Remebrance Day

[Recoil]

I have a family story of war, and while I understand that it will seem far fetched please believe when I say that I make nothing of this up, and that I wholeheartedly believe my mother that this is true.
She always had a keen interest in our family's history, and war was no exception, so I take everything I have typed for you guys as the truth, even if it seems ridiculous.


One of my relatives, a great great uncle i believe, was an Italian soldier in the second world war stationed in the Aegean and was captured by the Germans after the armistice was signed with the allies. The Germans were ruthless with most of the Italians they captured and my great great uncle's unit was to be executed.

As a German officer went down the line he picked one in three men to be shot, but luckily not my great great uncle. After these poor men were shot down he came over to my relative and noted his blue eyes and fair features. My relative responded he was from Trentino, and due to it once being part of Austria the officer decided he would count him out of the execution (I assume the officer was an Austrian, although I can't say it makes me feel proud) but it couldn't stop the inevitable, and sooner or later my relative was back on the firing line with more Italians.

And this is where I have to commend one single soul out of the firing squad. We never knew who it was, where they were from or why they did it, but, by some stroke of grace, a soldier on the firing squad missed my relative, who feigned death. Out of all the acts of kindness possible, I think this was the most sincere and appropriate one the soldier could have done, and, wherever he or his family are now, I honestly thank them from the bottom of my heart.

As mentioned, my relative wasn't hit, and instead feigned death. The corpses were simply thrown down a Greek well and left to rot, and had it not been for some respectful Greeks taking out the bodies to be buried I honestly think my relative never would have made it out alive. The Greeks gave him shelter and food until the war was over and he returned to Italy, completely shaken from his ordeal. Again, I thank all of these people, as their acts required bravery beyond measure; to take in an Italian POW on a German occupied island risked all of their lives, but they did it nonetheless. Thank you

My mum recalled that, as a little girl she would notice him randomly twitch or suddenly seem overcome with sadness, especially if she asked him about his youth. It was only when he passed away that someone explained it to her, and I was lucky enough to find out about it from her.

And that's the story one of my relatives. On a similar note my mother has an Italian book which I believe is called "Scritture di guerra" which I think translates as Stories of War, and a chapter of it concerns a relative of mine, Valentino Maestranzi. I'm not sure if this was the mentioned relative, but the word "Siberiano" pops up now and then, and I take this to mean Siberia, so I assume he was another soldier in the family, presumably captured and sent off to Siberia. What happened to him I'm not sure, but I'll be sure to find out and tell you lot if you would like to know.

R.I.P

[Aemilius Paulus]

Most interesting post, Recoil!

My great-grandparents, all of whom fought in WWII with the Soviet Army weren't so lucky. Out of eight of them, three died at the hands of the damn Nazis. One of them was in an artillery unit, in charge of delivering ammunition. A German shell hit his truck (full of artillery ammo) and well, that was the last of him... Another was in an encircled unit in Belorussia. No record of him after that... The last was in an infantry unit, and died while fighting in Germany. Two of the survivors actually fought in the Siege of Berlin, and were lucky to survive that bloodbath. My grandparents still have the trophies that the two brought from the sack of that infernal city.

I also remember how one of my grandparents, who actually lived in Moldova at the time of WWII, was talking about how his best friend (who was Jewish) and his family was taken by the Nazis. My grandfather actually followed (secretly) the soldiers as they took his friend away and watched from a tree he climbed to hide on as his friend was being executed. The Germans did not want to dirty their hands so they made the soldiers from the Romanian units do the killing. The family of that 11 year old Jewish boy was instantly shot and killed, but the boy himself had his arm blown off and was bleeding profusely. He ran and screamed for a few minutes (odd too, since the blood loss, shock and sheer pain should have made him faint) until a German soldier finally caught him with a rifle butt in the face. My grandfather was 10 at that time.

[Recoil]

Wow, quite a few stories there Aemilius, its good to hear that some of your family managed to come out alive though.
it's amazing to think that all of this happened only in the last century and, these days, a German can freely travel to England, France, Italy and Russia without much hassle (admittedly I can't honestly say I'm sure about the Russia bit, having never been there) it really shows how much people have just wanted to live together and get on as well as possible, which, to me, is the only good thing war brings- it can ironically bring us together, but even then, its a one in a million chance. lets hope humanity's luck doesnt wear thin.

[desert]

Nothing would work better in bringing us together than a direct threat to the survival of the whole species.

And we haven't run into one of those...yet. (I'm being serious btw)

[Lovejoy]

Few war stories in my family as I am swedish. My grand-grandpa fled from Norway to Sweden during the WW2. But I dont know why. I am also half finish so maybe there are some WW2 stories I am not aware about.

IMHO:
People romanticises the lives of soldiers too much. Not that we shouldnt honour them, but far too often do people join the armies of the world looking for honour and glory. Usually they get none.

[Aemilius Paulus]

People romanticises the lives of soldiers too much. Not that we shouldnt honour them, but far too often do people join the armies of the world looking for honour and glory. Usually they get none.

How true. There is absolutely nothing glorious about today's warfare. I recently read an excellent book on warfare and how the US Armed forces work, and found out that the US Army will do just about anything to get recruits for the poor bloody infantry. The amount of propaganda they use to entice young men to join the armed forces is overwhelming, and most of the stuff they use is pretty crude, including the "romanticism"/glorification of warfare, patriotism, or how "cool" it is to be a soldier. Rubbish if you ask me. That same book also said that in a month of modern warfare, a unit will receive 90% casualties. How glorious to see your comrades ripped apart into bloody confetti. Truly a sight to behold. *voice dripping with sarcasm/sardonic*

[Celtic_Punk]

Thats a pretty sobering first picture Sarcasm... I guess supposed to be a kid on his way to falklands... most meaningless war ever... young lads died for a power hungry woman.