A TEENAGER IN ITALY’S BOMBED-OUT CITY OF NAPLES

By Linda Lee Greene, Author & Artist.



With the fall of Salerno to the Allies, my father told us that Naples was next. While all around us bombs had exploded and life had been chaotic, my father had gone to great pains to shield us from the intrigues of the outside world. He had forbidden talk about it in our home, and ordered us to pay no attention to what we saw with our own eyes. Therefore, my view of the current state of affairs was shaped by what my close-lipped father told me to think. But I am almost sixteen now and finished with merely playing at thinking.

There was no hiding from us the fact that my father had made inquiries about smuggling me and my older sister, Maria across the border and into neutral Switzerland. But the Germans had closed the border, and the only way across it was to bribe an official or border guard into looking the other way. My father didn’t have such contacts or resources. Our only recourse was for my parents, Maria, and me to pack a few possessions and escape into the mountains, the lower reaches of which sat at our backs at a distance of 190 km (118 miles). At a pace comfortable for my mother, the journey would take us several days. We knew many other people whom had done it, and although we hadn’t received word from any of them, we felt sure we would find someone we knew, hopefully someone who would help us to find shelter and food among the mountain’s, caves, dense forests, and grassy plains. The mountain range was thick with plants and animals, which, unhappily, included wolves and bears.

We set out on foot. It would be a difficult journey for my mother. She hadn’t been well since contracting pneumonia the winter before. She pulled through it, but her stamina was not the same. The stress of the war was wearing on her, as well. My father carried his rifle across his back, attached to the long, leather strap that crossed his chest and shoulders. My little dog, Tino had the best of it. He was curled up in a cloth sling tied around my neck, which suspended below my breasts. Maria complained with nearly every step of the way. Her shoes were too tight. Her back would break any minute. What if we were attacked by a pack of wolves or eaten by a bear? I loved my sister, but she wasn’t very strong in character. Often were the times that my love for her was tested, and never more so than during our escape from Naples. She was the kind of person only a mother could love, in my estimation. To my eternal surprise, two years later she was married to a lovely man who adored her. But that day in late September, 1943 when we set off for the mountains, I quickened my pace and left my mother to handle Maria.

I caught up with my father at the head of our little procession and set my pace to his. I had known war since I was thirteen. It had become a way of life for me, and now I wanted to understand everything that was happening to us and why. “Babbo, why do the airplanes drop so many bombs on us? The first time it happened I remember it so well because it was two nights after I turned twelve. The loud booms of the bombs sounded throughout the city. I shot awake in my bed and screamed for you.”

“It is complicated for one as young as you to understand, Luciana.” He turned his head to me and the set of his face told me that he recognized the earnestness in my eyes.

“Babbo, I am no longer a child. I have always obeyed your wishes that I ignore what is going on as much as possible. My friends implored me to join in the student uprisings, but I did not do so out of respect for you. I cannot close my eyes to it any longer.”

“Yes, I see that you are no longer so young and that the time has come for you to become informed. I have been dreading it.” He took my hand and brought it to his lips and kissed it. “Do you remember Il Duce?”

“Mussolini, our leader!”

“No more! He was relieved from power a few short weeks ago and we have a new leader now by the name of Pietro Badoglio. He was appointed by our king, Victor Emmanuel. Have you heard of Adolf Hitler?”

“Yes, Babbo. He is the leader of Germany.”

“You are correct, Luciana, and he is a very bad man. He is the leader of the Nazis, who are cruel and dangerous people. Hitler and Mussolini formed an alliance, one in which they agreed to work together to conquer all the rest of the world. For many years now, they have invaded other countries and killed their people and stole their property, and many other terrible things. All of that violence turned into the Second World War.”

“I know what Nazis are. I see them all over Naples. They are mean, just like the bullies at school, only worse. When you say ‘World War’ does that mean that every country in the world is fighting?”

“Yes, I am afraid so, with few exceptions.”

“And the countries that Mussolini and Hitler invaded are dropping bombs on us?!”

“Yes, Great Britain to be specific, and its friends who have come to its aid—mainly the United States. The Germans have a very powerful army. Their fighters are brave and strong and determined. The German people have been brainwashed by Hitler into believing they have the God-given right to own all of the world, and to take it by force if necessary. Hitler and his assistants are very smart, on top of being evil.”

“If Mussolini no longer has power over us, why are we still getting bombed?” My father looked over his shoulder, and said, “Mamma needs to rest. We will sit under this nice tree for a while.” We walked the few paces back to my mother and sister and helped Mamma to the tree. She lowered to a blanket that Babbo spread on the ground. We gathered around Mamma on the blanket. I pulled Tino out of his sling and he ran to the tree, hiked his leg, and urinated on it. He ran back to me and plopped down next to my leg. Babbo loosened the kerchief around his neck and moistened it with water from his canteen. He handed the kerchief to Mamma and she swiped her sweaty face and neck with it. He then passed his canteen to each of us and finally took a sip of water when the canteen came back to him. He pulled a little tin cup from his pack and poured it half full for Tino.

“Naples is a very important part of this whole story,” my father continued. “But I need to back up a little to allow you to envision the entire picture. You will recall from your geography lessons at school that the toe and instep and heel of Italy lie in the Mediterranean Sea, and that North Africa borders it, as well?” I nodded my head in acknowledgement.

“Not only has Hitler conquered nearly all of Europe, but he and Mussolini marched into those North African countries and took them over, as well. One of the several reasons they wanted North Africa is because of its enormous crude oil reserves. Airplanes and tanks and other machines of war cannot continue to run without masses of oil, which is refined into petrol. Russia is another country that has a lot of oil reserves. Germany is fighting Russia right now to get control of that oil, and for other reasons. In addition, unlike many of Italy’s coastal cities, Naples has an enormous harbor, one that can receive the biggest ships.”

“Our Bay of Naples!”

“Yes, and for that reason, our city was one of Hitler’s central distribution points of material and machines and troops and other necessities of war. His ships anchored in our harbor, unloaded, and then all of it was distributed among the nations he and Mussolini occupied throughout the Mediterranean area. That is one of the reasons Great Britain has been bombing Naples since you were twelve. They were, and still are, trying to stop Hitler’s flow of war material and troops through Naples. Of course, Germany and Italy have been thrown out of North Africa and Sicily by the Allies now. Even though our new government has signed a peace treaty with the Allies, and is fighting the Nazis alongside them, the Germans refuse to give up and are still here in Naples and all of Italy north of us.”

“Even in Rome?”

“Oh yes. The Nazis are fighting the Allies to hold onto what they can of Italy. In one way, Italy’s war with the Allies is over, but in another way it continues. It seems certain that Italy will descend into civil war.”

“What is civil war, Babbo?”

 “It is when the citizens of a country fight each other.”  

“How are we going to get the Nazis out of Italy, Babbo?”

“We have the most powerful fighters in the world helping us now, but we have to do our part, too.”

“How, Babbo?”

“Private Italian citizens have to fight in a variety of ways. We have to stand firm against the Nazis, and even take up arms against them if we have to.”

“You are talking about joining the resistance, right, Babbo?”

“How do you know about the resistance, Luciana?”

“Some of my friends say that Guido Martinelli and his sister, Sophia are fighting the Germans with many people who are members of the resistance. I didn’t realize for sure what that meant until now.”

Luciana and her little family got to their feet and continued their march into the mountains. As they walked, Luciana hatched a plan. She would find Guido Martinelli as soon as they returned to their beloved city.©

Note: the above essay is a work of historical fiction inspired by true events.



Image: Bombing of Piazza del Martiri, Naples, Italy



Recommended Reading: In her novel, BRIDGE OF SIGHS AND DREAMS, acclaimed author Pamela Allegretto weaves a fascinating tale of life in Italy during the Fascist and Nazi occupations. Central to her story is the Italian Resistance.



Books by Linda Lee Greene are available for purchase in eBook and soft cover at Amazon.com and by request at other booksellers.