Today we are marking this date, 10 June (on which Italy declared war in 1940), to tell a story (which, as far as we know, few people are aware of) about a group of people from Atina who were rescued at the end of the The Second World War in Assisi.
Our area was hit hard, Atina and the other villages in the Comino Valley were on the Gustav Line and were the tragic scene of bitter battles between the Nazis and the Allies.
Towards the end of January 1944, the Germans ordered the general evacuation of certain municipalities that lay along the front line, including Atina, Villa Latina, Belmonte Castello and Picinisco: It was 23 January.
Those who were still in the village were forced to leave. Families were split up, loaded onto lorries and taken to reception centres or transported northwards, whilst the “luckiest” among them were scattered across the surrounding mountains.
A group of people from Atina who had been displaced to Settefrati: some were taken in by locals, whilst others were taking refuge in the surrounding caves or in makeshift camps in the woods.
On 16 March 1944 the evacuation order Settefrati arrived and the group (40–50 people, according to our sources) of Atinati moved to Alvito.
They stayed in Alvito for a few weeks, until, following a round-up, they were captured by the Nazis and loaded onto lorries bound for Rome.
They were deported to the Breda arms factory in Rome, which at the time, at Mussolini’s behest, had been turned into a camp for displaced persons and an internment camp.
Those were difficult times; people used to get by on their wits. G. Caira, who was a girl at the time, told us that one of her brothers used to do odd jobs for the German soldiers who were in charge of the camp, in the hope of getting more bread to eat.
On 28 May 1944 the 21st New Zealand Battalion liberated Atina.
J. W. Thomas (Southbridge) befriends an Italian civilian with the help of free cigarettes in the town of Atina, Italy, during the Second World War. Photograph taken by George Frederick Kaye.
After the long, gruelling series of battles on the Gustav line and on the Anzio front, the Allied armies advanced towards the north: Rome was liberated by the American Fifth Army on 4 June 1944.
A few days earlier, with the Nazis hot on their heels, the last prisoners (including our fellow villagers) from the Breda Factory were loaded onto the train carriages departing from Tiburtina station for Germany.
In Umbria, on the morning of 7 June 1944, the Allies bombed the railway, particularly Assisi railway station… at that very moment, the train carrying people from Atina was there, near the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli. The German soldiers, taken by surprise, fled, abandoning the train and all their military equipment.
Just a few hours later, once the situation had calmed down, the locals forced their way into the cars and rescued the people who were trapped inside.
Our fellow citizens stayed in Assisi for a few months, hosted by Franciscan friars, nuns or local people.
They returned to Athens after the summer of 1944.
We know for certain that the following people were on this train:
Anna Del Prete
Maria Grazia Pagano
Giuseppina Caira
Filippo Caira
Ennio Caira
Bruno Caira
Marcello Caira
Franco Caira
Rosina Orlandi
Vittorio Caira
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