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People from Here
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Welcome back to People from Here.[br]What we want to tell you today
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is the story of two young people,[br]of two young people with high hopes.
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There is Adelina,[br]a brilliant lawyer who works
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at a prestigious legal firm in Milan.[br]Then there is Ettore,
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an industrial chemist.[br]The future can only smile
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upon Adelina and Ettore.[br]Actually,
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their future will be more turbulent[br]thank they could have ever imagined.
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In fact,[br]in 1938 Ettore and Adelina are Jewish.
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On September 18th,[br]from the balcony of Trieste's town hall,
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Benito Mussolini announced[br]for the first time the Racial Laws
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for the defense of the race.
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The world of those two young people[br]suddenly collapses under their feet.
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We will tell this story[br]about Ettore and Adelina
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on the eve of the day.[br]We will tell it with the son
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of Ettore and Adelina,[br]Daniele Finzi, who in 2011,
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decided to donate[br]his parents letters and documents
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to The Archives of Pieve Santo Stefano.[br]Shortly we will also discuss why
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this choice was made.[br]Now I would like to start
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with September 1938,[br]with Mussolini's announcement
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of the laws for the defense of the race.[br]Ettore and Adelina immediately started
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to understand that there wasn't[br]a future for them in that country.
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To leave their country was[br]a difficult decision,
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but one that will save their lives.
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Yes, my father Ettore Finzi was[br]very knowledgable about history.
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Also because he knew German very well.[br]He had two aunts, aunt Genie
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and aunt Lazigudita Gentiluomo,[br]who both lived in Vienna.
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He had followed all[br]the Nazi antisemitism up to March 1938.
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So when the Race Manifesto was published[br]in July 1938, he didn't expect it.
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He knew what the contents were about[br]and he also hoped that Italy would be
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a little different from Germany.
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And my father, more than my mother,[br]made quick and immediate decisions.
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He was also very intuitive.[br]He had known my mom only a few months,
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and he returns[br]to these months in April 1938.
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It was love at first sight[br]and because of the Race Manifesto
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and the Racial Laws,[br]they decided to get married.
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They were married in Milan[br]on December 1, 1938.
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In 1938. We arrive in 1939.[br]- Yes.
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An ominous date for many.[br]- Yes.
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Very unjust, but there is a turning point.[br]- There is a turning point.
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Ettore and Adelina decide to leave.[br]Or rather, how do they depart?
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Because, in a sense,[br]they leave informed.
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Yes and no.[br]The problem is immediate
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and that of money.
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Because the White Paper of the British,[br]a policy from maybe February
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or March of 1939, [br]allowed a total of 75,000 Jews
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to enter Palestine for five years.
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However, to qualify to enter,[br]every person needed to have 1,000 stars.
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Because, like we said, they had chosen.[br]- To go to Palestine.
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The goal was Palestine.[br]- Yes.
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The choice was not a coincidence,[br]because my father had also thought
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about Latin America.
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But the idea of going [br]to Palestine was because it was nearby.
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He was from Trieste so it was close.[br]He also hoped his parents could join him.
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In any case, [br]the issue of money was really
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a huge problem[br]because they didn't have any.
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So, thanks to the lawyer Gianni Morandi,[br]who was the owner of the firm
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where my mom worked,[br]they went to Zurich for their honeymoon.
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Then they went to Lugano[br]to gather clients for the lawyer.
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It was to put towards this large sum.[br]And I still remember two leather bags
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with thousands of little stars inside.[br]They were gold little stars.
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At this point, they reach Palestine.[br]The State of Israel still didn't exist.
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There wasn't any money to protect them.[br]Therefore, they had to start from scratch.
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Yes, and so, they started all over again[br]from January to April 1, 1939.
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They arrived in Haifa on April 6, 1939.
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Yes, because as of 1922,[br]the British controlled Palestine.
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There were Palestinian Arabs.[br]The Jewish Palestinians were organized
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by the Yishuv, who were more concerned[br]with the kibbutz and wanted
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to dedicate themselves[br]to agriculture, etc.
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But the political base was led[br]by the Arab agency.
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The Arab agency was, well,[br]I'll give you an example.
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Those who arrived in Tel Aviv[br]on April 7th were learning modern Hebrew
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in school twenty days after,[br]because there were various Jews
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in Tel Aviv from every part of Europe.[br]It was necessary
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to learn this common language.[br]So, there was some organization,
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but there were a lot of problems.
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In any case, where I mentally find...[br]- Ah yes.
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this small amount of protection.[br]However, they had to start...
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Yes, they had to restart.[br]- from scratch.
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On the other hand, however,[br]there was a lot of bitterness
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that was left behind by the fact[br]of having to abandon...
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Yes.[br]- Italy.
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Having to leave Italy was stressful.[br]- Yes.
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In regard to this,[br]I will also read an excerpt
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from the letters[br]that have been donated to the archive,
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diaries in which Ettore specifically tells[br]about what he was feeling shortly after
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the time at which he abandoned Italy.
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We will read this excerpt:[br]"When I left Italy four months ago,
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"feeling more disgusted by the burden[br]of having to leave the country
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"than for the imminent danger,[br]many of my colleagues
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"and friends were quick[br]to express to me their discontent
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"about what was happening.[br]Through their conversations,
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
"I felt they knew what sympathy meant,[br]and they only ended up making me withdraw.
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"They were whispered conversations solely[br]because they knew me
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"and thought highly of me.[br]For many, being an example against
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"the persecution of Jews not being born[br]in Italy, could also be considered fair,
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"because it is understood that they came[br]to the country to make a fortune
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"by going behind other's backs.[br]They had some expert political views.
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"The Fascist government's right[br]to persecute people that it had let into
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"the country was generally recognized."
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Okay, so Ettore felt betrayed by Italy?
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Without a doubt.[br]As I was saying prior,
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also because my father was from Trieste.[br]From his father, my grandfather,
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he had also received an irredentist[br]and nationalist upbringing.
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Trieste has always been divided[br]between people from Trieste
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and irredentists,[br]those who love Italy, Italian culture,
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Italian language,[br]like my grandfather and the Slovenians.
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He had received this upbringing,[br]and so he was an irredentist nationalist.
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Additionally, he was a genius official,[br]and he felt like an Italian.
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He loved Italy[br]and he felt betrayed by this terrible law.
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In addition, in Ettore's letters,[br]in this text, it also highlights
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a responsibility[br]by the Italian people themselves
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for what was happening.
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He writes:[br]"The political maturity
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"of the Italian people[br]is apparently that of government rule
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"that it has and that it deserves."
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There is a precise responsibility[br]by the people.
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Well, the Italian people's problem...[br](Laughter)
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is like saying living today like yesterday.
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In other words,[br]the lack of personal responsibility
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and accepting anything,[br]like a leader or a guide,
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that which has[br]an uglier appearance, if you will.
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And that Trieste...[br]Not coincidentally Mussolini
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and September 18, 1938,[br]where they were
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at the Unity of Italy Square[br]to present the Racial Laws.
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Not only because of[br]the nationalism that was there,
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but because Trieste was[br]a very multiethnic, multicultural city.
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There were more than two centuries[br]in which ethnic groups were diverse.
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They coexisted.[br]But at that very moment
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in which Mussolini showed his cruelty[br]towards Jews, who, I repeat,
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were real Italians, and felt as such, [br]and had also fought
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for Italy during the First World War. [br]At the point, everyone was inclined
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to accept Fascist rule.
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We return to Ettore and Adelina,[br]who, because of their decisions,
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leave the Second World War behind,[br]in which the persecution of Jews
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and the holocaust is about to start.[br]They leave behind the errors of the war,
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however, like I said, they face a life[br]that is not easy.
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Like we said,[br]Adelina was a lawyer with a great career.
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She finds herself having[br]to start her work up again.
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Yes, because the main difficulty was[br]a work shortage.
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There was an excess of workers[br](Laughter)
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from Tel Aviv.[br]And then, there were few jobs
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or they were completely insecure.[br]Another big problem was
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a housing shortage.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
So much so that my parents were forced[br]to live with a Polish family
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in an apartment.[br]Above all,
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the main difficulty was the work shortage.[br]Also because the two bags
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of the two thousand stars were not[br]to be touched at all.
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My father was not flexible.
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My mom then, as long as my father remained[br]in Tel Aviv until August 23, 1944,
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when he went to work[br]at the British oil refinery...
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(Interviewer Talking)
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No, he was also with my mom[br]because they then had my sister first,
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and then I was born in 1942.[br]So when my father left,
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he felt the obligation to work[br]to support the family.
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He also liked the idea[br]of having money to freely spend.
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As mentioned, your mother was free...[br]- Yes, free.
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in Palestine.[br]- Yes.
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Your father, on the other hand,[br]had to move abroad to Persia
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because, meanwhile, he found work[br]with an oil company.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
So two lovers who find themselves[br]far apart in a foreign land,
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and the only point of contact[br]between these two people becomes
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the writing, the letters[br]that will then become so important
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for documentation, for their memories.[br]- Yes.
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In fact, if my father accepts[br]this two year contract
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with this Iranian company,[br]from Abadan in Persia,
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he would do his work[br]as an industrial chemist
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
in this precise military zone.[br]Of course, he had to detach,
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
he had to leave his wife,[br]his children in Tel Aviv.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Then, although very tired,[br]every evening my mom wrote
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and reported what had happened[br]during her workday,
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
because she had found work[br]with a company that was part
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of the Tel Aviv pharmaceutical industry.[br]After then being fired,
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she went to work at a house to iron.[br]So, she could do anything.
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She reported with great ability,[br]descriptive, careful about everything
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that went on during the day.[br]Rather, my father sometimes wrote letters
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with extensive description.[br]He explained to her a bit about his duty,
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weather problems because it was very hot,[br]relationships with the British,
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and with the local population[br]that was in truly devastating conditions.
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They were letters that,[br]among other things...
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If you permit me a tangent.[br]They were things one absolutely knew
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
but I didn't even know the letters existed.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Then perhaps we can also elaborate[br]on how they were found.
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Then also about how the decision[br]to publish them came about.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Let's go back.[br]We had said that while Ettore
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and Adelina were in Palestine,[br]their children were born.
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Yes, my sister...[br]- You were born
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and your sister Ana was born.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It is fitting that the future[br]of these two children was often focused
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
on in these letters that Ettore[br]and Adelina exchange.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I would like to read another[br]particularly significant passage
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that is again written by Ettore[br]in Abadan in February 23, 1945:
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"If on one hand, the war tends[br]to be nearing its end, on the other,
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"for us, the situation in Palestine[br]is taking a favorable turn.
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"These days, I am overthinking[br]and continuously thinking
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
"about the problem and worried,[br]not so much about our personal future,
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
"but the future of our children.[br]I feel irresistibly taken towards
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
"a solution that,[br]although never once explored,
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
"today seems inevitable to me.[br]Perhaps in a year's time we will find
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
"the need to have to return to Italy.[br]Then they will become
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
"one hundred percent Italians."
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Probably if your father could have chosen,[br]he would have never wanted
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to return to Italy.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Yes, I would not have wanted to also.[br]Quite the opposite,
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
because of having been betrayed by Italy,[br]my father deeply desired to return to Italy.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Apart from the experience in Abadan,[br]also because life
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
in Palestine was truly very hard,[br]very difficult because of the work problem,
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and the problem of the lack of apartments.[br]However, we can't forget
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that the attention[br]from the Palestinian Arabs
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and the British made life difficult.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
If we could return back in time...[br]- Yes.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
In September 1940, Tel Aviv was bombed[br]by Italian planes, right?
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Yes.[br]- They bombed Tel Aviv and it seems
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
like there were one hundred[br]and fifty two deaths.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
So life was very hard.[br]Another tangent.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I mean,[br]one of the big problems was also food.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
For example, my sister and I went[br]to the gan, which was like kindergarten.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
To help you understand, at lunch they used[br]to give us half an egg to eat.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
On the other hand,[br]while facing this situation,
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
the hope of returning[br]to Italy continuously remained.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And how did Adelina live[br]with the hope of returning?
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I will read another significant passage:[br]"I will never ask those taking that step.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
"Here I feel undoubtedly hesitant[br]by instinct and by force of tradition.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
"And I won't ever ask myself,[br]not only out of obedience,
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
"but because more than anything else,[br]I am concerned
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
"about doing everything possible[br]for the future of our children."
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It's like saying,[br]she was also willing to do her part.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
There was a sense of pride[br]to return to Italy,
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that country that had dismissed them,[br]in order to guarantee
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
a future for you children.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Then here there is a...[br](Laughter)
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
There are many letters.[br]In any case, when my father says
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that they will become[br]one hundred percent Italians,
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
he also proposes to my mom[br]the idea of converting to Catholicism,
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
because we were Jews.[br]- (Interviewer) Of course.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Meanwhile, the Finzi from Trieste were[br]almost completely assimilated.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
That is to say,[br]they went to the temple twice a year.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Instead, my mom was[br]from a much more orthodox family,
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
They came from the Parrdo,[br]a very important Iberian family.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Parrdo which used to be Prado.[br]They came from Spain after the expulsion.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
So my father proposes this idea[br]of converting to Catholicism
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
in order for his children...[br]- To become...
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Yes, to become entirely Italian,[br]even as a religion.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
However my mom... Here it says[br]that she was reluctant.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Not because she was personally orthodox,[br]but because, in that moment when
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
it was known what was happening[br]in Europe, the extermination camps
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
or another difficult situation,[br]they absolutely didn't know
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
where my paternal[br]and maternal grandparents were.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Then, however, the news arrived[br]even betraying the origin and...
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It was quite heavy.[br]- Yes, very heavy.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
By the way, how did the news[br]about the war arrive meanwhile
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
it continued in Europe?[br]Was there just an awareness
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
of what was happening?[br]Was there an awareness
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
of the existence[br]of the extermination camps?
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Yes.[br]- Above all, how did they live
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
with these dual feelings?[br]Because, on the one hand,
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
there was this hope[br]of being able to return one day
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to a normal life in Italy.[br]On the other hand, however,
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
there was a lot of fear[br]also for the fate of loved ones.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
They knew everything.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Both about the Jewish agency[br]and the British.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
The news arrived quite detailed.[br]I don't want to forget a noteworthy group
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
of young Jews that were part[br]of the Jewish brigade.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
They fought alongside the British[br]and they also fought in Italy,
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
then in all of Europe.[br]They were the ones who said
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that they gave very detailed news[br]of what was happening.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
So, they knew about everything[br]that was coming to Italy and Europe.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
The concerns were[br]about my paternal grandparents,
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
those who later died in Auschwitz,[br]that they didn't...
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
The last official news was transmitted[br]by a type of telegram of the Red Cross
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
in July of 1943.[br]My father knew absolutely nothing.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
My mom didn't know.[br]She knew that her parents were hidden.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Her brother was in Switzerland.[br]But they had absolutely no news.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
They couldn't say or write anything[br]because the mail was altered.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Outgoing and incoming mail was altered.[br]I found that at least some details
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
in the letters had been deleted precisely[br]by the person that did the alterations.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
So, my father needed to be careful[br]because they were altered by the British.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
They were altered by the Persians.[br]Then they were altered on arrival
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
in Palestine.[br]So, they were...
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
In this situation,[br]they also found themselves in a state
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
of uncertainty being far from Europe,[br]far from what was happening in Europe,
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
far from the war.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
For a moment, Adelina perhaps had hoped[br]that her family would have an advantage
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
over the immense tragedy[br]that afflicted the Jews of Europe,
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that they would all find themselves[br]reunited upon their return.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
There was almost this illusion, this hope.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Hope is often the last idea.[br]There was hope.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
They didn't have detailed news.[br]My father's brother was a doctor
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
who lived in Bologna[br]in the mountains of Monghidoro.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
He knew[br]that his parents had been arrested,
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that they had been deported.[br]However, he had not communicated anything.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Even though, hypothetically they went[br]to Auschwitz, there could have always been
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
the hope of returning.[br]Therefore, they hoped.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Unfortunately, however,[br]the terrible news was that they arrived.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
They arrived in Palestine while[br]the war by now...
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It was over.[br]- By now it was over.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And like you said,[br]the terrible news arrived by mail.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
News so terrible[br]that Adelina cannot even transcribe them
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
in a letter to Ettore.[br]She writes:
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
"My dear, unfortunately,[br]the dreary news has arrived.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
"I am sending you the letter[br]because I don't have the courage
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
"to write to you[br]about it with my own pen."
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It's terrible.[br]Unfortunately, they were reactions
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to what had just happened[br]in the war in Europe.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
In a communication letter separate[br]from the international cross.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Maybe in that exact moment Ettore[br]and Adelina understood
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
what they had escaped from?
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Yes without a doubt.[br]I will also tell you
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that when my father had[br]the idea of going to Palestine,
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
everyone criticized him;[br]friends, parents, brothers, the sister,
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
because they said[br]that he was always pessimistic.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
He would rather have wanted them all[br]to also come with him.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
However, he expected it, also because[br]the war in Europe ended on May 8, 1945.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
The news gets to him in August.[br]Given that months go by
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
where he doesn't receive positive news,[br]he feared for the lives of his parents.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Excuse me but if you permit me.[br]- (Interviewer) Of course.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But before the communication[br]about the deaths of his parents,
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
he received communication from Sweden[br]that said his sister was saved.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Then my aunt Yolanda Clara was part[br]of that group of prisoners
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that were moved[br]from Auschwitz in December 1944.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
They were moved west[br]so as not to leave a mass
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
of prisoners in Auschwitz,[br]because the Red Army was coming.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
She was then liberated[br]in the north of Ravensbrück in April 1945.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
She was then transferred[br]to Sweden to recover.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
We have said that at this point,[br]the war had ended and Ettore and Adelina
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
along with their children decide[br]to return to Italy.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
How difficult was it once again to start[br]from scratch because they actually had
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to start from scratch.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Ah yes.[br]It was difficult.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
My father's brother,[br]who had worked in Sansepolcro,
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
helped him get a job at his work.[br]He spoke with Mr. Marco Vittoni
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and he said he was quite willing[br]to hire his brother
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
because he was a chemist.[br]Mr. Vittoni wanted a change of pace
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
for his company.[br]But when we arrived in Italy in May 1946,
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
with a short stop in Bologna[br]and then to Parma at the home
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
of my maternal grandparents,[br]and then to Sansepolcro precisely
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
in November of 1946,[br]we had absolutely nothing.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And there was nothing...[br](Laughter)
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Without a doubt, a country in devastation.[br]- Yes, a country in devastation.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I remember the path with holes.[br]I remember the Tower of Berta Square
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
in a pile of ruins.[br]- The Tower of Berta Square was destroyed.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I repeat, it was also a problem to eat.[br]I remember my father rented
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
a furnished apartment[br]in Saint Claire Square
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
in which the conditions were...[br]- Insecure.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Very, very insecure.[br]However, they were young
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and they wanted to start over.[br]There was my sister and myself.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
So, they wanted to put a painful time[br]of their lives behind them and start over.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
You have previously already answered[br]that there was resentment towards
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that country that made them escape[br]and also towards those friends
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that...[br]- No.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
had put down the idea of the...[br]- No, absolutely not.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Other than it being something[br]that is part of our DNA,
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
resentment is useless.[br]It's best to move forward,
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to have the will to start again[br]and to overcome difficulties.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Not resentment.[br]I never heard my father
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
nor my mother speak ill of Italians.[br]Yes, it was upsetting to have lost.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
To having lost parents.[br]To having lost years of work.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
My mom could not return to work[br]in Milan because there was no way
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to find a home.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
In 2011, Ettore Finzi's[br]and Adelina's epistolary was donated
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to the Pieve diary archives.[br]It's awarded the Premio Pieve.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
First and foremost, how were you able[br]to find these letters again,
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
because they were made public[br]by the decision of donating them.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
My father died on June 18, 2002.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
He lived in an apartment in Parma.[br]In August I was ready to let go of it.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
By chance, I found a bag in his office,[br]a leather one that held documents.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
There were letters inside[br]this document holder.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And there were two notebooks,[br]black ones with a red border
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that were used in the past,[br]and inside were his diaries.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I understood right away[br]because I have done historical research
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
for many years, so I understood[br]it was something interesting.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I found it strange[br]that my father never told me anything,
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
because he didn't say to me[br]that there were letters and diaries.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And so I took them all to my house,[br]to my office and I left them there
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
for a year, a year and a half.[br]Then I slowly began to read them
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
with a bit of fear.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Because with diaries and letters...[br]- One will find...
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
always find something intimate.[br]Then I think in my family,
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
nothing would ever be talked about.[br]No one had ever commented,
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
or made references.[br]Then I gradually began
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to transcribe these letters.[br]I can't tell you how I did so,
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
because they were truly written...[br]- Strictly handwritten.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Yes, handwritten with a fountain pen,[br]on tissue paper, because back then
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
it was airmail paper.[br]It was a type of job
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that strained the eyes.[br]In any case, I did this transcription job
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
of the diary, of the letters, etc.[br]I had the idea of publishing it.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
The full version of this diary,[br]of these letters...
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I had already collaborated[br]with the diary archives
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
for some time for my research.[br]In any case, just to be certain,
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I went to Pieve Santo Stefano[br]and I had this volume in hand.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It was Cristina Cangi, who you will meet.[br]She asked me:
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
"What is it professor?"[br]- "It's this work that I did."
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
"Why don't you submit if for the award."
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I say I really had not thought[br]about wanting to publish it.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I start reading some interesting things[br]and then I submit it.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
They asked me for the archive[br]and also for the letters,
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
but I wasn't going to do that.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I remember that it's possible[br]to read this publication
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that is titled "Transparent",[br]in which the documentation
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
is presented[br]and published by Il Mulino.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Our arrangement time has ended,[br]although we would like to talk for hours
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
about this story that is a bit,[br]by certain passages and elements,
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
similar to the story[br]of many other families,
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
also of the province of Arezzo.[br]Perhaps there will be a way
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
to talk more about it in the future.[br]Thank you Daniele Finzi.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Thanks to all of you[br]who have followed our episode,
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
a special episode[br]that has been made possible
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
in collaboration[br]with The Archives of Pieve Santo Stefano.
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I naturally thank you as well.[br]In particular,
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
the archives[br]for this episode were made available
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
by Nadia Frulli.[br]Thank you to all of you
9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
for watching the program.