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the Hollis, and Carlo Kechler, a liaison officer, who spoke English better than an Englishman and his brother Titti and American and English officers who liked good tobacco. And everyone, because of Gianfranco, treated me as an almost important person.

I was still in room 32 when a phone call made everyone nervous. It came from the partisan commander of the Treviso square who claimed to have in front of him a Mihailovic leader, with full powers, who offered the collaboration of the general's troops, ready to converge on Trieste before it was occupied by Tito's formations. The colonel was to be picked up immediately but, be careful!, in the area between Venice and Treviso - at the time "no man's land" - there were the last retreating SS men and many mines scattered along the roads. In short, it was almost impossible to get there alive. Gianfranco, trained in Africa to do the "pendulum," that is to pass and pass between enemy lines and mined areas, offered to go and fetch the colonel and that same night he left for Treviso with a large Hortch that he had stolen from the general German commander of the square.

He reappeared at home on May 5th. While, very excited, we were getting ready to go and watch the parade of the army and partisan groups, Gianfranco sat down in an armchair to read the newspaper. "Eh no, come on! You have to go to the parade." I said. 

"Eh no, I'm not going." he muttered behind the newspaper. 

"Why? Aren't you a partisan, or rather a master craftsman?"

"Yeah. I would be expected in the box of the authorities." 

"Really?! All the more reason to go there." 

"No. That stage will also be too full. Many will go up there who have done very little or almost nothing." he said, lowering the newspaper. Then I murmured that he was thinking of those...