffs will become absolutely problematical. Up until now, notwithstanding the roundup, they have gotten off easily by moving at night and hiding in the woods, but what will they do when the last leaves have fallen and their footsteps will leave a mark on the snow?

At 7:00 p.m., Laghi had not yet arrived and Longo decided to climb down. I was unhappy to have him leave me, and even unhappier to lose my guide, but I encouraged him to go. His wife was expecting a child who could be born at any moment, and I would not have wanted to keep him far from his family for anything in the world.

It was around 8:00 p.m. when Laghi arrived, exhausted and worried. “The truce will be over within a few minutes,” he announced. We must prepare everything immediately, and leave for the Croce di Ferro. I gave him the money and the necessary communications. Rapidly I informed him about the new situation that had developed in the Upper Valley, and made agreements for future contacts through a system of signals and reports.

While we were still talking, we could hear a violent exchange of shots below, between Urbiano and Braida. The truce had expired and the Germans were attacking. We left the grangia. In the valley at the bottom, the tracer bullets left a stream of fleeting lights.

The partisans hurried to make the final preparations to depart and to put the provisions in a safe place. I said goodbye to Laghi,

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.