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• February 25, 1944

  Today I went to the Fascist Headquarters as Mrs. Porri suggested. It’s so cold my bones feel frozen, it’s been snowing continuously for about 20 days. At the Fascist Headquarters, they give me a voucher for a coat, shirt, and underwear, but as they were about to hand over the garments, Mr. Damato, head of […]

• February 18, 1944

  I leave the hospital after 18 days of rest.

• February 17, 1944

  This morning the clever nurse is on duty. He comes in, hands me the thermometer and leaves. When he comes to retrieve it, he looks at it and looks at me, then shakes down the thermometer, gives it to me and stands there. After five minutes, he takes back the thermometer and calls me “schurke” […]

• February 13, 1944

  Tonight, Agostino and Ciccillo came to visit again, they ask about the thermometer. I tell them it’s hidden in my bed with a 38.5°C temperature. By now I’ve recovered completely but I don’t want to go back to the factory, the boss is so cruel to us Italians that amongst ourselves we call him “the […]

• February 12, 1944

  The hidden thermometer trick is still working. There are two nurses: one is a simpleton, and the other seems more clever. They alternate days. Today I had a visit from an Italian woman married to a German, Mrs. Porri and another Italian woman. They bring me newspapers in which I hope to read about the […]

• February 5, 1944

  Today, Mario Tutone came to visit and later in the day, so did Agostino and Ciccillo. They say I look healthy. I tell them the thermometer story and they have a good laugh.

• February 2, 1944

  This morning, the nuns came and held Mass in the hospital. They sang the same songs we used to sing with Father Pasquale Ruosi in the church of Casale. I couldn’t hold back the tears. After Mass, I felt tired and had to rest. In the afternoon I felt better.

• January 31, 1944

  There’s snow outside and it continues to fall, but it’s warm inside. I want to stay here until this damn war is over. I’ve come up with a plan: with the thermometer the nuns gave me, I go into the bathroom and place it on the radiator until it reaches 39°C then I hide it […]

• January 30, 1944

  I asked the nuns for a thermometer, I tell them that when the nurse comes in the morning with the thermometers, I don’t have a fever but in the afternoon I do. They immediately give me a thermometer.

• January 29, 1944

  Bombs fell last night, all the patients who aren’t seriously ill walk down to hospital’s basement. The others, myself included, are taken down to the basement on their cots through a trap door in the hallway. After a few hours we are taken back upstairs again. The bombs were dropped further away. Today, two German […]