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• 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 […]

• 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 […]

• 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 […]

• 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 […]

• 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 […]

• 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 […]

• 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 […]

• 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 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 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 […]