National Content: Italy
Interview to Giovanna Speziali
| Source | Interview to a witness |
| Event referred to | September 1st, 1939: Nazi’s invasion of Poland |
| Technological characteristics | Type of file: text Availability proposed: Full availability |
| Description of the source | Kind of source: text of an interview Origin of the source: personal interview to a witness Language: originally Italian but translated in English Copyright issues: Full availability |
| Contextualisation of the source | Interview to a woman who, in September 1939, was 25 years old and lived in a small country village near Perugia (centre Italy). Italy wasn’t already involved in the war, however Italian people was scared and afraid for a possible long conflict. |
| Interpretation of the source | The interview shows the point of view of a young woman living in the Italian country, scared for the possible beginning of a new war, even if she couldn’t image a World War, also considering that mass-media tools didn’t inform too much about the real danger that was incurring. They also had many problems with the daily life in the country, with women busy in house works and men working in the fields, scared to be recruited, as would have happened later. |
| Original Contents | Quanti anni aveva il 1 settembre 1939? Io sono nata il 14 ottobre 1914, quindi ne avevo 25. Dove si trovava? In quel periodo vivevo a Capocavallo, un piccolo paese vicino Perugia. Quale fu l’impatto emozionale su di lei e sulla comunità dove viveva? All’inizio c’era paura, eravamo tutti terrorizzati, perché la guerra causa sempre morte e desolazione: avevamo paura soprattutto per i nostri amici e parenti. Più che altro temevo, come la gran parte delle ragazze del mio paese, che mio marito potesse essere richiamato (come poi sarebbe avvenuto) e che avrei potuto non rivederlo più. Avete capito subito che questa aggressione avrebbe portato ad un conflitto su scala mondiale o avete pensato che sarebbe finita subito? No, no! Abbiamo capito da subito che sarebbe stata una guerra lunga, anche se non sapevano se avrebbe avuto o meno proporzioni mondiali, ma ascoltando quello che diceva la gente e le poche notizie apprese dalla radio sentivamo che non sarebbe finita presto. Non potevamo però immaginare quello che sarebbe successo dopo. Si ricorda come sono state riportate da radio e giornali le notizie su questo evento? Ad essere onesta, di questo aspetto non ricordo più di tanto. Le notizie che giungevano per radio, quando arrivavano, erano scarse e frammentarie, in più non c’erano intelligenza ed educazione tali da permettere una comprensione e un’interpretazione delle notizie; sebbene possa sembrare strano, non c’era nemmeno tanto interesse! I problemi per le famiglie contadine non sono questi! I mezzi di comunicazione, a dire il vero, non erano nemmeno molto apprezzati: poche persone ascoltavano la radio. Le donne, impegnate nelle faccende domestiche, non avevano tempo per questo e gli uomini, quando la sera tornavano dai campi, volevano soltanto riposarsi. Non molti erano capaci di leggere e quasi nessuno aveva l’abitudine di comprare i giornali e leggerli a casa. Si ricorda se lei, o la gente con cui viveva, eravate dalla parte della Polonia o della Germania? In certi momenti non pensi a questo! Comunque posso dire che io stavo dalla parte della Polonia, ma semplicemente perché era vittima dei fatti, esattamente come noi. Non potevamo stare dalla parte degli invasori. |
| Original Contents (English Translation) | Question: How old were you on the first of September 1939? Answer: Well, I was born on October 14th,1914, so I was 25. Q: Where were you? A: In that period I lived in Capocavallo, a small village near Perugia, in the centre of Italy. Q: What was the emotional impact on you and on the community where you lived? A: At the beginning there was fear, we were all scared, war always causes death and desolation: we were afraid for ourselves and most of all for our friends and relatives… Furthermore I was scared, as most of the other girls of my town, that my husband was recruited, and in fact then it happened, and that I couldn’t have seen him anymore. Q: Did you immediately understand that this aggression would have caused the beginning of a world conflict or did you think that it would have finished soon? A: No, no! We promptly understood that it was going to be a long war, although we didn’t know if it would have been a world-wide one or not, but hearing the information between the people and few news that we listened to the radio, we felt that it wouldn’t have ended quickly, even if we didn’t imagine what would have happened later. Q: How did newspapers and radio report to you news about this event? Do you remember anything? A: Well, about this, to be honest, I don’t remember too much; the news, that arrived from the radio, when they arrived, were poor and fragmentary, moreover there weren’t intelligence or education to be able to comprehend and to interpret news and not even the interest, although it could seem strange! Problems for a farmers family are not these! Communication tools weren’t really appreciated, too: few people listened to the radio; women, while they were doing domestic business, didn’t have time to pay attention and men, when they came back from the fields in the evening, just wanted to relax. Not many people were able to read and almost nobody had the habit to buy newspapers and read them at home. Q: Do you remember if you or the people you lived with were by the side of Poland or Germany? A: In those moments you didn’t think about this…Anyway I can say that I was more by the side of Poland, but only because it was the victim of that, exactly like us… We couldn’t stay by the side of invaders. |