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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.

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Shortly we will also discuss why[br]this choice was made.

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Now I would like to start[br]with September 1938.

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with Mussolini's announcement[br]of the laws for the defense of the race.

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Ettore and Adelina immediately started[br]to understand that there wasn't

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a future for them in that country.

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Deciding to leave was[br]was a difficult decision to make.

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It was a difficult decision,[br]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.

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He had two aunts, aunt Genie[br]and aunt Lazigudita Gentiluomo,

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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,

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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,

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and because of the Race Manifesto[br]and the Racial Laws,

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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...

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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,

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from perhaps February[br]or March of 1939,

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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...

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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.

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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]A tangent here about Palestine.

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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 6th.

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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 <i>Yishuv</i>, who were more concerned[br]with the <i>kibbutz</i> and wanted

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to dedicate themselves[br]to agriculture, etc.

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But the foundation, the political one,[br]was led by the Arab agency.

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The Arab agency was, well,[br]I'll give you an example.

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They arrived in Tel Aviv on April 7th[br]and twenty days after,

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they were in school learning modern Hebrew[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 in 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.

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"Through their conversations,[br]I felt they knew about condolences

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"and they ended up[br]only 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.

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From his father, my grandfather,[br]he had also received an irredentist

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and nationalist upbringing.

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Trieste has always been divided[br]between people from Trieste, Austria...

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Let's say Austrians.

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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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Living yes...[br]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.

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But at the very moment[br]in which Mussolini showed his cruelty

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towards Jews, who, I repeat,[br]were real Italians, and felt as such,

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and had also fought[br]for Italy during the First World War,

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At the point, everyone was inclined[br]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.

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They leave behind the errors of the war,[br]however, like you said, they face a life

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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.

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Another big problem was[br]a housing shortage.

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So much so that my parents were forced[br]to live with a family,

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with a Polish family in an apartment.

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Above all,[br]the main difficulty was the work shortage.

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Also because the two bags[br]of the two thousand stars were not

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to be touched at all.[br]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.

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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]he would be in Abadan in Persia.

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And it was indeed a military zone.

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He would do his work there[br]as an industrial chemist.

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Of course, he had to detach[br]and leave his wife,

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his children in Tel Aviv.

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Then, although very tired,[br]every evening my mom wrote

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and reported what had happened[br]during her workday,

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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

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but I didn't even know[br]the letters existed.

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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.

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Let's go back.[br]We had said that while Ettore

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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.

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It is fitting that the future[br]of these two children was often focused on

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in these letters that Ettore[br]and Adelina exchange.

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I would like to read another[br]particularly significant passage

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that is again written by Ettore[br]from 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

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"about the problem and worried,[br]not so much about our personal future,

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"but the future of our children.[br]I feel irresistibly taken towards

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"a solution that,[br]although never once explored,

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"today seems inevitable to me.

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"Perhaps in a year's time we will find[br]the need to have to return to Italy.

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"Then they will become[br]one hundred percent Italians."

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Probably if your father could have chosen,[br]he would have never wanted

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to return to Italy.

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Yes, I would not have wanted to also.[br]Quite the opposite because my father,

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due to having been betrayed by Italy,[br]deeply desired to return to Italy.

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Apart from the experience in Abadan,[br]also because life

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in Palestine was truly very hard,[br]very difficult because

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of the work problem,[br]and the problem of the lack of apartments.

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However, we can't forget[br]that the attention

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from the Palestinian Arabs[br]and the British made life difficult.

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If we could return back in time...[br]- Yes.

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In September 1940, Tel Aviv was bombed[br]by Italian planes, right?

0:18:02.483,0:18:07.620
Yes.[br]- They bombed Tel Aviv

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and it seems like there were one hundred[br]and fifty two deaths.

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So life was very hard.[br]Another tangent.

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I mean,[br]one of the big problems was also food.

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For example, my sister and I went[br]to the <i>gan</i>, which was like kindergarten.

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To help you understand, at lunch they used[br]to give us half an egg to eat.

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On the other hand,[br]while facing this situation,

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the hope of returning[br]to Italy continuously remained.

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And how did Adelina live[br]with the hope of returning?

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I will read another significant passage:[br]"I will never ask those taking that step.

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"Here I feel undoubtedly hesitant[br]by instinct and by force of tradition.

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"And I won't ever ask myself,[br]not only out of obedience,

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"but because more than anything else,[br]I am concerned

0:19:06.123,0:19:10.627
"about doing everything possible[br]for the future of our children."

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It's like saying,[br]she was also willing to do her part.

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There was a sense of pride[br]of returning to Italy,

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that country that had dismissed them,[br]in order to guarantee

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a future for you children.

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Here there is a...[br](Laughter)

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There are many letters.[br]In any case, when my father says

0:19:31.716,0:19:34.439
that they will become[br]one hundred percent Italians,

0:19:34.839,0:19:43.788
he also proposes to my mom[br]the idea of converting to Catholicism,

0:19:43.934,0:19:46.407
because we were Jews.[br]- (Interviewer) Of course.

0:19:46.947,0:19:55.228
Meanwhile, the Finzi from Trieste were[br]almost completely assimilated.

0:19:55.477,0:19:58.485
That is to say,[br]they went to the temple twice a year.

0:19:59.018,0:20:04.070
Instead, my mom was[br]from a much more orthodox family,

0:20:04.394,0:20:12.133
They came from the Parrdo,[br]a very important Iberian family.

0:20:12.243,0:20:18.744
Parrdo which used to be Prado.[br]They came from Spain after the expulsion.

0:20:18.744,0:20:25.372
So my father proposes this idea[br]of converting to Catholicism

0:20:25.539,0:20:30.822
in order for his children...[br]- To become...

0:20:30.845,0:20:34.506
Yes, to become entirely Italian,[br]even as a religion.

0:20:34.546,0:20:39.192
However my mom... Here it says[br]that she was reluctant.

0:20:39.192,0:20:46.739
Not because she was personally orthodox,[br]but because, in that moment when

0:20:46.755,0:20:51.589
it was known what was happening[br]in Europe, the extermination camps

0:20:51.603,0:20:56.844
or another difficult situation,[br]they absolutely didn't know

0:20:56.844,0:21:00.557
where my paternal[br]and maternal grandparents were.

0:21:00.576,0:21:08.617
Then, however, the news arrived,[br]even betraying the origin and...

0:21:08.617,0:21:12.320
It was quite heavy.[br]- Yes, very heavy.

0:21:12.716,0:21:18.527
By the way, how did the news[br]about the war arrive meanwhile

0:21:18.527,0:21:22.558
it continued in Europe?[br]Was there just an awareness

0:21:22.558,0:21:25.522
of what was happening?[br]Was there an awareness

0:21:25.522,0:21:29.823
of the existence[br]of the extermination camps?

0:21:29.823,0:21:32.752
Above all, how did they also live[br]with these dual feelings?

0:21:32.752,0:21:34.860
Because, on the one hand,[br]there was this hope

0:21:34.860,0:21:38.927
of being able to return one day[br]to a normal life in Italy.

0:21:39.219,0:21:42.063
On the other hand, however,[br]there was a lot of fear

0:21:42.063,0:21:43.818
also for the fate of loved ones.

0:21:44.824,0:21:46.517
They knew everything.

0:21:47.017,0:21:52.128
Both about the Jewish agency[br]and the British.

0:21:52.571,0:21:56.747
The news arrived quite detailed.

0:21:57.497,0:22:05.452
I don't want to forget a noteworthy group[br]of young Jews that were part

0:22:05.813,0:22:09.149
of the Jewish brigade.

0:22:09.677,0:22:16.170
They fought alongside the British[br]and they also fought in Italy.

0:22:16.170,0:22:18.341
Then in all of Europe.

0:22:18.341,0:22:26.481
They were the ones who said[br]that they gave very detailed news

0:22:26.481,0:22:27.564
of what was happening.

0:22:27.607,0:22:33.865
So, they knew about everything[br]that was coming to Italy and Europe.

0:22:34.403,0:22:43.692
The concerns were[br]about my paternal grandparents,

0:22:43.692,0:22:47.884
those who later died in Auschwitz,[br]that they didn't...

0:22:47.884,0:22:55.785
The last official news was transmitted[br]by a type of telegram of the Red Cross

0:22:55.785,0:23:01.763
in July of 1943.[br]My father knew absolutely nothing.

0:23:02.081,0:23:09.052
My mom didn't know.[br]She knew that her parents were hidden.

0:23:09.062,0:23:10.957
Her brother was in Switzerland.

0:23:11.467,0:23:14.317
But they had absolutely no news.

0:23:14.577,0:23:21.794
They couldn't say or write anything[br]because the mail was altered.

0:23:22.605,0:23:26.074
Outgoing and incoming mail was altered.

0:23:26.634,0:23:32.638
I found that at least some details[br]in the letters had been deleted precisely

0:23:32.638,0:23:36.744
by the person that did the alterations.

0:23:36.744,0:23:40.883
So, dad needed to be careful[br]because they were altered by the British.

0:23:41.214,0:23:45.502
They were altered by the Persians.[br]Then they were altered on arrival

0:23:45.529,0:23:47.114
in Palestine.[br]So, they were...

0:23:47.114,0:23:50.453
In this situation,[br]they also found themselves in a state

0:23:50.453,0:23:58.370
of uncertainty being far from Europe,[br]far from what was happening

0:23:58.370,0:24:01.969
in Europe,[br]far from the war.

0:24:03.069,0:24:08.373
For a moment, Adelina perhaps had hoped,[br]from what Ledi writes,

0:24:09.343,0:24:16.133
that her family would have an advantage[br]over the immense tragedy

0:24:16.133,0:24:18.035
that afflicted the Jews of Europe.

0:24:18.035,0:24:21.255
That they would all find themselves[br]reunited upon their return.

0:24:21.255,0:24:23.765
There was almost this illusion, this hope.

0:24:24.060,0:24:28.838
Having high hopes is often the last idea.[br]They did have hope.

0:24:29.025,0:24:38.351
They didn't have detailed news[br]even if my dad's brother

0:24:38.351,0:24:47.722
a doctor who lived in Bologna,[br]but in the mountains

0:24:47.722,0:24:50.638
in the area[br]of Monghidoro and Loiano.

0:24:51.167,0:24:55.290
He knew[br]that his parents had been arrested,

0:24:55.293,0:24:56.843
that they had been deported.

0:24:57.233,0:25:02.545
However, he had not communicated anything.[br]Even though, assuming they went

0:25:02.905,0:25:07.841
to Auschwitz, there could have always been[br]the hope of returning.

0:25:07.841,0:25:11.431
Therefore, they hoped.

0:25:11.471,0:25:14.635
Unfortunately, however,[br]the terrible news was that they arrived.

0:25:14.635,0:25:19.609
They also arrived in Palestine while[br]the war by now...

0:25:19.609,0:25:22.092
It was over.[br]- By now it was over.

0:25:22.276,0:25:26.075
And like you said,[br]the terrible news arrived by mail.

0:25:26.425,0:25:31.742
News so terrible[br]that Adelina cannot even transcribe them

0:25:31.742,0:25:34.243
in a letter to Ettore.[br]She writes:

0:25:34.443,0:25:38.045
"My dear, unfortunately,[br]the dreary news has arrived.

0:25:38.265,0:25:41.129
"I am sending you the letter[br]because I don't have the courage

0:25:41.129,0:25:42.330
"to write about it."

0:25:42.330,0:25:47.086
It's terrible.[br]Unfortunately, they were reactions

0:25:47.086,0:25:51.568
to what had just happened[br]in the war in Europe.

0:25:51.726,0:25:55.684
In a communication letter separate[br]from the international cross.

0:25:55.747,0:25:59.343
Maybe in that exact moment Ettore[br]and Adelina understood

0:25:59.503,0:26:03.378
what they had escaped from?

0:26:03.672,0:26:08.954
Yes without a doubt.[br]I will also tell you

0:26:08.954,0:26:14.162
that when my father had[br]the idea of going to Palestine,

0:26:14.865,0:26:19.670
everyone criticized him;[br]friends, parents, brothers, the sister,

0:26:19.916,0:26:25.663
because they said:[br]"You are always pessimistic".

0:26:26.395,0:26:31.497
He would rather have wanted them all[br]to also come with him.

0:26:32.038,0:26:38.689
However, he expected it,[br]also because the war

0:26:38.693,0:26:44.123
in Europe ended on May 8, 1945.

0:26:44.123,0:26:46.587
The news gets to him in August.

0:26:47.357,0:26:53.147
Given that months go by[br]where he doesn't receive

0:26:53.147,0:26:57.154
positive news,[br]he feared for the lives of his parents.

0:26:57.584,0:27:00.054
Excuse me but if you permit me.[br]- (Interviewer) Sure.

0:27:00.054,0:27:07.560
But before the communication[br]about the deaths of his parents,

0:27:07.560,0:27:14.963
he received communication from Sweden[br]that said his sister was saved.

0:27:15.716,0:27:23.150
Then my aunt Yolanda Clara was part[br]of that group of prisoners

0:27:23.153,0:27:27.999
that were moved[br]from Auschwitz in December 1944.

0:27:27.999,0:27:33.160
They were moved west[br]so as not to leave a mass

0:27:33.160,0:27:39.981
of prisoners in Auschwitz,[br]because the Red Army was coming.

0:27:40.409,0:27:49.088
She was then liberated[br]in the north of Ravensbrück in April 1945.

0:27:49.088,0:27:53.022
She was then transferred[br]to Sweden to recover.

0:27:53.535,0:27:59.169
We have said that at this point,[br]the war had ended and Ettore and Adelina

0:27:59.403,0:28:04.396
along with their children decide[br]to return to Italy.

0:28:04.714,0:28:09.234
How difficult was it once again to start[br]from scratch because they actually had

0:28:09.234,0:28:10.284
to start from scratch.

0:28:10.290,0:28:12.409
Ah yes.[br]It was difficult.

0:28:12.619,0:28:17.951
My father's brother helped him[br]with a job at his work in Sansepolcro.

0:28:18.460,0:28:22.143
He spoke with Mr. Marco Vittoni,[br]who said:

0:28:22.143,0:28:26.364
"I am willing to hire your brother[br]because he is a chemist.

0:28:26.660,0:28:32.109
Also, I want a change[br]for the company, etc."

0:28:32.662,0:28:39.780
But when we arrived in Italy in May 1946,[br]with a short stop in Bologna

0:28:39.780,0:28:42.266
and then to Parma[br]with my maternal grandparents,

0:28:42.571,0:28:48.811
and then to Sansepolcro precisely[br]in November of 1946,

0:28:49.216,0:28:51.122
and we had absolutely nothing.

0:28:51.898,0:28:54.352
And there was nothing...[br](Laughter)

0:28:54.355,0:28:58.512
<i>Without a doubt, a country in devastation.</i>[br]- Yes, a country in devastation.

0:28:58.512,0:29:03.040
I remember the path with holes.[br]I remember the Tower of Berta Square

0:29:03.040,0:29:06.523
in a pile of ruins.[br]- The Tower of Berta Square was destroyed.

0:29:06.771,0:29:12.297
I repeat, it was also a problem to eat.

0:29:12.307,0:29:16.527
I remember my dad rented[br]a furnished apartment

0:29:16.527,0:29:21.762
in Saint Claire Square[br]in which the conditions were really...

0:29:21.911,0:29:24.129
Insecure.[br]- Very, very insecure.

0:29:24.129,0:29:28.309
However, they were young[br]and they wanted to start over.

0:29:28.707,0:29:36.089
There was my sister and myself.[br]So, they wanted to put a painful time

0:29:36.212,0:29:39.382
of their lives behind them and start over.

0:29:39.546,0:29:44.762
You have previously already answered[br]that there was resentment towards

0:29:44.762,0:29:49.694
that country that made them escape[br]and also towards those friends

0:29:49.701,0:29:52.467
that...[br]- No.

0:29:52.467,0:29:59.018
had put down the idea of the...[br]- No, absolutely not.

0:29:59.018,0:30:02.690
Other than it being something[br]that is part of our DNA,

0:30:02.690,0:30:09.575
resentment is useless.[br]It's best to move forward,

0:30:09.945,0:30:17.035
to have the will to start again[br]and to overcome difficulties.

0:30:17.035,0:30:21.218
Not resentment.[br]I never heard my father

0:30:21.218,0:30:28.901
nor my mother speak ill of Italians.[br]Yes, it was upsetting to have lost, right.

0:30:29.271,0:30:30.701
(Interviewer talking)[br]- Yes.

0:30:30.701,0:30:36.332
To having lost parents.[br]To having lost years of work.

0:30:36.342,0:30:41.473
My mom could not return to work[br]in Milan because there was no way

0:30:41.773,0:30:42.766
to find a home.

0:30:44.518,0:30:52.924
In 2011, Ettore Finzi's[br]and Adelina's epistolary was donated

0:30:52.985,0:30:57.000
to the Pieve diary archives.[br]It's awarded the <i>Premio Pieve</i>.

0:30:57.048,0:31:02.938
First and foremost, how were you able[br]to find these letters again,

0:31:02.938,0:31:06.449
because they were made public[br]by the decision of donating them.

0:31:07.287,0:31:11.526
My father died on June 18, 2002.

0:31:12.364,0:31:20.882
He lived in an apartment in Parma.[br]In August I was ready to let go of it.

0:31:21.592,0:31:31.633
By chance, I found a bag in his office,[br]a leather one that held documents.

0:31:31.961,0:31:37.794
There were letters inside[br]this document holder.

0:31:38.691,0:31:42.948
And there were two notebooks,[br]black ones with a red border

0:31:42.948,0:31:46.454
that were used in the past,[br]and inside was his diary.

0:31:47.307,0:31:51.653
I understood right away[br]because I have done historical research

0:31:51.653,0:31:55.636
for many years, so I understood[br]it was something interesting.

0:31:56.012,0:31:59.670
I found it strange[br]that my father never told me anything,

0:31:59.670,0:32:06.051
because he didn't say to me:[br]"Look, there are letters and diaries".

0:32:06.651,0:32:10.739
And so I took them all to my house,[br]to my office and I left them there

0:32:10.739,0:32:12.900
for a year, a year and a half.

0:32:13.340,0:32:16.764
Then I slowly began to read them[br]with a bit of fear.

0:32:17.468,0:32:21.698
Because with diaries and letters...[br]- (Interviewer) One will find...

0:32:21.698,0:32:26.119
always find something intimate.[br]Then I think in my family,

0:32:26.119,0:32:31.574
nothing would ever be talked about.[br]No one had ever commented,

0:32:31.574,0:32:35.297
or made references.

0:32:35.899,0:32:40.136
Then I gradually began[br]to transcribe these letters.

0:32:40.136,0:32:43.847
I can't tell you how I did so,[br]because they were written...

0:32:43.907,0:32:45.573
(Interviewer) <i>No doubt handwritten.</i>

0:32:45.573,0:32:49.340
Yes, handwritten with a fountain pen,[br]on tissue paper,

0:32:49.339,0:32:51.847
because back then it was airmail paper.

0:32:52.177,0:32:58.997
To sum up, it was a type of job[br]that strained the eyes.

0:32:59.587,0:33:05.460
In any case, I did this transcription job[br]of the diary, of the letters, etc.

0:33:05.460,0:33:08.166
I had the idea of publishing it.

0:33:08.764,0:33:16.672
The full version of this diary,[br]of these letters...

0:33:17.305,0:33:22.759
Um... Just to be certain...[br]I was already collaborating

0:33:22.759,0:33:26.979
with the diary archives[br]for some time for my own research

0:33:27.239,0:33:30.529
in the fields of Rinisce, Paganini, etc.

0:33:31.029,0:33:35.870
Just to be certain,[br]I went to Pieve Santo Stefano

0:33:36.760,0:33:39.580
and I had the volume in hand.

0:33:40.172,0:33:43.176
It was Cristina Cangi, who you will meet.

0:33:43.946,0:33:46.926
And she asked me:[br]"What is it professor"?

0:33:46.930,0:33:52.301
"It's this work that I did".[br]- "Why don't you submit it for the award"?

0:33:52.930,0:33:57.267
I say I really had not thought[br]about wanting to publish it.

0:33:58.045,0:34:04.696
I start reading some interesting things[br]and then I submit it.

0:34:04.965,0:34:09.972
They asked me for the archive[br]and also for the letters,

0:34:09.972,0:34:11.745
but I wasn't going to do that.

0:34:11.781,0:34:17.007
It's possible[br]to read this publication

0:34:17.007,0:34:19.611
that is titled <i>Transparenti</i>,[br]in which the documentation

0:34:19.611,0:34:23.531
is presented[br]and published by <i>Il Mulino</i>.

0:34:23.876,0:34:28.396
Our arrangement time has ended,[br]although we would like to talk for hours

0:34:28.396,0:34:34.272
about this story that is a bit similar,[br]by certain passages and elements,

0:34:34.272,0:34:36.660
to the story[br]of many other families,

0:34:36.895,0:34:41.568
also of the province of Arezzo.[br]Perhaps there will be a way

0:34:41.568,0:34:46.937
to talk more about it in the future.[br]Thank you Daniele Finzi.

0:34:46.937,0:34:52.562
Thanks to all of you[br]who have followed our episode,

0:34:52.562,0:34:54.776
a special episode[br]that was made possible

0:34:54.776,0:35:00.425
in collaboration[br]with The Archives of Pieve Santo Stefano.

0:35:00.425,0:35:05.443
I naturally thank The Archives.[br]In particular,

0:35:05.443,0:35:08.245
the archives[br]for this episode were made available

0:35:08.245,0:35:10.337
by Nadia Frulli.

0:35:10.630,0:35:15.067
Thank you to all of you[br]for watching the program.