Life in Italy during WW2 | My grandparents' story
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- Опубліковано 27 тра 2024
- TURN SUBTITLES ON
Meet Carmine and Pina, our grandparents!
They were born in Cerignola (Apulia region) during the Second World War (Carmine was born in 1936, Pina was born in 1945).
They have so many interesting stories, life in Italy was very different just some decades ago...
In this video they share their own personal and unique stories about being a child during the Second World War among fascists, Germans and Americans.
We are grateful to have heard these stories many times with our own ears and we think it's time to share them with everybody around the world.
Because history is important.
It defines a culture, it defines a nation.
It defines us.
#wwii #history #worldwar2 #italy #grandparents #shareyourstory
00:00 - Intro
00:37 - How was it being a child in the Second World War
01:54 - Memories during the American occupation
06:16 - Memory of the American Army leaving their town
07:14 - How men avoided being soldiers in the Italian army
07:58 - The tragic story of Pina's father
Greetings from New Zealand.
My father with two of his brothers fought in North Africa then up though Italy.
It was no fun, my father was wounded three times in North Africa one of his brothers once.
He then went to fight in italy along with his brothers.
On the same day, the 22 july 1944, in San Donato, South of Florence his brother Jack was killed and his brother Maurice was mutilated by 14 bullets from machine gun fire.
He was a invalid for life and died an ruined man aged 54.
My uncle, whom I'm named after is buried in the commonwealth cemetery on the banks of the Arno River just south of Florence. A beautiful place, lovingly cared for by the kindest "gardeners". Really they are part gardeners, part social worker to the emotional vistors😪
God bless them.
My father's parents were farmers in New Zealand, can you imagine the day news arrived, one son dead the other gravely wounded expected to die!
My father seldom spoke of his five and a half years away at war. He did say however once, north Africa was a war fought between two armies with little civilian lost but Italy was a heart break to see so much civilian suffering.
There are no winner in war.
Such a heartbreaking story, thanks for sharing it with us.
I totally agree: there are no winners in a war. Let's hope we as a society have learned that and won't make it happen again.
Hugs from Italy!
@@ItalybyItalians thank you. Very important story for me.
In 2017 I took my 24 year son to the florence war cemetery. He was surprised that many of the dead were his age or younger.
I hope he will keep the memory of my familie's sacrifice alive.
On a brighter note! Thank you for making your excellent videos. I'm bringing my wife to Italy in spring of 2023 and I'm finding your work informative.
We only have three weeks so concentrating on the north.
Your video of Venice was particularly good😁
@@johnleonard7134 thank you very much, we are glad if our videos can be of help, we try to give as much local information as we can 😊
That's sweet you took your son there, it's important to never forget.
This was so nice! I really enjoyed listening to their stories. What an amazing generation to be respected. Bless them.
Thank you, I'll tell them 🥰
Thank you for this video. It was very touching and their generation is so important to keep their stories alive and well. They are the last of the greatest generation ever and that they have given and sacrificed so much in order to make life better for future generations. It is great to hear stories like this and I hope you are able to do more in the future. And please keep your regular videos going too, it is great to learn about the hidden gems of Italy. Thank you again for sharing this video.
Thank you for watching it!
I agree with everything you said, their generation did any kind of sacrifice to give us a better life.
Wonderful to hear these stories but such a sad one for Nonna Pina. 😢
Yes, she always tells us about how sad she has felt all her life for not being able to know her father...
Thank you for your comment!
Italian people really knew harsh times during ww2 and post ww2 , such a patient and courageous people, the people of Italy ❤️
Thanks for this valuable testimony and waiting for other similar videos 🙂
Thank you, happy to hear you liked this new topic!
from New York/New Jersey. Americans soldiers go everywhere but we have never known the ravages of war as the Italians have. It creates the national character. Italians, who have been conquered for millennia, know enough about war to avoid it. Americans, in their ignorance of war, are always looking for it. It doesn't work out well. And for us Italian-Americans WW2 was tricky. Italy was the enemy but the country was full of Italians- Fiorello LaGuardia was mayor of NYC. Most people don't know, but Italians in the beginning were rounded up and started to be put in camps like the Japanese. Difference was we are white, were very integrated into society, and had some political power, which the Japanese did not. Within a few months they stopped collecting Italians but the Japanese remained interred until 1945. Baseball hero Joe DiMaggio's father, born in Sicily, was a fisherman on the California coast. In 1942 they arrested him and put him inland and out of living. My grandmother came in1903, never took US citizenship until 1957, and barely escaped being put in an interment camp. Yes, I always love hearing the old timers recount history. Di piu'.
Wow, thank your for sharing these stories with us, it's so interesting. History is precious, I always say we should study it more and from more point of views!
This is a gem of a treasure! Always been fascinated by wartime stories directly from the wise who bravely survived and conquered such a dreadful time in history. Thank you for sharing and would like to hear more stories with English subtitles please (a big help!). Thank you Carmine and Pina for your great and vivid storytelling of your indelible childhood memories. With much love from California.
Thank you for your kind words, Carmine and Pina will be very happy to hear them 🥰
Hugs from Italy
Thanks for sharing your amazing granpa story my friend. Greetings from your new fans 🙏
Hello, I'm super happy you found it interesting 😊
You just can not believe how fascinated and touched I am by the life stories and facts regarding these two lovely people, dear Carmine and Pina..I wish them both a healthy and happy life and I would like to congratulate you for creating such a magnificent vlog, and surely looking forward to see some more similar content in near future..Thank you and all the best.!🙏🏻❤️🤍💚
Wow, your comment makes me so happy! I'll report what you said to Carmine and Pina. Thank you! I hope you'll enjoy my future content.
Love your interview style video
Thanks for adding English for Carmine and Pina ...
The bookmarks you have in this video made it easy efficent to detremine what you are offering
L12
Thank you very much, glad you liked it!
Excellent video. Very interesting. Thank you for sharing. So many stories to tell.
Thank you, we are so glad you liked it!
@@ItalybyItalians I close on my house in Morra, Umbria this coming February. Southwest of Citta di Castello on the Tuscan border. Watching your videos has been very inspirational, not to mention informative. For now I keep taking my Italian lessons.
@@brianfilkowski that's good, keep on studying and good luck for your future projects!
New here great channel, Italy is always first choice to spend vacation together with my family, till now we visited Anzio, Neapol,Nettuno,Rome, Sienna, Firenca, Verona, Pisa,Bologna, Rimini, Ravenna, San Marino, Ancona. Local people are friendly and helpful, specially older generation, they didn't know English but you will understand everything:)
Thank you and welcome to our community!
That was great! I really think it's important to chronicle as much as we can about that period of time. Even the viewpoints of children is valuable!
Also, your videos are great! I'm moving to Lucca in the first quarter of 2023 and I'm drawing all sorts of inspiration from your videos for places I want to visit.
Yes, I totally agree with you!
That's cool, congrats on your big move! Where do you come from?
Hope you'll find yourself at ease here in Italy 😉
@@ItalybyItalians I'm from the DC area of the US. I used to live in Ferrara many years ago. I finally found a path back and I'm doing it!
Really enjoyed this video ! Yes More please!
Glad you appreciated it!
It feels so special to be able to hear their stories. Thank you very much for sharing!
Thank you for listening!
I Really Enjoyed That Thank You x
Glad you liked it!
Love your youtube vlogs. I always look out for the new ones . You are very positive and engaging presenter doing vlogs about my favourite country . :) Thank you. Keep up the good work.
Thank you Steve ❤️ where are you from? Hugs from Italy 🤗
@@ItalybyItalians :) i'm From South west England . I Always try and visit Italy at least twice a year 😍I shall use your tips for Matera when i go there in April. :)
@@stevegardner6760 ah wow that's awesome 😎 let us know your experience in Matera!
Great idea and great video :D
I'm sad there was no mention of brazilian soldiers. We grew up learning about our participation in retaking Italy from the nazis alongside the american and italians, i wish we had made a bigger impression 😅
Thank you!
True what you say, but this is a video based on our grandparents stories and they only met Americans during the war. Probably Brazilian soldiers were in another part of Italy from where they lived.
Hugs from Italy 🥰
I didn't know that and would like to know more.
Welcome back !!
Thank youuuuu 😘
I would definitely like to hear more stories about how they survived the hardships during the war.
Thank you for your feedback!
Omg.. Finally a new video! Almost asked if you are still alive guys...
LOL I wish I could stop working at my job but I can't 😂
Do you like this new video? It's quite different from our usual content 🙂
I love your content and I love to hear older people speak about their past. That being said io sono un principiante nella lingua italiana e ora ho paura che non avrei l'abilita da capire niente quando vado a puglia a tre settimane. Puoi fare pui interviste con la gente parlando italiano, forse un po pui lentamente. Grazie mille. After seeing your video on Matera, I can't wait to be there.
Grazie mille! Non ti preoccupare, loro due parlavano in dialetto ma ormai tutti in Puglia parlano anche italiano, con te parleranno la lingua standard.
Divertiti, Matera è bellissima!
My grandfather, and his brother, served in the US Army during WWII. Their father, my great grandfather, was born in Italy😊
Wow! Do you know where your grandfather was sent to fight?
i want to come italy forever how can i come there please tell me. You can help me please.
ma che bella coppia
Sì, sono molto carini 😁 Ma tu quindi hai origini italiane o hai studiato italiano?
Bel video 💯 il mio nonno Pasquale 🌶 ha servito nella marina contro Giappone, la guerra e l’inferno veramente. Lui era il patriarca della famiglia, mi manca tanto. Era un uomo di carattere, 😔 mi manca davvero.
Wow, ha combattuto in Giappone? Eh sì, la guerra è un inferno, un'esperienza orribile che molti dei nostri nonni hanno dovuto subire. È bello sapere che avevate un così bel rapporto 😊
@@ItalybyItalians Certo, e stato alle isole del Pacifico. Lui abitava in Brooklyn, il capitale dell'Italiani negli Stati Uniti (maggiorita del Mezzogiorno), al inizio della guerra.
@@joevaccaro6655 wow, da Brooklyn all'Oceano Pacifico... Che tempi duri.
Un abbraccio
@@ItalybyItalians Grazie, un abbraccio a voi :)