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

January 1945

  • January 1, 1945!

    Today is New Year’s It’s the second New Year’s I’ve spent in Germany. I hope this new year will bring peace and I hope the good Lord will open the minds of those responsible for all this suffering and sadness, so that the long-awaited day of peace will arrive soon and all the survivors of […]

  • January 6, 1945 Epiphany

    We worked half a day like we do every Saturday. It’s unbearably cold out. Last year I was less equipped with clothing yet I wasn’t as cold as I am this year, even though I have better clothes and shoes now. Everyone says it’s extremely cold this year, it snowed for three days straight, it’s […]

  • Sunday January 7, 1945

    The siren has not gone off in Munich since January 1st, except once last Tuesday. I don’t think they’ll attack Munich anymore, perhaps they’ve finished, they’ve completed their task. About 80 percent of the city is destroyed, including the factories. Why would they bother attacking anymore? I hope the Lord keeps us safe from all […]

  • Still Sunday January 7, 1945

    At 7:00 at night, Agostino, Ciccillo, and I went to an eatery in my neighborhood to have them cook up the veal liver and macaroni I purchased yesterday. After eating, we talked a bit about Casale and our ill-fated families, pleading for the end of this inexorable war which is destroying everything! 20 minutes after […]

  • Monday January 8, 1945

    We woke up at around 9:00, the nuns gave us some coffee and a slice of bread, then we began clearing the rubble. Since we did not show up at the factory for work, at 10:00 our boss came to see what was happening, when he saw us all busy working he understood our situation […]

  • Tuesday January 9, 1945

    We’re still all working together on our home. We somewhat fixed up the room where we eat, we’ve placed mattresses in there and that’s where we sleep. At noon, a worker from the factory came and forced us go back to work in the factory, but not all of us.

  • Wednesday January 10, 1945

    This morning we all went to work at the factory, the boss decided that one day the 6 Dutch men will stay home and deal with fixing up the dormitory, then on another day us four Italians plus two Frenchmen would stay home and work. We’re doing all we can to avoid going to the […]

  • Friday January 12, 1945

    Today we Italians and the two Frenchman stayed home. Three Italians stayed in and did repair work while I went out to get the disaster victim documents for all four of us. I went for the four of us since I’d already done it once on April 25th, so I was familiar with the procedure, […]

  • January 15, 1945

    At exactly 12:00 noon, the siren went off. We ran into the basement of the factory, we’re all afraid because we cannot go to a shelter, we’re forced to stay in this damned factory which has already been hit twice, luckily it happened at night. At 1:30 the siren stopped and we went to eat […]

  • January 17, 1945

    Today we four Italians stayed home to work again, we do what we can to get by, we’ve each set up our own lair like foxes. We can still consider ourselves fortunate compared to the men in the lagers, I’ve heard horrible things from Agostino and Ciccillo who’ve lived in the infamous lagers for 16 […]

  • January 18, 1945

    Today, the temperature felt like October. The snow on the ground, which until yesterday was as dry as sand, has begun to melt.

  • January 19, 1945

    The temperature is freezing again. The siren goes off at 11:30, but luckily it ended soon with no mishaps.

  • January 20, 1945

    The siren went off again at noon. It was over by 1:30, thank God they did not attack Munich this time. It’s so odd; as soon as people hear the siren they run like crazy to a shelter while we’re forced to stay in the factory. God help us! Today I took a stroll around […]

  • January 21, 1945

    Today I ran into Paolo Maina at the black market. I often go to said market because it’s the only place where one can see fellow townsmen, plus one can buy anything but at staggering prices. For example: one cigarette costs 3 Marks which is half a day’s pay; a pack of regular Italian tobacco […]

  • January 22, 1945

    All day today I felt a horrible sense of anguish, I’ve never felt anything like this since I’ve been in Germany, in this damned country. May God protect me from a family misfortune.

  • January 25, 1945 St. Paul’s Feast Day

    Today is the feast day of our patron saint, St. Paul. I wonder if they will celebrate this joyous day that we’ve celebrated for years? Perhaps they will celebrate it but only superficially because their hearts are full of pain, not joy. The sadness of hearts that have been waiting for their loved one for […]

  • January 27, 1945

    Today I met with Tommasino, son of Vincenzo Ceraldi from S. Ruosi. He tells me he’s trying to find a way to sneak back to Italy. We agreed to meet on Saturday and go to this place to see if I can flee too. I can’t wait until this damned war is over, this inhumane […]

  • January 31, 1945

    The temperature today felt like April. After a month of continuous snow, the sun, the glorious sun, made its first appearance. The snow in the streets and on the houses has begun to melt. We walk through half a meter of melted snow in the streets, one would need iron boots to keep his feet […]


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