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THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 2023 www.italoamericano.org 30 L'Italo-Americano T h a n k s t o a COMITES SF- organized event, Italians and Ital- ian-Americans in San Francisco will be able to commemorate the end of World War II and Italy's liberation from the Nazis on Tuesday, April 25. Il Giorno della Liber- azione was the peak of the partigiani movement, born in 1943, gathering all Italian anti-Fascist activists from d i f f e r e n t b a c k g r o u n d s – including workers, farmers, students – fighting against both the Fascist regime and the Nazi occupation. That day in the spring of 1945, the National Liberation Commit- tee of Upper Italy (CLNAI), a political organization repre- senting the Italian resistance, announced a popular upris- ing and general strike against the Nazi occupation and Fas- cist regime. The capture and death of Benito Mussolini became the symbol of the end of dark times, as many in Northern Italy were set free: Bologna first, then Milan, fol- lowed by Turin and Venice. The following year, on April 22, the Italian government e s t a b l i s h e d t h a t A p r i l 2 5 would become a national hol- iday. Paola Tonelli and Sonia Alioto, the COMITES repre- sentatives leading the Comu- nità e Tradizioni Italiane and Impresa e Turismo groups, shared more about the mem- ories the day brings: "This is a very important event for Italy. It marks the end of the war, starting in Turin and Milan and continuing in the rest of the country. It was a turbulent moment in our his- tory, characterized by the conflict between fascists and p a r t i s a n s b u t a l s o b y moments of great humanity." The event in San Francisco w i l l i n v o l v e s o m e N o r t h Beach restaurants with spe- c i a l m e n u s f o r t h e n i g h t . "These restaurant owners want to show their support to the Italian community and C O M I T E S ; w e w e l c o m e everyone to come and com- memorate this day with us," they continued. You can find m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n o n t h e C O M I T E S w e b s i t e a t https://www. sfcomites.org/. The Club Fugazi is the venue hosting a discussion about the 1945 events, with testimonials ready to bring their own stories on stage. Among them, Franca Ban- nerman, then a 14-year-old girl, who witnessed the col- l a p s e o f F a s c i s m a n d t h e country's liberation. Franca, who lives in San Francisco, was born on June 9th, 1929, in Marino, a small town close to Rome. Her father was an Italian from Egypt, and her mom was from Siena. They moved to Italy before Mus- solini came into power, and her dad had founded his own bank. When the regime start- ed, he moved all the small banks into a bigger one. In the end, as an Italian patriot willing to fight against Fas- cism, he had no choice but to return to Egypt. They had four children: Orietta, Rena- ta, Michele, and Franca. At the age of 18, Renata married the vice Consul of Cyprus, a man she met when the family would spend their holidays on the island. Three months into the marriage, though, the husband came out to be gay, and Renata and the fam- ily decided she'd go back to Cairo. Renata, the sisters, a n d t h e i r f a t h e r t r a v e l e d around Europe to invalidate the marriage. Finally, the annulment was obtained in Paris, and Renata could start a new life. The sisters were living in a convent in France when the war broke out; this way they avoided being taken into a concentration camp. While in Egypt with his wife, Franca's father was able to get the sis- ters exchanged with a French family, and they ended up in Turin, where many of the Liberation events took place. Today, Franca is 95, and the memory of those days is still vivid and emotional. She decided to write them down so everyone would know how that day unfolded. April 24th, 1945, was a beautiful spring day after a long, cold winter without heating and practically no food. I went to school in the morning. I came home for lunch, and in the afternoon I got ready to do my home- work with my friend Marie Louisa, who lived a fifteen- minute walk from my house at the corner of a square, a f e w y a r d s a w a y f r o m a church. I was enjoying my walk, and when I was near the church, I noticed Arturo on its steps, half hiding near the d o o r . A r t u r o w a s m y u p s t a i r s n e i g h b o r o n t h e eighth floor of our apart- ment building. He was four- teen years old, a few months y o u n g e r t h a n m e , w h i c h made me treat him as if I were his older sister. I shout- ed at him, "Arturo, what on e a r t h a r e y o u d o i n g u p there?" He showed me a rifle. He cried out loud, "I'm defending Italy from those b a n d i t s o f p a r t i s a n s ! " I asked him, "What do you mean? The partisans are up in the mountains! Who gave you the gun?" He put the heavy gun on his shoulder and answered proudly: «Le camicie nere!» (the Fascists). I shouted back, "You better go home now, before your mother finds out what you a r e u p t o . T h i s t i m e y o u won't be able to sit for a cen- tury!" And with that, I went on t o M a r i e L u i s a . W e w e r e both immersed in our home- work when the phone rang. It was my older sister, Oriet- ta, who, with a panicked voice, urged me to go home at once. I started walking home, and just a few yards from Marie Luisa's house, I heard a couple of gunshots. I took shelter behind a wall. When I no longer heard gun- shots, I came out and pro- ceeded toward the church. At first, I saw a bundle on the floor by the church steps. T h e n I r e a l i z e d i t w a s Arturo. I ran to him and, at the same time, the priest came to me. Arturo did not answer when I called his name. The priest ordered me to r u n h o m e , w h i c h I d i d . I must have arrived there in five minutes. As I came out of the eleva- tor, Orietta was waiting for me. I fell into her arms. She could not stop asking me, "What happened, what hap- p e n e d ? " A f t e r a d r i n k o f water, I eventually told her what had happened. She ran up the stairs, to Mrs. Valenti- ni, the mother of Arturo, to tell her about her son. Three weeks later, we went to his funeral. But that is another story. We, three sisters, locked the door of the apartment a n d t r i e d t o l i s t e n t o t h e news on the radio, but all we c o u l d h e a r w e r e f a s c i s t marching songs. From time to time, we could hear gun- shots and shouting. The next day, the radio stopped playing music and a n n o u n c e d t h e w a r w a s over. The Germans had sur- rendered to the Allies. At first, we could not believe it, b u t w h e n w e h e a r d t h e shouts of joy coming from most of the apartments, we too started shouting, jump- ing with joy, and embracing each other. Just then, on April 25th, 1945, the phone rang. It was my older broth- er, Michele, who told us not t o l e a v e t h e a p a r t m e n t because there was a lot of fighting in the streets, fas- cists against partisans. Par- t i s a n s a g a i n s t F a s c i s t s , neighbors against neighbors. We could see what went on in our Corso Lecce from our seventh-floor balcony. There were old and young w o m e n w i t h t h e i r h e a d s black because they were cov- ered with tar. They were k i c k e d , d r a g g e d , a n d screamed for help. The parti- sans were doing that to them because they believed those women were fascists or Ger- man sympathizers. People were fighting from houses and balconies. Ours was the only skyscraper in the neigh- borhood at the time. It had eight floors... We were so high up on the seventh floor that we thought no bullets could reach us, but we could observe. This fighting and vendetta went on for five days. Until the Americans came. I remember Colonel Fiore from New York did govern T o r i n o u n t i l 1 9 4 6 . A s a d atmosphere was all over the city and countryside. Jewish people were starting to come b a c k f r o m c o n c e n t r a t i o n camps. We could not believe what they told us and what they went through. If you look at the pictures in the news that day, April 25, 1945, you will see com- plete strangers kissing and embracing joyfully in the streets of New York. On April 25, 1945, in the North of Italy – i n T o r i n o , c e r t a i n l y — there was no peace." SERENA PERFETTO Italy's Liberation Day: the 78th anniversary comes with memories and stories to not be forgotten A young Franca Bannerman, at 15 (Photo courtesy of Franca Bannerman) SAN FRANCISCO ITALIAN COMMUNITY