In one of those drawers that exist in every house to hold old cards and old photos, I found a letter from my father in autumn 1945. Addressed to a cousin in difficulty. I am looking forward to working together,"my father said," and if pain has united us, we will remain united tomorrow ". And then:"Will the recovery be tough? Patience. Assused with far greater sacrifices, we will not disarm the first difficulties. And finally:"Let's put a stone on the past".
The writer was not a boy, he was 46 years old, he belonged to the 1899 generation.
So he had happened to go to war (in the Great War, after Caporetto) and then to go to war.
go back to war again (in the Second World War) and again, in the aftermath of the 8th.
September 1943, to be captured by the Germans, ending up in a prison camp for
almost two years of frost, hunger and forced labour.
But, finally returned home after adventurously crossing Europe from north to north
south, Vittorio Macry showed a psychological strength that leaves me speechless. Was ready
to restart from scratch. He knew that it wouldn't be easy, but he strongly wanted "la
resumption ". He wanted to forget about pain.
It was, ideally, the mirror of Italy on 25th April 1945. A very suffering country and
very optimistic, where everyone, anti-fascists and fascists, militants and "grey zone", appeared prosthetic
to the future. They formed an incredibly cohesive community, given the harshness of the
political struggle and the bloody divisions of a very recent past. And really -men and men
women, boys and older people - they would have been able to build what they call the
economic miracle "of the fifties and sixties of the twentieth century.
It's hard not to think of the younger Italian generations of 2016, of the tasks that are incumbent on them.
await. With more than one hope.
