Well, my name is Walter Stefani, and I come from Vicenza. I am an ex-altar boy, ex-activist of the "Balilla", ex-scout, ex-cadet of the Air Force Academy and ex-airman. My memories, especially the most significant ones, obviously date back to the period immediately before the Fir… the Second World War: which actually means the "consensus years", so to say; or else "the roaring years", as a matter of fact! Then I was a component of the "Century Vanguard Air Force Cadre Group", and we had even been able to go down to Rome on as many as two occasions. These were the days of the Dux Camps; the "Blue Camp". In those days being able to go there was the equivalent of a great achievement, because so high was the consideration about a free-of-charge sojourn in Rome, and the privilege of being able to encamp for about ten days at the Parioli – which is no longer in existence now. Here, there used to be a huge square equipped with tribunes for parades and for encampments. It was a rather cheerful moment; a moment of great charm, because nobody should forget that in those years we, or let’s say, "poor Italy", were not only able to easily win the World Cup in football, but the Olympic Games as well; our heavyweight champion Carnera managed to conquer the maximum title in boxing and our cyclists became champions without much effort! These were the moments of Guerra and of Barta… of Binda and of Guerra, who was eventually substituted by Coppi and Bartali.

As a result, returning to that period one could consider it as having been a rather, let's say, lively one. Such consideration was further confirmed by the fact that the period running from the Abyssinian War onwards had been manifestly marked by an increase in the volume of commercial transactions, and that this had consequently boosted the circulation of the Lira. Many people had in fact moved to Abyssinia to… falling in step right behind the troops, and had eventually settled there - some had chosen to remain because they were working for road construction units, others because they were in the transport business, and still many others simply because they were traders.

I still remember, as a little boy, when the "legionaries" would return - not when they returned "in arms" and parading, so to say; but when they came back after a good number of years. And I can remember quite well that whoever would come back home with sixty thousand Lire of the time - the famous "big notes" - wouldn't any longer need to work for a living! With sixty thousand Lire he would already have assured his existence for a whole life time: he would simply have to buy some houses or a few flats, and live on the income guaranteed to him by his tenants.

But instead for those who would return with two thousand five hundred Lire, well, this sum would certainly assure them an acceptable standard of living, but this then wouldn't have meant it wasn't necessary for them to work for the rest of their lives.

As it were, those who… nevertheless, those who really used to have a nice time were naturally the one's who would come back with about ten, or at least five to six thousand Lire. What would they do? They would buy a bicycle - these were the days in which bicycles with wooden rims and inflatable tyres were quite fashionable - and of course, apart from this there also were dinners and lunches with friends; and, on the whole, a lot of "good life"! It also ought to be remembered that by then brothels weren't yet illegal - this, therefore, was also a moment of civility and of being free to have fun! Anyhow, this is how they would eventually squander everything that they had able to put together in those two or three years of the campaign in Africa.

The period that followed this was marked by the invasion and occupation of Albania, and the unfortunate outbreak of the war – the Second World War! This sudden turn of events had taken place in spite of the fact that things had actually remained calm for some months, and we therefore had even began hoping we would not have to join in the conflict. But then we suddenly found ourselves en route for Poland, France, Dunkirk and so on. What had actually happened?

It had happened that, well; a great majority of the Italian people, and not only the Duce, were quite convinced that any further delay would have totally compromised every eventual opportunity of being able to participate in the "banquet", that is to say, at the Peace table. And this is how we actually ended up spoiling things for ourselves: we joined a war without being prepared for it, and without even having chosen to take part.

It is goes without saying that the Italian people are a "feast-loving" people, and not a people of "war-mongers". If were talking about Germans one would truly have nothing to say apart from recognising their ability as war professionals. But we Italians are not… If we; well let’s say, if instead they would have invited us to, let’s say, asked us to participate in a contest to find out who would have produced the best war songs, I can assure you we surely would have won the war. In fact we produced a lot of wonderful war songs throughout those years!

The songs of course weren't of any use and didn't change a single thing: an entire series of defeats had thus paved the way for the beginning of the bombardment. At first it had seemed that Vicenza would have been spared from these bombings because the war front by then was still quite distant: at first it was in Africa, then in Sicily. And as the Allies gradually made their way up the peninsular, even Vicenza began to feel… let's say the burden of the bombings and of this war that was continuously drawing near.

Obviously the bombings were almost useless as far as Vicenza was concerned. In fact, Vicenza by then was really nothing more than just the little township it still is today; a provincial town, that is to say. But nevertheless, even though it had neither military command posts nor anything else, the inhabitants of Vicenza had to take those bombings all the same. It ought to be remembered that in those last two years, let's say 1944 and 1945 - not really: the first one was on Christmas day in 1943, in which almost a thousand civilians lost their lives; that is to say, more than all the soldiers who died on the various war fronts put together! Then there would… as you can see I am simply going rapidly through…

After this came the return, the so called "Liberation". Naturally, this by then was really nothing but a great rush for seats, obviousl… those… the idealists were then able to resume their activities. But of course there also were social climbers as well: those who were already eagerly aspiring towards the occupation of the various chairmanships and vacancies! Consequently there came to be a scramble for seats which simply began with the allocation of temporary positions. Then, as normally happens in Italy, there was always the ready-made formula of "how about just leaving them there? Why don't we just settle the matter through a bogus competition?" And so they were able to remain hold these positions until they retired.

Then there was the exception of the reconstruction, which was something really praiseworthy. But, what had actually taken place during the days of the Social Republic; that is to say the so called "Republic of Salò"? Well, it had happened that those who had been Fascists right from the first hour chose not to renew their membership and decided to keep a very low profile or went into hiding; whereas most of the ordinary people - who perhaps even hated the Fascist Movement - got themselves enlisted in those last two years, in the common accord that everybody would have had to collaborate in order to save the honour of the fatherland, only to end up having to pay even for those who were career Fascists. This is the plain truth!

Nevertheless, with the reconstruction the whole machinery got moving, and not only in Vicenza but in Italy as a whole, accompanied by both a good organisation and a general determination. It is in fact a matter of truth telling that what they were able to do what has actually never been done again, especially in these last years. And of course, since the twenty years of the Fascist regime are always there to blame for each and every mistake that is made, we then chose to forget the fact that fifty and perhaps even more, say fifty five years, actually separate us from that period: wouldn't it be a high time we realised that the blame for the things that are not functioning ought to be taken by those who came after the Liberation? Well, this certainly is how things are bound to continue, but anyhow this isn't any of our business.

As I was saying, things in Vicenza then began to move, and that is to say, for example: if before the war there were any great… Vicenza, we should keep in mind, was a city belonging to the House of Savoy: the city then successively became, at first a stronghold of the Liberals before eventually turning Socialist at an even later date. In 1920 or 1921, the Socialists in fact were able to get as far as finally succeeding to occupy… to occupy… to get elected at the Municipality level: and this had lasted until the Fascist take-over that had then sent the whole lot of them back home in just one night and gone on to, let’s say "impose" a Fascist administration over the city.

But as I was saying before it had also been a clerical city; even though this hasn’t really much to do with people continuing to say… Vicenza and Bergamo were, let’s say Christian Democrat cities. But even in this case, such an affirmation wouldn’t be true at all if we were talking about the city itself. If instead we were talking about the province, then well, yes; a province… It was a "white" province, whereas the same thing didn’t actually apply to the city: the city had been loyal to the King; had collaborated with the Fascist regime; had been, as I was saying before, naturally a Liberal-Socialist stronghold; and had later turned Christian Democrat – but even then, without ever ceasing to remain a lay orientated city. If we In fact should analyse the… the election results of the time, we would discover that in Vicenza the Christian Democrats actually had a lot of difficulty in having their candidate elected to the senate, whereas things were quite easier for them in the province, so to say. As a matter of fact, they then went as far as inventing a system by which the most relevant positions, I won’t say which ones, would be linked to the names of candidates who were preferably famous all… all over the country, and with time this became the most reliable instrument for guaranteeing their success in elections.

Well, let’s go ahead with the story of the reconstruction. So, it then happened that the gentlemen who were already there actually ended up acquiring everything; in other words it was the land agents themselves who had eventually bought from their landlords, let’s say their employers, the whole property. However, it was also then that the entire category of private enterprises got mobilised, just as was happening in the whole of Italy. And thus Vicenza was eventually able to become the third, let's say "industrial pole" in Italy - which is something that makes us feel very much honoured and, it would also be necessary to add, which makes our land a happy one! All this was obviously the result of a great deal of determination… Perhaps these "little entrepreneurs" of ours were not people who were learnt enough, but they really did prove to possess a great intuitiveness and a "savoir-faire" that was truly praiseworthy.

Tell me yourself if I should continue.

Ah certainly… that's for sure… I was in Rome; I was in Rome doing a cadet course for a wireless operators, and therefore witnessed the events that took place on the 25^th of July. I still remember that day: I was on guard in the sentry-box outside our school when Badoglio's concise communiqué arrived. I was in fact surprised by the transfer of powers to Badoglio; but, above all, by the declaration that a certain "Cavalier Benito Musolini" had been overthrown! We certainly had never ever heard of such a title before: for it was common to hear people speaking about the "Duce", about the "Chief Executive of the Government", and about the "Founder of Fascism"; but this "Cavalier Benito Musolini" was surely something that I was bound to remember forever afterwards… And so we witnessed the things that took place in Rome, which, it must be said, was the city that had obtained more benefit than the others, and even more than the whole of Italy! Musolini, in fact, had understood that Rome actually bore a double characteristic in both its roles as a city that is, let's say, an administration centre, and as the capital city of Italy. The inhabitants of Rome had therefore obtained an all-field benefit packet that included housing, infrastructure, government ministries, promotions, and so forth…

And I was there to witness all that hue and cry: people on the streets destroying "fasces", beating up the former supporters of the regime and generally enjoying the thrill - and it was sad to think that these perhaps were the very same people who only a short while before had donned "orbace" uniforms and loyally gone to every Fascist gathering! Well, this is something that had really been going on in every corner of Italy: it had been happening, let’s say, almost everywhere. What is important, however, is that I was myself in Rome then, and what I saw actually made me upset.

We therefore stayed on where we were, even though one clearly had the feeling of being in a very strange situation. In the meantime none of the army officers were arriving anymore: they had simply disappeared! Some of them did turn up later on wearing civilian clothes. It was only the warrant-officer and the colonel, who also the commanding officer, who remained in the school. One could in fact see the excitement written on the faces of the officers as they arrived because whereas they had already been informed about the armistice and so forth, none of us was actually aware about what was taking place.

Just let me recount one particular episode about this: one fine Easter day - and by then we were still fully under the Fascist regime - I received an invitation from my aunt who was the housekeeper of the mansion of Propaganda Fide; that is to say, where Cardinal Costantini and all his collaborators lived. I had been invited for lunch, and poor as I was, I went there heavily dressed even though it was summer - which of course was something I later on couldn't help noticing. At lunch I found myself face to face with the Cardinal himself - with this Monsignor who today is the right-hand man of Pope Wojtyla - and even De Gasperi was there at lunch. And so they said to me: 'Well, and you airman, any news from where you come?' 'What is it…?' I hadn't even the slightest idea about what was going on, or what he might have wanted… They of course already knew about what was happening: I didn't know anything.

Coming back to what I was saying about the 8^th of September, the communiqué was actually issued quite unexpectedly - and unfortunately it was an alarming one too; saying that the Army was ready to counteract any… let's say, by whatever source an offensive, that is to say, would have been launched, and it was all too evident that they were referring to the Germans! That night in the barracks, I remember, all of us were there to listen to the radio, and kept asking ourselves: 'What shall we do?' 'Where will we go?' Some of us chose to escape… others decided… Well, we remained in there for about ten days because negotiations about making Rome a "neutral zone" were underway. For as much as I can remember, that morning - I still have an entire diary, you know; the one which… Everything that I thought; I wrote them all down, because I had said to my mother, 'Please keep all the letters that I send to you safe for me.' And, in fact, to this day all of them are still in my possession, and bear testimony to the numerous times I had simply let myself go, so to say… for what could in a way be considered as the sentiments of a young Fascist who had been betrayed, that was it… We in fact had the perception of not only having lost the war, but also in a very humiliating manner. What is more, we were also able to witness a certain kind of attitude that was not quite justifiable.

Another of the episodes I can well recall was the 16^th or the 17^th of September, when we were assembled in the courtyard - by this time only a few of us had remained, since many had already deserted; some going away… And then the Colonel, breaking into tears, had communicated to us our orders of temporary exemption. We were also given money; I can still remember that there were five hundred and eighty Lire for each one of us! The Colonel had then concluded saying: 'Those of you who are southbound can be happy because you will be returning home for sure; but instead I can do nothing else than to hope that those going northwards will be able to get there safely - he was in fact aware of all those, let's say… those mopping-up operations that the Germans were then doing. We therefore got ready, prepared our bundles and left. I can remember that by then I was still dressed up in overalls - I mean to say my Air Force flight overalls. What is really curious is that at a certain point everybody started pulling off and throwing away their badges, the stars, that is to say. Well, at first I also did the same thing; however after having taken only three steps I then said to myself, 'but why the hell do I have to throw away my stars?' And so I went back, picked them up, and put them back. And after what was, let’s say…, an unimaginable journey, we eventually came to Vicenza; arrived Vicenza. Here, we were finally… in contact with what had actually taken place. We in fact didn't know anything about the deportations nor mopping-up operations; just nothing! After we had been discharged from service we simply thought that now everything was in place. The place where I used to live by then was near Piazza dei Signori, so to say, and therefore I had to walk for about two hundred metres to get home. The point where we were dropped off was in fact near the San Michele bridge, which was, let's say, half the… almost three quarters of the way - and I have always thanked my lucky stars for it. In fact, as I was walking to my house I suddenly heard the noise of trucks as they came round the Cinema Verique corner and headed towards Campo Marzo, in the direction of the railway station from which I myself was coming! Two motorcyclists, who were actually two Carabinieri, signalled us as to say, "Out of the way! Get out of the way!" We rushed to the first doorway that we could find and dived inside. We were three friends together, and all of us happened to live nearby: one lived in Piazza Matteotti, near the museum; I myself lived near the same Piazza, and the third lived not very far away from here. And we watched the entire convoy passing by: a huge number… of trucks, filled to the brim… with deportees - or let's say, with arrested soldiers - who were being tak… in order to be imprisoned; that is, being taken to concentration camps!

So, this really was… Well, if miracles ever occur, then this was really a miracle: having to escape so narrowly from being, let's say, captured; and at just a hundred metres away from home, after having travelled back all the way from Rome, was indeed a miracle!

Therefore, it was only when I was at home that I was able to learn about what had actually happened in Vicenza; about the massive desertion of… In fact, a majority of the soldiers were… wanted…did not want to go to war anymore, and had… They all felt completely shaken, and could say nothing else but, 'We are going back home!' - for it was still unknown to them that we were already under occupation: in fact, it was not until the following day that we realised the Germans had actually occupied the entire nation, and that this was total! As a matter of fact we still had… If only we had commanders then, we actually would have put up some form of resistance since we still had a bit of force left in us; but instead there then was the famous speech of, "everybody home!" Indeed the bad example came from the king himself; it was given by the prince, by the royal family, and especially by the generals who themselves came to blows there in…where they boarded the patrol vessel Baionetta, in Pescara, along with all of their personal belongings and so on, leaving behind two million soldiers scattered on the various battlefronts without anybody to give them orders… Obviously, no one really desires to talk about it, and this is what the tragedy is all about: they actually would have had to remain in their place, given that we ourselves were only awaiting orders, or some other signal, which actually didn't arrive; it never came, that is what!

I see. Well, once at home with my friends, there were five of us altogether, from Vicenza we then went to… I mean with the Air Force, to Rome, while eighty-five others went to Bolzano. We were "experts", we had to become pilots! Once we were there, and since - quite unfortunately - our flight radiotelegraph operators occupied such a vulnerable position on board that they always got killed, there was… there was a very high demand for radio-telegraph operators, and consequently we were deviated to this course instead. Well, and so when we came back home, we had this pleasant… nice unlimited leave, quite assured of having everything in place. We then went on to Padua, and actually, our territorial airspace command - the second one - also happened to be situated in Padua. And so… we really weren't worried about anything - as a matter of fact the restriction orders issued by Gambara and Graziani were already in force, and the death sentence as well…!

'We are alright, is that right?' 'Yes of course, you are alright…!' 'OK then, please provide us with some documents…' 'Sorry, we cannot, but would advice you to join as volunteers…' 'No, that's completely out of the question! What if they call me back…? This is but the exclusive prerogative of the government that is governing at the moment, and I can assure you that I am not going anywhere; until they call me I am not going!' Well, this is how we eventually managed to look after the matter. We couldn't have gone back to office work because we were still classified as being under the military service… and it was then that the apprenticeship in watch repairing that I had done during my youthful days came in quite handy because I was considered to have learnt a trade. I therefore began working at home for the various firms in town, and so became self-sufficient - in short, I then was able to maintain myself.

However, they didn't give us any documents: they simply went on telling us, 'Yes, certainly; all of you are just fine…' The truth, obviously, was that by this time it was well known… some had gone up to the mountains, and others - taken that I had friends of various… on the two fronts: some had gone with the "Borghese", with the "10^th Mas", while others as volunteers. The greater part had however succeeded in finding a place in some militarised industry, or had gone on to join the police, let's say, to lend a hand as auxiliaries, and so on. Well, the truth is this: what then didn't they do in order to keep people occupied? They found the excuse of constructing what they called "The Barrier", a sort of "anti-tank ditch" that was aimed at having to stop… Of course one could but laugh at such an idea as imagining to succeed in stopping all that horde of tanks, but the underlying reason was probably that of simply keeping them occupied.

And so we were summoned back - that is, including myself, and even though I could just as well not have gone since I had already been a soldier. But, just in order not to create things for the family, that is to say, trouble, I decided to go too. And they sent us to Montebello, to dig up ditches for this barrier. Well, I can’t tell you all the… vicissitudes we had to go through, but one by one we then managed to escape; in the positive sense, of course - and that is, by having ourselves discharged. And therefore I myself was able to go back home, even if one was then prone to the mopping-up operations, because in town from time to time the Germans burst into the various bars, where a number of youth would go to play cards, and carried them off. As a matter of fact, I wasn't really personally exposed to this kind of risk: I kept on working while I was at home, and as such I wasn't at all the type of… idler these youth were; just sitting there and waiting for someone to arrive from one side or the other! The choice one had to make was, unfortunately, quite difficult because there hadn't been sufficient time to think about it: in these circumstances, one… everything was left into the hands of destiny… it was quite easy for one would to find himself chosen without prior notice, or else one could then decide to make his choice before hand: the fact was that there really wasn't any time to reflect, and it was simply a question of having to go either this way or that way!

On the other hand, what else could I have done? The idea of being a partisan certainly didn't appeal to me: firstly, because I wasn't motivated by any related ideal, and secondly, because I had a family, and knew that through my work I would have been able to maintain myself - and to tell you the truth, nobody ever dared to stop me! There was a curfew, which of course had to be respected; but just try to figure it out for yourself that each we talk about the Partisan Movement - or about the Social Republic - we are actually referring, of the forty or of the forty-five million… of the forty-two million that we were, to at least five or six hundred thousand men who had been, let's say, rounded-up and confined into regiments by the Social Republic of Salò - the "Italian Social Republic", as it was then called, and today known as the "Little Republic…" - the "Tiny little Republic". Naturally, parallel to this other three hundred thousand people, according to the various books that have been written about the issue, took to the mountains, or else fought for the Resistance. In all, this brings us, therefore, to a total of about a million people - out of forty-two million, as it were! But people of course did not even seem to think… people were there, just waiting for this bustle to come to an end! This is the real truth about the issue. Indeed, there was an obsession for heroism on both sides, and, obviously, "bad people" on each of the two fronts. However, the greater part of the ordinary folk was actually out there having to bear with untold sufferings, and yet stubbornly refusing to take sides with either of the adversary parties. The masses had only decided they would wait for… until this carnage - I mean the bloody civil war - will have been over! As it were, at one point it was then inevitable for us to find ourselves right in the middle of an armed conflict, as quite unfortunately was the case.

Coming to Upper Italy, it was obviously clear that even in Vicenza the various ministries and brought along with them this terrible horde of people; of functionaries, of corrupt people, of… of…of… opportunists who were obviously quite able at manoeuvring things, as well as at making ends perfectly meet for themselves while the poor people instead had to suffer. I would say that we were lucky here in Vicenza because of the surrounding countryside because, substantially we were always able to find something to eat either through the black market, or through friends or something. Those who really suffered more were the people living in the big cities; Milan, Turin, Genoa. Here, countless people eventually ended up ruining themselves, bartering their prized ear rings, rings, and so on, in exchange for foodstuff - say, a hectogram of flour or a kilo of sugar. Whereas we on our side were more fortunate from this point of view because "by hook or crook", in one way or the other, we always found something. Substantially, what I am saying is that if there hadn't been even a minimum of government functions - and what I am sincerely referring to is the concept of "governance" in itself, and no matter whether it implies having a puppet government, or one like that of Mussolini, et-cetera - then we would really have… we would have met the same fate as did Poland, and there was nothing anybody could have done about it. This is the plain truth. We were only lucky because even in the very difficult circumstances of the time, in those horrible conditions, we at least had a minimal atmosphere of law and order, a minimal system of security, and a minimal guarantee of supplies. And even the government of Salò itself was then always able to stick by the commitments it had taken: because I really don’t know how many billions it was obliged to pay to the German government for the latter's occupation troops, but the fact is that it always succeeded in facing up to it! Now, I really don't think it is a matter of simply pointing an accusing finger at the Left or at the Right. The only thing I would like to say is that in those days the majority of the Italian people just watched things happen from behind their windows; simply watching and waiting for the conflict to finish, waiting to come out into the streets of the neighbourhood and to flock into the town squares with their "Tri-colours" as has naturally always occurred at the end of every war! I myself personally witnessed the day of Liberation: people were simply wild with joy and jumped onto the trucks of the Americans. Yes, people whom you knew very well were good, were partisans, or had nothing to do with "fasces". But then I also saw a lot of other people, and particularly those who had had some "involvement" - that is if you want to say it with style - with "fasces". Well, they too jumped into the trucks, and immediately crossed over to the victor's side! It must be true… there is an old saying which goes, I don't know… "defeat is always… is always…", How the hell does it go… "is never begotten by anybody", this is what it says; "isn't anybody’s offspring" - and that's what it says about losing - whereas whoever wins… well, there are people who are always eager to jump into the victor's wagon!

Oh, certainly! I can tell you right away. Well, by then I wasn't, let's say, conv… not convinced… I would never have gone up to the mountains because, first of all, I had been brought up, let's put it this way, under the Fascist regime, and therefore that experience was really part of our own lives. We had even rejoiced, owing to what was probably our state of ignorance: we actually knew nothing as to what was truly taking place. The racial Laws had already been enacted, but were applied with a certain laxity here where we ourselves lived, and just as has always been - Italian style, and not like in Germany! As far as my own ideals were concerned, however, I was by then convinced - just as I am still convinced to this day - that what we had in that precise period was indeed a Government, even though it was that of the Italian Social Republic, that had succeeded a monarchy which, as a matter of fact, had chosen to escape. Whereas the adversary party, and in spite of the fact that it was full of idealists, of good people, and so forth… but still they weren't at all held in very high esteem by the townspeople who, quite on the contrary, kept asking: "But must they really… disrupt the power lines?" "But what for on earth do they have to engage in these acts of sabotage knowing very well that everything will backlash against us, and that they themselves will then run away as usual, leaving us to bear all the suffering?"

And consequently I… Well, my principal conception by then was characterised by a deep craving for lawful things; and therefore, just as I said before, if they had summoned me back I certainly wou… though quite unwillingly, but yet I would have reported all the same; and simply because that happened to be the government which had…which was then governing the country. Of course, on the other side there were all those beautiful, let's say… "adventure groups"; comprising of good people, educated people, poor people, or simply people who had been lucky enough to escape from something - say, from the deportations, and such like. But, as for us, we simply did not have this kind of experience: as a matter of fact, those of us who lived in the city had never seen even a single partisan in town - we only saw them on the day of Liberation, after the arrival of the Americans, as they climbed onto the trucks. Of course we knew they existed: we had heard of the various, how do you say it… of the various acts of sabotage that these groups, and the whole lot, had gone about committing along transportation routes, attacking trains and blowing up railway lines. But those of us who lived in the city weren't actually aware of anything. We only could know about isolated cases like that of my brother, for example, who happened to be one of their collaborators, and because he had even gone as far as stealing a German Jeep, and taking it up into the mountains to these partisans. But… naturally, to us the episode almost seemed to be more of a "young man's bravado" than something that had to do with, let's say, ideals. Well, what really happened after this was that he was arrested and taken to Verona in order to be executed; but of course, even here there is something that is worth narrating.

People normally talk of Italians as being corrupt: well, if this is so, then even the Germans are corrupt because my father, being a jeweller, was then able to have himself presented personally to this Gestapo Warrant Officer by the German interpreter! And so it became a matter of gold bangles, rings, and so forth… I remember this quite well: I saw my first fir-tree nowhere else but right inside the SS barracks, where we were then successively invited on the eve of Christmas. After this, about forty days went by, until the day I came back home to find an SS truck, accompanied by two guards, parked right there. The first thing I said to myself was, "Oh dear! This time they have come to arrest my father," since he had grown into the habit of listening to Radio London. But instead, as I slowly crept upstairs I was able to hear… Indeed, they had brought the young man back to his family, with nothing more than a scolding. So, as you can see… Nevertheless, in return I was forced to surrender all the books of D'Annunzio that were in my possession. I had created quite an "appetising" collection that the interpreter simply exclaimed, 'Boy, isn't this wonderful! I really must take them along with me." and that actually was the last time I ever saw them, right? So, you can see for yourselves that even the Germans themselves were not all that immune to bribery when it came to gold and jewels!