I tried the English version of Wikipedia, to see whether it talked at all about what the 25th of April means to us. If you click here, and scroll down all the way to 1945, you'll see:
1945 - Nazi occupation army leaves Northern Italy after a general partisan insurrection by the Italian resistance movement. This day is taken as symbol of Liberation of Italy.
A little drily put, maybe, that's what it is. (And all I've found on there. ;) ) And that is the reason why this morning I was in the War Cemetery here, near Assisi. I'd never been in there before, it's such a beautiful place - kind of a strange thing to say about a cemetery, isn't it? But it's really true. During the commemorative ceremony taking place there, several letters were read aloud - all letters written by prisoners sentenced to death for their activity in (or in favour of) the Resistance Movement, for their loved ones - parents, sons, daughter, spouses. There was one of them that struck me the most, so once I got home I tracked it down - and here it is. (In Italian, sorry about that. ^^; Haven't even got the time to contemplate translating it right now!)
ETA: now with the English translation! Cor, but I had a serious Roland moment writing this.
A little drily put, maybe, that's what it is. (And all I've found on there. ;) ) And that is the reason why this morning I was in the War Cemetery here, near Assisi. I'd never been in there before, it's such a beautiful place - kind of a strange thing to say about a cemetery, isn't it? But it's really true. During the commemorative ceremony taking place there, several letters were read aloud - all letters written by prisoners sentenced to death for their activity in (or in favour of) the Resistance Movement, for their loved ones - parents, sons, daughter, spouses. There was one of them that struck me the most, so once I got home I tracked it down - and here it is. (In Italian, sorry about that. ^^; Haven't even got the time to contemplate translating it right now!)
Paolo Braccini - docente universitario - 36 anni3-04-1944, Torino
Gianna, mia figlia adorata,è la prima ed ultima lettera che ti scrivo e scrivo a te per prima, in queste ultime ore, perché so che seguito a vivere in te. Sarò fucilato all’alba, per un ideale, per una fede che tu, figlia mia, un giorno capirai appieno.
( Non piangere mai per la mia mancanza, come non ho mai pianto io: )
ETA: now with the English translation! Cor, but I had a serious Roland moment writing this.
Paolo Braccini - university teacher - 36 years old3-04-1944, Turin
Gianna, my beloved daughter,this is the first and last letter I'm writing you and I'm writing to you first, in these last hours, because I know I will keep on living in you. I will be shot at dawn, for a ideal, for a faith that you, my daughter, one day will understand in full.
( Never cry for my abstence, just like I never cried myself: )