Don Giuseppe Lodi
AND THE LAST WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 1944 ALSO ARRIVED.
AUTUMN HAD ALREADY MANIFESTED ITSELF IN ALL ITS BEING, EVEN IN OUR APENNINES.
IN GAGGIO MONTANO, DAYS WITH LIGHT RAIN SUCCEEDED OTHERS WITH BANKS OF FOG, BOTH ALONG THE SILLA STREAM AND ON THE RIDGES ABOVE THE VILLAGE. THE DETONATIONS OF GERMAN ARTILLERY, FIRING TOWARD TUSCANY, WERE THE MOST ACCURATE NEWS THAT AMERICAN TROOPS WERE APPROACHING OUR AREA.
MEN WHO HAD KNOWN THE ATROCITIES OF WORLD WAR I WERE VISIBLY WORRIED, AND WE BOYS TRIED TO READ ON THEIR FACES WHAT IT MIGHT MEAN TO BE INVOLVED IN A “WAR AT HOME.”
WHOLE FAMILIES HAD ABANDONED BOLOGNA AND TAKEN REFUGE IN THE VARIOUS TOWNS OF THE APENNINES, BELIEVING THEMSELVES SAFER, IN AREAS FAR FROM POSSIBLE AIR TARGETS.
MY FATHER, WHO HAD PARTICIPATED IN THE 1915/1918 WAR IN AN ALPINE ARTILLERY UNIT, LOOKED TOWARD THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAINS THAT ARE AROUND GAGGIO AND TO HIS NEIGHBORS HE DID NOT HIDE HIS CONCERN, EXPLAINING THAT THOSE MOUNTAINS WERE A NATURAL POINT OF RESISTANCE FOR THE GERMANS TO COUNTER THE AMERICAN ADVANCE AND TO CONTROL HIGHWAY 64, SO HE SUSPECTED THAT THE FRONT WOULD STOP RIGHT IN OUR VALLEY.
MEANWHILE, SOME COLUMNS OF THE GERMAN ARMY CONTINUED TO RETREAT NORTHWARD.
AND SO CAME SEPTEMBER 28, A GRAY DAY LIKE SO MANY OTHERS, BUT A DAY THAT WILL UNFORTUNATELY REMAIN IN MY MEMORY FOR THE TERROR THAT SEIZED BOTH MY FAMILY AND THOSE NEARBY.
A FEW METERS FROM US, AT THE “POGGIO” ON TANARI STREET, WAS A FARMHOUSE INHABITED BY THE MATTAROZZI FAMILY.
THE OLD FATHER - A MAN WITH A BIG HEART - MR.GIOVANNI, KNOWN AS THE COOK, TWO OF HIS SONS : MARCO AND VITO, AND HIS SON-IN-LAW, HAD FOR DAYS GONE UP TO THE RIDGE AND WERE STAYING NEAR THE GROUP OF HOUSES CALLED RONCHIDOS.
IN THE SAME AREA A FAMILY FROM BOLOGNA HAD RECENTLY MOVED IN : THE LODI FAMILY WHO, PREVIOUSLY, HAD FOUND LODGING IN HOUSES IN THE CENTER OF GAGGIO. ONE OF THESE WAS CLOSE TO MY DWELLING, AND SO MS. DINA AND HER SON VINCENZO , A UNIVERSITY STUDENT IN MEDICINE AND A FRIEND OF VIRGILIO BETTINI, SEVERAL TIMES STOPPED TO TALK TO US.
THE HEAD OF THE FAMILY, MR.PIETRO, A RAILROAD ENGINEER IN BOLOGNA WAS IN CONTACT WITH MY FATHER, ALSO A RAILROAD ENGINEER IN BOLOGNA, BOTH OF WHOM WERE MILITARIZED, AND I WOULD SOMETIMES, THROUGH AN UNCLE OF MINE WHO LIVED IN PORRETTA, BRING GAGGIO THE NEWS ABOUT MY FATHER'S AND MR.PIETRO'S NARROW ESCAPE FROM DANGER, WHICH MY UNCLE HIMSELF COLLECTED THROUGH THE INTERNAL TELEPHONE OF THE FF.SS. AFTER THE AIR RAIDS ON BOLOGNA.
THE SIG.LODI ALSO HAD ANOTHER SON : GIUSEPPE, CALLED BY THE LORD GOD TO A PRIESTLY VOCATION.
FROM BOYHOOD ON, RETURNING WITH MY MIND TO THAT TALL, THIN YOUNG MAN WITH A SERENE GAZE THAT EXUDED SWEETNESS, I ALWAYS THOUGHT WHAT A GREAT GIFT IT COULD BE FOR PARENTS TO HAVE A SON IN A CASSOCK, A MAN DESTINED FOR THE PRIESTHOOD, A MAN WHO WOULD RECEIVE FROM GOD THE POWER TO GRANT FORGIVENESS, INVOKING THE FATHER'S MERCY.
AND THIS WAS THE WAY FOR GIUSEPPE LODI, KNOWN AND LOVED BY US BOYS AS “DON PINO” , ALBEIT FOR TOO SHORT A TIME.
BUT, CIRCUMSTANCES RESERVED FOR DON PINO MARTYRDOM.
A SEMINARIAN OF THE BOLOGNESE CHURCH, WHO HAD JUST A FEW DAYS BEFORE BEEN APPOINTED DEACON BY HIS EXCELLENCY CARDINAL NASALLI ROCCA, HE WAS KNOWN AS A BOY, ALONG WITH HIS BROTHER VINCENZO (ENZO TO HIS FRIENDS ) IN THE SALESIAN ORATORY OF THE PARISH DEDICATED TO THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS IN BOLOGNA.
IN FACT, AS THE LODI FAMILY LIVED ON VIA MAZZA, IT WAS CLOSE TO THE CHURCH RUN BY THE SALESIANS, WHO JUST THIS YEAR ARE CELEBRATING 100 YEARS IN BOLOGNA. AND ANYONE WHO HAS BEEN IN A SALESIAN ORATORY HAS SURELY KNOWN THE LOVE THAT DON BOSCO AND HIS SUCCESSORS HAVE ALWAYS HAD FOR YOUNG PEOPLE.
WHEN DON PINO CAME TO GAGGIO, HE DID NOT JUST COLLABORATE WITH THE ELDERLY ARCHPRIEST DON MARCHI, BUT BEGAN TO DRAW TO HIMSELF THE BOYS FROM THE HOUSES NEAR THE CHURCH AND THOSE WHO DID NOT HAVE WORK COMMITMENTS ON THE FARMS.
UNFORTUNATELY, FOR THE LATTER, FREE TIME WAS ALMOST NONEXISTENT. BEING A STUDENT MYSELF, I HAD THE GOOD FORTUNE TO GET TO KNOW HIM AND WHEN I COULD , TO BE NEAR HIM.
DON PINO WOULD SIT ON THE STEPS OF THE CHURCH IN GAGGIO AND TALK TO US KIDS AND LISTEN AND ADVISE US.
BUT HIS PRESENCE IN THE OLD PART OF TOWN DID NOT LAST LONG.
THE LODI FAMILY PREFERRED TO MOVE AWAY FROM THE HIGHWAYS AND MOVED TO AN AREA CONSIDERED QUIETER, UPSTREAM FROM THE VILLAGE OF GAGGIO.
ON SEPTEMBER 28, SUDDENLY, WE HEARD DRY BURSTS OF MACHINE GUN FIRE COMING FROM THE FARMS OF RONCHIDOS, SOME BULLETS HEADED TOWARD THE VILLAGE, HISSED AROUND MY HOUSE.
THE FOG PREVENTED US FROM SEEING WHAT WAS HAPPENING.
NOT KNOWING, NOT KNOWING THE EVENTS, MADE THE MOST TREMENDOUS ANGUISH GROW IN US.
IT WAS WAR !
THE THOUGHT THAT THE FIGHTING MIGHT MOVE TO THE CENTER OF THE COUNTRY, THE KNOWLEDGE OF WHAT GERMAN RETALIATION MEANT, UNDER INHUMAN NAZI LAW, WAS A SOURCE OF UNCONTROLLABLE FRIGHT.
NERVES WERE SHATTERED.
I WAS LYING ON THE FLOOR IN THE HOUSE BELOW THE WINDOW SILL, WHICH WAS IN THE DIRECTION OF THE MOUNTAIN, WAS THE SAFEST POSITION TO AVOID ANY STRAY BULLETS, WHICH COULD ENTER THROUGH THE WINDOW.
WITH A WET HANDKERCHIEF PLACED IN FRONT OF MY NOSE AND MOUTH, I WAS TRYING UNSUCCESSFULLY TO PREVENT MYSELF FROM BREATHING IN THE ACRID SMELL OF HUMAN FLESH THAT WAS BURNING.
WE THOUGHT OF THE LODI FAMILY AND THE FOUR MEN OF THE MATTAROZZI FAMILY. WE KNEW THAT IN RONCHIDOS, SEVERAL YOUNG MEN HAD GATHERED WHO HAD REJECTED THE MADNESS OF THE “REPUBLICAN” DRAFT, THAT IS, THAT OF THE R.S.I., PRO-NAZI. THEY WERE ALMOST ALL YOUNG MEN FROM THE VILLAGE, WITH FEW WEAPONS AND LITTLE AMMUNITION AND CERTAINLY NOT CAPABLE OF SUSTAINING A PROLONGED CONFRONTATION WITH A GERMAN UNIT.
THAT DAY, ALL OF A SUDDEN, ON THE MOUNTAIN, THE FOG CLEARED AND THE YOUNG PARTISANS OF THE “JUSTICE AND FREEDOM” BRIGADE FOUND THEMSELVES IN FRONT OF A RETREATING GERMAN COLUMN.
THE EXCHANGE OF GUNFIRE WAS IMMEDIATE, THEN THE PARTISANS WERE FORCED TO DISENGAGE.
THE GERMANS REMAINED ON THE SPOT A FEW DAYS, FROM SEPTEMBER 28 TO OCTOBER 4, 1944 INDULGING IN ATROCITIES DESCRIBED IN ISSUES 9, 10, 11, 13 AND 16 OF THE MAGAZINE “GENTE DI GAGGIO.”
LATER PARTISANS WENT UP TO CASON DELL'ALTA AND FOUND THE BURNED CORPSES. NUMEROUS BODIES WERE PILED UP.
UNTIL THE SPRING OF 1945 IT WAS NOT POSSIBLE TO COLLECT WHAT REMAINED OF THE 69 BODIES.
FROM VERBAL TESTIMONY RECENTLY GIVEN TO ME BY A LADY, WHOM I PERSONALLY KNEW, IT APPEARS THAT DON PINO'S MOTHER, MRS. DINA, REFUSED TO ABANDON HER HUSBAND AND CHILDREN AND WANTED TO STAY WITH THEM, LOCKED UP IN A CASON USED AS A SHELTER FOR AGRICULTURAL TOOLS.
IN THOSE DAYS OLD MEN, WOMEN AND EVEN CHILDREN AS YOUNG AS A FEW YEARS OLD, ONE WAS THREE MONTHS OLD, WERE KILLED.
A DISTANT AND VAGUE MEMORY, WHICH, HOWEVER, I CANNOT VOUCH FOR GIVEN THE LONG YEARS THAT HAVE PASSED, COMES BACK TO MY MIND, AND AS IF IN A DREAM I SEEM TO HEAR AGAIN THE VOICE OF ANOTHER MIDDLE-AGED WOMAN WHO, FLEEING FROM RONCHIDOS AND PASSING IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE, SAID THAT DON PINO, AFTER INSULTING HIM WAS TIED A BUNDLE OF STICKS AROUND HIS BODY AND THEN SET ON FIRE.
UNFORTUNATELY, EVIDENCE IS LACKING, SINCE ALL THE PEOPLE WHO WERE BROUGHT TO THE CASON DELL'ALTA WERE MASSACRED.
DON PINO'S ROSARY WAS TRACED AFTER SEVERAL MONTHS AND IDENTIFIED AS HIS, MISSING, HOWEVER, THE FINAL SECTION BEARING THE CRUCIFIX, PROBABLY TORN OFF AS A FINAL SACRILEGIOUS OUTRAGE.
CURRENTLY THE REMAINS OF THE ROSARY , ARE DISPLAYED IN A SHRINE IN THE CHURCH OF SANTA MARIA GORETTI IN BOLOGNA.
A SCORCHED PIECE OF DON PINO'S CASSOCK WAS ALSO FOUND, BUT LATER LOST.
STRAW WAS THROWN OVER THE BODIES, TAKEN FROM A NEARBY HAYSTACK, SOAKED IN GASOLINE AND THEN SET ON FIRE.
A LADY FROM THE MATTAROZZI FAMILY RECENTLY TOLD ME THAT AFTER THE GERMANS RETREATED FROM THE RIDGE OF RONCHIDOS, SHE WENT UP THE MOUNTAIN WITH OTHERS AND IDENTIFIED THE BODIES OF HER OWN BROTHER AND BROTHER-IN-LAW FROM THE REMNANTS OF A WOOLEN SWEATER SHE MADE BY HAND AND A PARTICULAR PAIR OF BOOTS.
THE BURNED BODIES, WERE DECAPITATED.
BY AN EYEWITNESS WHO MANAGED TO ESCAPE, I WAS TOLD THAT WHILE DON PINO, HIS OWN FAMILY MEMBERS, AND OTHERS WERE ENCLOSED IN A CRAMPED ROOM, ONLY TO BE KILLED, A MIDDLE-AGED MAN, WHO WAS WITH THEM, SEIZED BY FEAR OF DEATH AND IN THE GRIP OF THE MOST EXCITED DESPAIR, BEGAN TO CRY AND SCREAM.
DON PINO INTERVENED, CALLED HIM BACK FIRMLY, THUS PREVENTING TERROR FROM TAKING HOLD OF THE OTHER UNFORTUNATES AS WELL, AND HEARTENED HIM.
KNOWING DON PINO'S RELIGIOUS COMMITMENT AND FIRM PRIESTLY VOCATION, I BELIEVE I CAN THINK, WITH WIDE MARGINS OF CONFIDENCE, THAT DON PINO COMFORTED WITH HIS WORD, WITH HIS PRAYER AND WITH HIS SERENE PRESENCE, THOSE POOR INNOCENTS WHO BY NOW KNEW THEY HAD TO PREPARE THEMSELVES FOR THE ENCOUNTER WITH OUR GOD OF MERCY.
DURING THE COLLECTION OF SIGNATURES, FOR THE NAMING OF A ROAD IN MOUNTAIN GAGGIO AS A MEMORIAL TO DON PINO, THE ONLY RELIGIOUS PRESENT IN RONCHIDOS, THE FOLLOWING INVOCATION WAS WRITTEN :
“DON PINO PRAISE, PRAY TO GOD ALMIGHTY FATHER THAT HE MAY GRANT ETERNAL PEACE AND FORGIVENESS TO THOSE WHO KILLED YOU AND TO US, WHO SEEK TO HONOR YOU, THE GROWTH OF OUR FAITH. AMEN.”
WITH AN INVITATION TO ANYONE TO REPEAT IT.
MAY ALMIGHTY GOD ALSO ACCEPT OUR PRAYER IN SUFFRAGE OF ALL THE MARTYRS OF RONCHIDOS !