WEBVTT 00:00:00.125 --> 00:15:50.743 People from Here 00:23:29.488 --> 99:59:59.999 Welcome back to People from Here. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 What we want to tell you today is the story of two young people, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of two young people with high hopes. On the one hand, there is Adelina, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a brilliant lawyer who works at a prestigious legal firm in Milan. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Then there is Ettore, an industrial chemist. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The future can only smile upon Adelina and Ettore. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Actually, their future will be more turbulent 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 than they could have ever imagined. The fact is, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in 1938 Ettore and Adelina are Jewish. On September 18th, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 from the balcony of Trieste's town hall, Benito Mussolini announced Racial Laws 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 for the first time for the defense of the race. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The world of those two young people suddenly collapses under their feet. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We will tell this story of Ettore and Adelina 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and the eve of the day. We will tell it with the son 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of Ettore and Adelina, Daniele Finzi, who in 2011, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 decided to donate his parents letters and documents 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to The Archives of Pieve Santo Stefano. Shortly we will also discuss why 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 this choice was made. Now I would like to start precisely 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 with September 1938, with Mussolini's announcement 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of the laws for the defense of the race. Ettore and Adelina immediately started 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to understand that there wasn't a future for them in that country. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 To leave their country was a difficult decision, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but one that will save their lives. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Yes, my father Ettore Finzi was very knowledgable about history. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Also because he knew German very well. He had two aunts, aunt Genie 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and aunt Lazigudita Gentiluomo, who both lived in Vienna. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 He had followed all the Nazi antisemitism up to March 1938. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So when the Race Manifesto was published in July 1938, he didn't expect it. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 He knew what the contents were about and he also hoped that Italy would be 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a little different from Germany. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And my father, more than my mother, made quick and immediate decisions. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 He was also very intuitive. He had known my mom only 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a few months, and he returns to these months of April 1938. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It was love at first sight and because of the Race Manifesto, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the Racial Laws, they decided to get married. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 They were married in Milan on December 1, 1938. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 In 1938. We arrive in 1939. - Yes. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 An ominous date for many. - Yes. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Very unjust, but there is a turning point. - There is a turning point. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Ettore and Adelina decide to leave. Or rather, how do they depart? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Because, in a sense, they leave informed. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Yes and no. The problem is immediate 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and that of money. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Because the White Paper of the British, a policy from maybe February 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 or March of 1939, allowed a total of 75,000 Jews 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to enter Palestine for five years. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 However, to qualify for the entrance, every person needed to have 1,000 stars. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Because, like we said, they had chosen. - To go to Palestine. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The goal was Palestine. - Yes. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The choice was not a coincidence, because my father had also thought 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 about Latin America. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 But the idea of going to Palestine was because it was nearby. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 He was from Trieste so it was close. He also hoped his parents could join him. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 In any case, the issue of money was really 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a huge problem because they didn't have any. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So, thanks to the lawyer Gianni Morandi, who was the owner of the firm 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 where my mom worked, they went to Zurich for their honeymoon. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Then they went to Lugano to gather clients for the lawyer. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It was to put towards this large sum. And I still remember two leather bags 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 with thousands of little stars inside. They were gold little stars. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 At this point, they reach Palestine. The State of Israel still didn't exist. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 There wasn't any money to protect them. Therefore, they had to start from scratch. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Yes, and so, they started all over again from January to April 1, 1939. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 They arrived in Haifa on April 6, 1939. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Yes, because as of 1922, the British controlled Palestine. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 There were Palestinian Arabs. The Jewish Palestinians were organized 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 by the Yishuv, who were more concerned with the kibbutz and wanted 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to dedicate themselves to agriculture, etc. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 But the foundation, the political one, was led by the Arab agency. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The Arab agency was, well, I'll give you an example. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Those who arrived in Tel Aviv on April 7th were in school learning 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 modern Hebrew twenty days after, because there were various Jews 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in Tel Aviv from every part of Europe. And so, it was necessary 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to learn this common language. Therefore, there was some organization, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but there were a lot of problems. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 In any case, where I mentally find... - Ah, yes. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 this small amount of protection. However, they had to start... 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Yes, they had to restart. - from scratch. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 On the other hand, however, there was a lot of bitterness 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that was left behind by the fact of having to abandon... 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Yes. - Italy. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Having to leave Italy was stressful. - Yes. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 In regard to this, I will also read an excerpt 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 from the letters that have been donated to the archive, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 diaries in which Ettore specifically tells about what he was feeling shortly after 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the time at which he abandoned Italy. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We will read this excerpt: "When I left Italy four months ago, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "feeling more disgusted by the burden of having to leave the country 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "than for the imminent danger, many of my colleagues 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "and friends were quick to express to me their discontent 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "about what was happening. Through their conversations, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "I felt they knew what sympathy meant, and they only ended up making me withdraw. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "They were whispered conversations solely because they knew me 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "and thought highly of me. For many, being an example against 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "the persecution of Jews not being born in Italy, could also be considered fair, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "because it is understood that they came to the country to make a fortune 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "by going behind other's backs. They had some expert political views. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "The Fascist government's right to persecute people that it had let into 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "the country was generally recognized." 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Okay, so Ettore felt betrayed by Italy? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Without a doubt. As I was saying prior, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 also because my father was from Trieste. From his father, my grandfather, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 he had also received an irredentist and nationalist upbringing. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Trieste... - Of course. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 ...had always been divided between people from Trieste 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 instead of irredentists, those who love Italy, Italian culture, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Italian language, like my grandfather and the Slovenians. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 He had received this education, and so he was an irredentist nationalist. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Additionally, he was a genius official, and so he felt like an Italian. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 He loved Italy and he felt betrayed by this terrible law. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 In addition, in Hector's letters, in this text, it also highlights 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a responsibility by the Italian people themselves 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 for that which is happening. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 He writes: "The political maturity 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "of the Italian people is apparently that of government rule 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "that it has and that it deserves." 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 There is a precise responsibility by the people. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Well, the problem of the Italian people... (Laughter) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 is living, yes, it's like saying... 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 living today like yesterday. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 In other words, the lack of personal responsibility 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and...not this... 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in this way...y..., accepting anything, a leader or a guide, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that which has an...an...uglier appearance, if you will. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And that...Trieste, not coincidentally Mussolini 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and September 18, 1938, where they were 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 at the Unity of Italy Square to present the Racial Laws 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 not only because of the nationalism that was there, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but because Trieste was a very multiethnic, multicultural city. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 There were more than two centuries in which ethnic groups were diverse. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 They coexisted. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 But at the very moment in which Mussolini was harsh towards Jews, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 who, I repeat, were profound Italians and felt as such, and had also fought 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 for Italy during the First World War, at the point, everyone was inclined 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to accept the rule of fascism. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We return to Hector and Adelina, who, because of their decisions, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 leave the Second World War behind, in which the persecution of Jews 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and the holocaust is about to start. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 They leave behind the errors of war, however, like I said, they face a life 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that is not easy. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Like we said, Adelina was a lawyer with a great career. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 She finds herself having to start her work up again. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Yes, because the main difficulty was a work shortage. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 There was an excess of workers (Laughter) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 from Tel Aviv. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And then, there were few jobs or they were completely insecure. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Another big problem was a housing shortage. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So much so that my parents were forced to live with a family in an apartment, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 with a kind of Polish family. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And so the difficulty was, above all, the work shortage. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Also because the two small bags of two thousand stars were not 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to be touched at all. My father was not flexible. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And so then my mom, in other words, my mom, as long as my father remained 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in Tel Aviv until August 23, 1944, when he then went to work 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 at the British oil refinery... yes... No, he also had my mom 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 because then he had had my sister first and then I was born in 1942. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So then when my father left, he felt the obligation to work 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to support the family also because he liked the idea 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of having money... (Laughter) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to freely spend. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 As mentioned, your mother was free... - Yes, free. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in Palestine. - Yes. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Your father, on the other hand, had to move abroad to Persia 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 because meanwhile he found work with an oil company. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So two lovers who find themselves far apart in a foreign land, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and the only point of contact between these two people becomes 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the writing, the letters that will then become so important 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 for documentation, for their memories. - Yes. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 In fact, if my father accepts this two year contract 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 with this Iranian company, from Abadan and in Persia, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 he would do his work as an industrial chemist 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in this precise military zone. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 He certainly separated from, he left his wife, his children, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in Tel Aviv. Then, although very tired, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 every evening my mom wrote and reported what had happened 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 during her workday, because she had found work 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 with a company that was part of the Tel Aviv pharmaceutical industry. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 After then being fired, she went into a...into a house to iron... 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So, she could do anything. And so she reported with great ability, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 descriptive, careful about everything that went on during the day. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Rather, my father sometimes wrote letters with extensive description. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 He explained to her a bit about his duty, weather problems because it was very hot, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 relationships with the British, that local population that was 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in truly devastating conditions. Okay so they were letters that, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 among other things... If you permit me... - Sure. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a tangent... Things one absolutely knew but I didn't even know 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the letters existed. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Then perhaps we can also elaborate on how they were found. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Then also about how the decision to publish them came about. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Let's go back. We had said that while Hector 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and Adelina were in Palestine, their children were born. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Yes, my sister... - You were born 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and your sister Ana was born. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It is fitting that the future of these two children is often focused 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 on in these letters that Hector and Adelina exchange. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I would like to read another particularly significant passage 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that is again written by Hector in Abadan in February 23, 1945: 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "If on one hand, the war tends to be nearing its end, on the other, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "for us, the situation in Palestine is taking a favorable turn. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "These days, I am overthinking and continuously thinking 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "about the problem and worried, not so much about our personal future, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "but the future of our children. I feel irresistibly carried towards 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "a solution that, although never once explored, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "today seems inevitable to me. Perhaps in a year's time we will find 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "the need to have to return to Italy. Then they will return 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "to being one hundred percent Italians." 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Probably if your father could have chosen, he would have never...ah...wanted 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to return to Italy. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Yes, I would have wanted to also. Rather no, because of having been betrayed 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 by Italy, my father deeply desired to return to Italy. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Apart from the experience in Abadan, also because life in Palestine was truly 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 very hard, very difficult because of the work problem, the problem 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of the...of the...the lack of apartments. However, we can't forget 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that the attention, the attention from the Palestinian Arabs and the British 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 made life particularly difficult. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 If we could return back in time... - Yes. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 In September 1940, Tel Aviv was bombed by Italian planes, no?... 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Yes. - They bombed Tel Aviv and it seems 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 like there were one hundred and fifty two deaths. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So life was very hard. Another tangent...uh... In other words, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 one of the big problems was also food. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 For example, myself sister and I went to the gan, which was like kindergarten. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 To help you understand, at lunch they used to give us half an egg to eat. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 On the other hand, while you all faced this situation, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the hope of returning to Italy continuously remained. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And how did Adelina live with the hope of returning? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I will read... - Yes. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 ...another passage that is significant: "I will never ask myself 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "to take that step. Here I feel undoubtedly hesitant 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "by instinct and by force of tradition. And I won't ever ask myself not only out 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "of obedience, but because more than anything else, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "I am concerned about doing everything possible 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "for the future of our children." 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It's like saying, she was also willing to do her part. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 There was a sense of pride to return to Italy, that country 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that had dismissed them in order to then guarantee 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a future for you children. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Then here there is a... (Laughter) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 There are many letters. In any case, when my father says 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that they will be one hundred percent Italians, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 he also proposes to my mom the idea of converting to Catholicism, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 because we were Jews. - Of course. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Then, while the Finzis of Trieste were assimilated 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 almost completely... In other words, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 they went to the temple twice a year. Instead, my mom was from 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a much more orthodox family. They came from the Parrdo, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a very important Iberian family. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Parrdo which was Prado then. They came from Spain after the expulsion. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So my father proposes this idea of converting to Catholicism 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in order for his children... - To become... 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Yes, to become totally Italians even as a religion. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 However my mom... Here it says that she was reluctant. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Not because she was personally orthodox. But because, in that moment when 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 it was known what was happening in Europe, the extermination camps 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 or also a difficult situation, they absolutely didn't know 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 where my paternal and maternal grandparents were. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So, however, the news arrived even betraying the origin... In short... 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It was quite heavy. - Very heavy. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 By the way, meanwhile how did the news about the war circulate in Europe? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Was there just an awareness of what was happening? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Was there an awareness of the extermination camps? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Yes. - Most of all, also how did they live 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 with these duplicate feelings? Because, on the one hand, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 there was this hope of being able to return one day 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to a normal life in Italy. On the other hand, however, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 there was a lot of love also for the fate of loved ones. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 They knew everything. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Both about the Jewish institution and the British. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The news arrived quite detailed. I don't want to forget a noteworthy group 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of young Jews that were part of the Jewish brigade. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 They fought alongside the British and they also fought in Italy, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in all of Europe. It was them that said the news offered 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 details about what was taking place. So they knew about everything 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 about what was coming to Italy and Europe. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The concerns were precisely that my paternal grandparents, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 those who then were moved from Auschwitz, they did not... 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The last official news was transmitted by a type of telegram by the Red Cross 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in July of 1943. Then my father knew absolutely nothing. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 My mom didn't know. She knew that her parents were hidden. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Her brother was in Switzerland. But they had absolutely no news. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 They couldn't say or write anything because the mail was altered. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Outgoing and incoming mail was altered. I found that at least some details 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in the letters had been deleted precisely by the person that did the alterations. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So my father needed to be careful because they were altered by the British. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 They were altered by the Persians. Then they were altered on arrival 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in Palestine. So they were... 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 In this situation, they also found themselves in a state 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of uncertainty being far from Europe, far from what was happening in Europe, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 far from the war. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 For the moment, Adelina perhaps had hoped that her family would be privileged 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in the immense tragedy that afflicted the Jews of Europe, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that they would all find themselves reunited upon their return. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 There was almost this illusion, this hope. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Hope is often the last idea. Hence, there was hope. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 They didn't have detailed news. My father's brother was a doctor 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 who lived in Bologna in the mountains of Monghidoro. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 He knew that his parents had been arrested, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that they had been deported. However, he had not communicated anything. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Then, even though... There could have always been 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the hope of return by being in Aushwitz. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Therefore, they hoped, they hoped. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Unfortunately, however, the terrible news arrived. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 They also arrived in Palestine while the war... 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It was over. - It was already over. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And like you said, the terrible news arrived by mail. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 News so terrible that Adelina cannot even transcribe them 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in a letter to Hector. She writes: 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "My dear, unfortunately, the dreary news has arrived. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "I am sending you the letter because I don't have the courage 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "to write to you about it with my own pen." 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It's terrible. Unfortunately, they were effects 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of what had just happened in the war in Europe. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 In a communication letter separate from the international cross. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Maybe in that exact moment Hector and Adelina understood 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 what they had escaped from? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Yes without a doubt. I will also tell you 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that when my father had the idea of going to Palestine, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 everyone criticized him; friends, parents, brothers, the sister, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 because they said he was always pessimistic. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 He would rather have wanted them all to also come with him. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 However, he expected it, also because the war in Europe ended on May 8, 1945. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The news gets to him in August. Given that months go by 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 where he doesn't receive positive news, he feared for the lives of his parents. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Excuse me but if you permit me. - Of course. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 But before the communication about the deaths of his parents, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 he received communication from Sweden that said his sister was saved. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Then my aunt Yolanda Clara was part of that group of prisoners 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that were moved from Auschwitz in December 1944. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 They were moved west so as not to leave a mass 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of prisoners in Auschwitz, because the Red Army was coming. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 She was then liberated in the north of Ravensbrück in April 1945. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 She was then transferred to Sweden to recover. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We have said that at this point, the war ended and Hector and Adelina 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 along with their children decide to return to Italy. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 How difficult was it once again to start from scratch because they actually had 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to start from scratch. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Ah yes. It was difficult. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 My father's brother, who had worked in Sansepolcro, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 helped him get a job at his work. He spoke with Mr. Marco Vittoni 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and he said he was quite willing to hire his brother because he was 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a chemist. Mr. Vittoni wanted a change of pace 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 for his company. But when we arrived in Italy in May 1946, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 with a short stop in Bologna and then to Parma at the home 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of my maternal grandparents, and then to Sansepolcro precisely 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in November of 1946, we had absolutely nothing. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And there was nothing... (Laughter) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Without a doubt, a country in devastation. - Yes, a country in devastation. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I remember the path with holes. I remember the Tower of Berta Square 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in a pile of ruins. - The Tower of Berta Square was destroyed. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I repeat, it was also a problem to eat. I remember my father rented 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a furnished apartment in Saint Claire Square 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 in which the conditions were... - Insecure. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Very, very insecure. However, they were young 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and they wanted to start over. There was my sister and myself. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So, they desired to put a painful time of their lives behind them and start over. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 You have previously already answered that there was resentment towards 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that country that made them run away and also towards those friends 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that... - No. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 had put down the idea of the legeri... - No, absolutely not. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Other than it being something that is part of our DNA. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Resentment is useless. It's best to move forward, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to have the will to start again and to overcome difficulties. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Not resentment. I never heard my father 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 nor my mother speak ill of Italians. Yes, it was upsetting to have lost. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 To having lost parents. To having lost years of work. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 My mom could not return to work in Milan because there was no way 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to find a home. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 In 2011, Hector Finzi's and Adelina's epistolary was donated 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to the Pieve diary archives. It's awarded the Premio Pieve. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 First and foremost, how were you able to find these letters again, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 because they were made public by the decision of donating them. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 My father dies on June 18, 2002. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We had an apartment in Parma. In August I was ready to let go of it. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 By chance, I found a bag in his office, a leather one that holds documents. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 There were letters inside this document holder. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And there were two notebooks, black ones with a red border 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that were used in the past, and they were diaries. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I understood right away because I have done historical research 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 for many years, so I understood it was something interesting. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I found it strange that my father never told me anything, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 because he didn't say there are letters and diaries. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And so I took them all to my house, to my office and I left them there 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 for a year, a year and a half. Then I slowly began to read them 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 with a bit of fear. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Because with letters and diaries... - One will find... 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 always find something intimate. Then I think in my family, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 nothing would ever be talked about. No one had ever commented, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 made references. Then gradually I began 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to transcribe these letters. I can't tell you how I did so, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 because they were truly written... - Strictly handwritten. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Yes, handwritten with a fountain pen, on tissue paper, because then 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 it was airmail paper. So it had... It was 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a remove your eyes type job. In any case, I did this transcription job 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of the diary, of the letters, etc. I had the idea of publishing it. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The full version of this diary, of these letters... 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Just to be certain, I collaborated with the Diary Archives already 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 for some time for my research. In any case, just to be certain, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I went to Pieve Santo Stefano and I had this volume on hand. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It was Cristina Cangi, who you know. She asked me: 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "What is it professor?" - "It's this work that I did." 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "Why don't you submit for the award." 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I say I really had not thought about wanting to publish it. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I start reading some interesting things and then I submit it. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 ...They asked me for the archive and also for the letters, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but I wasn't going to do that. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I remember that it's naturally possible to read this publication 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that is titled "Transparent", in which the documentation 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 is precisely presented. Published by Il Mulino. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Our arrangement time has ended, although we would like to talk for hours 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 about this story that is a bit, by certain passages and elements, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 similar to the story of many other families, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 also of the province of Arezzo. Perhaps there will be a a way 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to talk more about it in the future. Thank you Daniel Finzi, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 thanks to all of you who have followed our event, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a special event that was made possible in collaboration 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 with The Archives of Pieve Santo Stefano. I naturally thank you as well. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 In particular, the archives for this episode were made available 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 by Nadia Frulli. Thank you to all of you 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 for watching the program with...