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25 Aprile, 1945 - Liberation Day through the eyes of an Italian kid

01 Apr 2025 8:32 AM | Anonymous

by Gianluigi Veglia

“We left Suio on November 23, 1943. As the pressure from the Allied troops on the Gustav Line intensified, the Nazi army became increasingly hostile toward civilians. My family was scared and hungry. My father, Luigi, had been captured and incarcerated in Gaeta, awaiting deportation to Germany. My grandfather, Pietro, my mother, Peppinella, and four of her seven children (including me) jumped onto a truck heading toward Ferentino, where a train awaited us, the ‘sfollati’, heading north to Veneto. My other brothers fled to the mountains to evade capture by the Nazis.

My aunt Giulia and her two children, 2-month-old Pietro and 9-year-old Mimino, joined us on that journey. During the trip, my aunt and little Pietro became gravely ill due to the poor sanitary conditions on the train. They were admitted to a local hospital, where both sadly passed away, as we later learned. Mimino stayed with our family and became our new sibling. 

Our journey ended in Chiuppano, a small village near Vicenza, populated by farmers and artisans. I remember my grandfather, Pietro, touring the local farms every morning, begging for bread and cheese. He didn’t speak the northern dialect and struggled to communicate with the locals. I, however, picked up the language quickly and became his official interpreter. Thanks to my language skills, I met a local boy whose brother was a true partisan hiding in the mountains from the Fascists and Nazis. His mission was to ambush and attack Nazi battalions with grenades and disrupt their communications with other Nazi brigades. I don’t recall much from those endless months except for the piercing cold and constant hunger. We lived in two small rooms with about 20 people each, but we helped each other survive. 

I vividly remember that day, April 25, 1945, when we learned that the partisans and the Allies had joined forces against the Nazis and Fascists. My northern friend told me that his brother was finally coming back as the “dirty Nazis would be kicked out of Italy!” Shortly after, we were thrilled to learn that my father, Luigi, was safe. He had escaped from the prison in Gaeta and was back in Suio, waiting for us. In September 1945, we all boarded that train heading south, finally reuniting with my siblings and my father. I remember Suio being nothing but rubble, dust, debris, bombshells and spent machine gun ammunition. But we had each other and the hope to start anew.”


Image source: Gustav Line

This excerpt reflects my conversation with my 90-year-old father, Minervino. He was born in Suio, a suburb of Castelforte in the province of Latina, located in the Lazio region. During the war, my father was just 11 years old. He still lives near Suio with my mother, Rita, who was born in 1945 in a cave that had been adapted for animals, serving as a refuge for the 'sfollati'—a term used for those who were forced to leave their homes in search of safety. The towns in South Lazio, also known as South Pontino, were crossed by the Gustav Line, a crucial defensive position established by the Nazis to halt the Allied advance. This area was occupied by Nazi forces, which used medieval fortifications, such as the one in Gaeta (Latina), as temporary prisons for civilians. Many of these civilians were eventually deported to Germany or Poland, where they were sent to concentration camps. Many families from Castelforte were torn apart and forced onto trains leaving from Ferentino, in the province of Frosinone (still in the Lazio region), heading to Northern Italy. Vicenza was one of the northern cities that received a significant number of ‘sfollati’.

For my father and many other survivors, April 25, 1945, is recognized as the official Liberation Day. However, the true days of liberation for the South Pontino—territories south of Rome—were marked by the collapse of the Gustav Line and the Battle of Monte Cassino. The German Army's defeat at the Gustav Line set the stage for the Battle of Anzio and ultimately contributed to Hitler's downfall. This crucial line was breached by American troops under the command of General Clark, who was hailed as a savior by the more democratic faction of the Italian population. As recent comments by Italian historian Alessandro Barbero have pointed out, there existed both a "good part" and a "bad part" of the Italian people: the former advocating for democracy and the latter supporting totalitarianism. The insurgency by the partisans on April 25 1945 played a crucial role in uniting most Italians, who had initially sided with the Axis powers during World War II.

April 25, 1945, was officially acknowledged by the newly formed Italian government as the end of the war and the demise of Nazi tyranny. Alcide De Gasperi—one of the architects of our constitution—championed this day as Italy’s Liberation Day and proposed it as a national holiday.

The process of uniting Italians was neither swift nor easy; it unfolded through a prolonged and painful civil conflict before Italians ultimately chose to embrace peace and democratic governance under the umbrella of Europe. The so-called Manifesto di Ventotene or Per un’Europa libera e unita [For a Free and United Europe], written in 1941 by a group of Italian intellectuals who had been imprisoned by the Fascist government on the islet Santo Stefano off the Pontine island of Ventotene near Naples, established the new foundation for the Italian Constitution and proposed a federated European Republic.

The involvement of Americans was pivotal to the establishment of Italian and European democracy. The United States represented a model for modern democratic ideals across Europe, where freedom had been suppressed by totalitarian regimes.

As we are witnessing across the world, Democracy is a fragile entity, akin to a delicate flower that must be cultivated daily. This 80th anniversary of the Liberation Day serves as a vital reminder for us to reflect on the significance of nurturing this essential flower.


Peppinella celebrating her 90th birthday – The photo is from 1990. The children from left to right are: Angelina, Fiore (sitting next to Peppinella), Giovannina, Pietro, Concettina, Minervino, and Teodoro. Peppinella died in 1998 at the age of 97 – Image courtesy of the author.

About the author:

Gianluigi Veglia was born in Formia (Latina, Italy). He achieved a PhD in Chemistry at the University of Rome 'La Sapienza', and after a postdoctoral internship at the University of Pennsylvania, he joined the University of Minnesota. He is also one of the early members of ICC. He lives in Minneapolis with his wife Carolyn and three kids, Matteo, Elisa and Gianmarco. In his spare time he loves to cook, play tennis and spend time with his family.

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