A blog from World War 2 | Un Blog dalla Seconda Guerra Mondiale

December 1944

  • December 1, 1944

    The siren went off at 1:30 this afternoon, it was over by 2:45. They didn’t target the city, but the pre-raid siren was going off all day. I don’t feel well. I asked if I could see a doctor, at 5:00 the boss let me go.

  • December 2, 1944

    Last night I had a fever and I still do, but it’s not a high fever. Tomorrow I’ll go to the doctor. I’d really like to run away, I’m going to try in the next few days. I cannot take this anymore!

  • December 4, 1944

    Today I went to the doctor. She’s a doctor who speaks Italian well, some friends suggested I see her because they say she’s very good. Unfortunately, I discovered this wasn’t so. They led me to believe she would sign repatriation papers for me but instead she only gave me four days of rest. Oh, these […]

  • December 5, 1944

    Today I feel better, my fever is gone. It snowed last night but it’s not as cold as it was in November. Yesterday, Vincenzo Liberti from Carinola received a letter from his wife Lucrezia Andolfi, who lives in Casale. I hope to receive a letter from my darling wife for Christmas. Every day, two, three, […]

  • December 8, 1944

    Today is the feast of the Immaculate Conception. For me, it’s a day like any other, we worked. I hope my family celebrated this holy day and that they have everything they need.

  • December 17, 1944

    The siren goes off continuously, there is no peace. Last night, the third siren wasn’t like the ones earlier in the day. While we were in the shelter, we heard constant shooting, then a bomb fell about 10 meters away and the shelter shook violently. When the shooting stopped, we went outside: we could see […]

  • December 18, 1944

    As usual, we had to go to work at the factory. We leave home at 6:15 and it’s bitterly cold outside. We reach the factory and it too has been damaged, but only slightly. We can’t do much because there is no electricity, perhaps the power plant was bombed, but we are obliged to stay […]

  • December 23, 1944

    Today we got out of work at 1:00 and are on vacation until Tuesday. They gave us lots of money, but what will I do with it? They gave us an extra week’s pay, a total of 44 Marks plus a 20 Mark bonus, plus the regular pay. In all, it was 110 Marks. Do […]

  • December 24, 1944 Christmas Eve

    I took a walk around the city. I went to visit Mr. Schumann to see if he was all right after Sunday night’s bombing. But he wasn’t there because the hotel was destroyed by bombs on Sunday December 17th. So he had no place to stay and went to Konstanz where his wife lives. He’d […]

  • December 25, 1944 Christmas

    This is the second Christmas I’ve spent apart from my family. Last night, the nuns who run the place I’m staying in made some sweets for us. At midnight, we went to Mass with said nuns in a private chapel where a priest celebrated the holy mass. At noon we had the same lunch as […]

  • December 26, 1944

    This morning, Agostino, Vincenzo Liberti from Carinola, and I took a stroll around Munich. It’s horrifying. Rubble everywhere but they’re still bombing. We went back home around midday. Even though the weather’s been nice and sunny for three days, it’s still freezing out. We are a few steps from home when the siren goes off. […]

  • December 27, 1944

    We went back to work this morning, our suffering has begun again: we get up when it’s still dark out and we return home when it’s dark. It’s freezing cold out. We’re working at the machines again because electricity has been restored, what a pity! Christmas of 1944 has come and gone! Let’s hope Easter […]

  • Saturday December 30, 1944

    Today wasn’t like the other Saturdays. Since I’ve been in Germany, we’ve always had half of Saturday and all of Sunday off, but today they made us work the entire day and tomorrow on Sunday, New Year’s Eve, we have to work until noon. This is how our year will come to an end. After […]

  • Sunday December 31, 1944

    As I said, we had to go to work this morning too. It’s snowing and freezing out. At noon we went home to eat. Today we had a special New Year’s Eve lunch: potatoes. And tonight we’ll have kartoffel, but let’s not forget the famous appetizer: warm-water soup! I recall the wonderful Saint Sylvester feast […]


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