July 1944

• July 11, 1944

  While we’re working, the siren goes off, we run to the factory’s basement. We’re not allowed to go outside or to a shelter, we just have to pray that God saves the factory so we’ll be safe.

• July 12, 1944

  At midday, I am 10 kilometers outside of Munich for work when the siren went off. The truck driver and I are in the middle of the countryside, there’s not even a ditch. Where will we hide? We crouch behind the truck. After 15 minutes, two antiaircrafts start shooting 500 meters from us. There’s an […]

• July 13, 1944

  There’s another siren at 9:15. Ten minutes after we reach the shelter, bombs begin falling. We can hear that a nearby factory was hit and a fuel warehouse went up in flames. They were shooting for two consecutive hours, at 11:30 it’s over but one could also say that Munich is over. There are no […]

• July 14, 1944

  Only a few men come to work, just those who live in Munich. The men from Fasanerie-Nord can’t come because there is no public transportation. A man from Minturno comes in, he somehow managed to get a ride, and he tells us Fasanerie-Nord has been destroyed. All of the barracks collapsed, but miraculously the Italian […]

• July 16, 1944

  There’s a siren at 9:00. It’s Sunday, I am home. I go to the shelter. A few minutes later, the shooting begins. It ends after a few hours and yet again we are safe, this time they bombed the railway.

• July 18, 1944

  Another siren, it stops after an hour, they changed their target this time.

• July 19, 1944

  The siren went off for three hours, bombs were scattered everywhere. Thank God none fell in our area.

• July 20, 1944

  Another siren, this time Munich was the chosen target but they didn’t drop many bombs.

• July 21, 1944

  Today, they flew over Munich again and dropped bombs on many areas of the city. The tram tracks, which were already damaged, were further destroyed. At night we eat a plate of potatoes with no seasoning and a plate of warm water called “soup”, then we go to bed.

• Sunday July 23, 1944

  It has been raining for three days, the sun never shines, what a miserable place! To think that in Casale right now it’s sweltering hot while here I’m wearing a coat. It’s been 10 months since the Germans snatched me, taking me to Germany to work, to be their slave. It’s been 10 months since […]

• July 24, 1944

  Siren.

• July 25, 1944

  The siren went off at midnight, we got up and went to the “shelter”, so to speak… even a small bomb would destroy it completely. We keep praying that God will keep us safe from all danger and allow us to return to our families who are far away and desolate! I think about my […]

• July 31, 1944

  While we’re eating a plate of warm water, the siren goes off. We immediately hear the antiaircraft artillery shooting but no bombs, they must have bombed further away.