by J. R. Sharp
Just as he got off his bike and started to walk his bike through the stone driveway, Anna came out.
“Did you hear gunfire?”
Pietro nodded. “It is not safe to go back into town anytime soon.”
Chapter 17
HORSE AND CARTS
THE WAR WAS A lost cause for the Germans, but they still believed that there was hope through intimidation and fear. Even the children were not allowed to go to school anymore or be away from an adult if they were outside or visiting other families. Pietro would make his rounds to the other farmers to see what news he could get from them, but they too were not venturing into the towns anymore. The bombings were getting louder and more frequent as the months passed with heavy smoke being trapped in the valley for days. The Ally bombings concentrated on industrial areas and the railroads but left most of the planting fields alone, which helped most of the farmers survive. The ground war had not made it to this area, but it was only a matter of time due to limited amounts of roads available for this area. What worried Pietro the most was if the Allies wanted the Venice area they would have to travel through his region to get there, which meant destruction. The other possible invasion area could come through Yugoslavia, but that would mean the Russians would come and Pietro feared them the most. They hated Italy ever since the Russian Invasion.
It was getting warmer and the planting season was just around the corner. Pietro was up early as usual with many chores ahead of him. The smartest thing they did was getting the coops ready for the different birds and rotating them from the barn so they would always have a few in a safe place. Luckily, they had enough food to survive the winter and well past the spring. But money was running out. As Pietro worked his chores, he heard strange noises coming from the valley that sounded as though there were animals being tortured. Pietro looked in the barn and could see that the animals were very unsettled and nervous.
As he glanced over at the main house, he could see Anna with her head out the window looking in the direction of the sounds that he heard earlier. Pietro turned around and got his bike before he shut the doors to the barn. He headed back to the main house with his bike in tow.
“Where are all those noises coming from, Pietro?” asked Anna with Catherina standing next to her helping with the morning dishes.
“It sounds as though someone is forcing the animals to do something they don’t want to and some yelling from people,” answered Pietro.
“I have never heard anything like that before except at the auction house or the butler shop.”
“I am going to go see what is going on, and I want you all to make sure you are ready for any visitors while I am gone,” replied Pietro.
“They are coming here.”
Pietro looked outside and could see the cloud of smoke. The women knew what was expected and started to get the children in place and get the necessary refreshments ready for their visitors. Pietro made his way to the front of the house, but not before he moved his bike out of sight so nobody knew that he was getting ready to go for a ride. As Pietro sat down on the bench to wait for his visitors, he could already tell that this was going to be a very large convoy. The noises he was hearing earlier were starting to get louder as the vehicles got closer. For the first time, he was unsure of what to expect.
Francisco went just past the turn into the Zucchet farm before he stopped to let his passenger out of the vehicle. It was this time of the year that Major Klein made his rounds to check on the farming situation in this region; however, he wasn’t the passenger in Francisco’s vehicle. Francisco opened the door of the vehicle to let out the Gestapo captain who had replaced Major Klein. Francisco looked down the rocky driveway to see Pietro staring in his direction, and at the same time he watched the animal transporter turn into the driveway.
Pietro could see the very large truck full of animals back into his driveway and knew what was about to happen. There was also a bus that stopped just short of the driveway full of people, mostly young Italians, who Pietro feared were going to be used as laborers, or worse, be sent to concentration camps. The noises that Pietro and Anna had heard earlier were the ones coming from the bus and transport.
“Anna, stay in the house with Catherina and the children. Lock the doors and don’t let anybody in the house until I say so or they break the doors down,” ordered Pietro. Anna quickly turned around and did what she was commanded. She looked towards the steps and to her amazement Catherina had already set the children down on their assigned steps. Anna quickly sat down next to the first step and her youngest son, he was the last of her sons and she was going to protect him even if it meant her life. Catherina quickly walked into the kitchen to make sure all the doors were locked. After she made sure everything was locked, she couldn’t help but look out the kitchen window to see the bus full of people. She stopped to look and see who was on the bus and in the back looking out towards her was one of her best friends, Maria, who was yelling for her to come out and speak to her.
***
German soldiers exited the truck with their rifles by their sides.
“Good morning, Herr Captain, what can I do for you, and will Major Klein be joining us today?” asked Pietro.
“Mr. Zucchet, our records show that you have some animals and equipment that your country will need for the time being, with the promise that you will get them back or will be reimbursed with monetary funds at a later date.”
As the captain was talking, Francisco was filling out some paperwork for Pietro as soldiers headed towards his barn. Pietro started to walk in the direction of the barn.
“What are you taking from me? I have to plant my fields and how can I plant if you take all of my equipment?” asked Pietro, looking at the captain who was walking with him towards the barn. “Does Major Klein know that this is going on?”
“Major Klein is no longer attached to this region, you will be answering to me,” replied the captain. Pietro took a couple more steps and knew that he had better stop walking or he might not live the rest of the day. The captain upholstered his Lugar.
Catherina was watching through the kitchen window when her mother decided to join her.
“What is going on?” asked Anna.
“It looks like they are going to take the horse and cow from us,” answered Catherina.
Pietro was watching the soldiers go into the barn and the first thing they took out was his beloved cart.
“How am I going to transport my crops to the auction house if you take my cart?” asked Pietro.
“Mr. Zucchet, according to my records we have harvested your crops for the last two years, so there is no need for you to have this cart,” replied the captain. The soldiers moved the cart to the side of the barn and then emerged with the horse. After about a minute, the horse was loaded onto the truck without too much resistance.
Anna looked at her eldest daughter.
“Grab all of the children and come out to the barn right now!” Catherina only saw her mother excited a few times and this was one of them and she did as she was told. Anna made her way out of the kitchen through the side door towards the barn. Catherina went to the steps and picked up her youngest daughter, grabbed her oldest daughter by her hand, and then told her two siblings to follow her out the kitchen door towards an uncertain situation.
The captain heard the door open and turned to see Anna coming in his direction. Pietro turned at the same time to see her heading in his direction. The captain waved at one of the soldiers standing next to the truck. The soldier moved to block Anna from coming any closer to the barn.
“Anna, go back into the house!” yelled Pietro. Just as Pietro was yelling at his wife, Catherina emerged with all the children in tow and headed in the same direction as Anna. Anna stopped just before the soldier so as not to make matters worse. Pietro was just about to make his way towards his wife when he heard some more movement from the barn. The soldiers were coming out of the barn with their only cow. Pietro froze in his steps not know
ing which direction to move.
“Herr Captain, please don’t take the cow. It is our only source of milk for this whole family,” responded Anna. The captain looked at Anna just as Catherina and all of the children reached her side. Anna reached for Maria, picking her up and then turning so the captain could see all of the children.
“Mr. Zucchet, can you use the cow to plow your fields?” asked the captain.
“Yes, I can use the cow to plow my fields,” responded Pietro. The captain turned around and motioned the soldiers to stop loading the cow. The soldiers stopped moving the cow onto the truck and handed the rope around the cow’s neck to Pietro.
“Thank you, Captain,” responded Anna.
“I am not giving you the cow for the milk but to make sure the fields get plowed to harvest this year’s crop,” replied the captain. He entered his car and the convoy hustled away down the gravel road, undoubtedly heading to another farm.
***
“Why are you smiling, Dad? They just took your horse and cart,” asked Catherina.
“My dear, I am very sad they took the horse and cart but very happy that they took them because this isn’t the first time I have seen the Germans take animals and carts,” answered Pietro.
“What do you mean?” asked Catherina.
“During my war, when the Germans started to take animals and carts, they were about to lose the war. It is a desperate attempt to replenish their existing supplies and the last-ditch effort before defeat. Now I have to go hug your mother because if she had not come out with the children, I probably would have had to but the plow blade on my back to get the fields done,” answered Pietro. Catherina watched her father walk back to the main house with an extra skip in his step.
Chapter 18
PARATROOPERS
IN THE SUMMER OF 1944, with the Allied forces nearby, the partisan resistance (Italian Resistance against the Germans and Pro-Fascist Mussolini’s) in Italy staged an uprising against the Germans and Pro-Fascist supporters. German casualties from the Italian partisans in the mountain regions surrounding the Zucchet farm were in the thousands. The Italian Resistance unfortunately suffered casualties far exceeding the Germans and Pro-Fascist supporters due to their lack of war-fighting capabilities and lack of guns and ammunition.
***
Pietro was coming back from his daily trip of checking on the crops, visiting other farmers, and a quick tour of the town to see if there was any new information on what was going in the region and the war. As he approached the gravel driveway, he dismounted from the bike to walk the rest of the way. He noticed that Catherina was outside playing with her daughters.
“So, how was your bike ride today?” asked Catherina as her father bent down to hug both of his granddaughters.
“It was fine, nothing has changed since yesterday, and hopefully everyone is busy trying to kill each other so they will let our crops alone,” replied Pietro.
“Maria, go take Loretta back inside the house and see if Nona will give you something to eat,” ordered Catherina to her oldest daughter. Maria grabbed Loretta by the hand and guided her young sister back into the house. After Catherina made sure the girls went into the house, she followed her father to the barn to see what he really found out during his bike ride. They were very careful not to share too much information in front of the young children for fear of them telling the Germans during their visits. The Germans were very good at getting information from any source, including the use of young children who were taught to tell the truth when asked by an adult.
“Dad, what else did you find out during your ride?” asked Catherina as she entered the barn. Pietro turned around to see that his daughter was alone.
“Shut the door just in case the girls come running back or your brother or sister come running in here and we don’t see them,” replied Pietro. Catherina did as her father told her.
“So what did you find out about Gino, Chester, and Bruno?” asked Catherina.
“This is what I can tell you. Gino is probably in Yugoslavia either fighting against the Germans or working at the shipyards, but he is not coming home until the war is over. That is all I could find out. There is no word about Bruno except that he is still working the railroad detail and Chester is still in Germany working,” replied Pietro. “All the people that the Germans rounded up and imprisoned in the auction house have been sent away to concentration camps in Germany,” remarked Pietro as he watched his daughter’s expression turn to horror. She knew that all of her friends and people she had grown up with that were at the auction house were never going to come back.
“You mean everyone is gone from the auction house? They are all gone?” asked Catherina.
“Yes, my dear, everyone is gone from the auction house. There are more Germans in town than I have ever seen so we need to stay away as much as possible,” answered Pietro.
Catherina looked at her father and asked, “Why are there so many Germans in town? We have nothing here of importance, we are just a farming region.”
“My dear, the partisan resistance has been killing a lot of Germans as of late, and with the Allies coming up the coast the Germans are desperately trying to stop their advancement and beat back the partisans. We need to stay out of everyone’s way or this farm and this family will exist no more. Now let’s go inside the house and have some dinner.”
***
As the evening wore on and dinner was finished, Pietro made his way out to his familiar seat out in the front for his evening smoke and coffee. Anna and Catherina were in the kitchen cleaning up the dinner mess and then they would get the children and grandmother ready for bed. As the sun was working its way down, Pietro was looking out in his fields and watching this year’s crop moving with every gust of wind coming from Mother Nature. Then from the distance he could hear planes coming from the south. This wasn’t normal so he moved from his seat to go see what types of planes were coming in the direction of his farm. Just as he was moving towards the barn, Anna was looking out of the kitchen window to see what the planes were doing.
“Lock up the house and get the kids ready to sit on the steps, this doesn’t sound like normal fighter planes,” ordered Pietro to his wife. Anna didn’t even answer her husband; she just closed the shudders of the kitchen windows and proceeded to get the children ready for some visitors.
Pietro looked up into the sky as he cleared the main house. The planes were dropping paratroopers, and they were German. They were falling all over the area surrounding the farm. Pietro counted five planes dropping hundreds of paratroopers and they were fully armed. He checked the barn to make sure it was all closed off and then headed back to the main house. As he entered the house he could hear the paratroopers landing in the fields. Pietro looked inside the house quickly.
“We are ready,” yelled Anna at her husband. Pietro looked at her and could see that she was frightened and so were the children.
“Everything will be fine. I am going outside to greet our visitors. Don’t move until you hear from me,” replied Pietro. Pietro shut the door to the house and made his way to his chair. He could see hundreds of Germans running towards the town and the woods; he knew that it would only be a matter of time before he had visitors.
Pietro heard the noise of the rocks from underneath the German soldier’s boots as they made their way up his driveway. Pietro could see there were four soldiers coming his way, with a sergeant in front.
“How many people are in the house,” yelled the sergeant.
Pietro yelled back, “There are three ladies and four children in the house.”
The sergeant stopped in front of Pietro and ordered him to open the door so they could inspect the house and have everyone get out.
“Herr Sergeant, my mother has polio and is unable to get out of the bed on the second floor,” answered Pietro as he opened the door and waved for everyone to come out of the house. Anna and the children came out, but Catherina refused to leave her grandmother alone so she went upstai
rs with the soldiers as they inspected the house.
“What are you looking for, Herr Sergeant?” asked Pietro.
“We are looking for partisans and any supporters. Are there any here?” asked the sergeant as he held his machine gun towards Pietro.
“We are only farmers, Herr Sergeant. I am too old for war and both my sons are already working for Germany,” answered Pietro.
Catherina was upstairs sitting next to her grandmother, who was shaking from fear as the soldiers looked around the room for anything.
“Move the woman so we can inspect underneath the bed,” ordered one of the soldiers as he pointed his gun towards Catherina.
“She is in a lot of pain every time she is moved and she is blind, there is nothing underneath the bed,” responded Catherina. The soldier raised his weapon in a threatening manner, which made Catherina move very quickly to pick her grandmother up before the soldier decided to end both of their lives. The soldiers flipped the bed over to reveal nothing but a couple of children’s wooden toys that Pietro had made for his grandchildren that went missing months ago. The soldiers left the upstairs room and went back outside.
Pietro was standing by Anna and the children when the soldiers came out of the house. “There is nobody in the house except one old woman and a young one,” replied one of the soldiers to the sergeant.
“Go check the barn and the rest of the farm,” ordered the sergeant to the soldiers that just came out of the house. Pietro noticed that the sergeant was getting very tired of not finding anything and upset that he wasn’t running towards the town like the other paratroopers. The soldiers returned after about five minutes of searching the barn and the rest of the farm without finding anything suspicious. As the soldiers departed the farm, a German officer stood in the road waiting for the soldiers to come from the farm. The sergeant reported his findings to him as they headed towards town.
