It was the night between 19 and 20 June 1944. As soon as the Germans noticed our absence, they started searching for us. Some went down to the cellar and were victims of the explosion which definitively closed that passage to the well. Others began searching around the house, fanning out during the night towards the countryside and coming very close to our hiding place, but it was well protected so they didn’t find it. The next day, in retaliation, for every German who had died in the cellar of Villa Brandi, five civilian inhabitants of Jesi, poor innocent people, were captured and were shot mercilessly. With my heart gripped by remorse, I went into hiding with the partisans. A month later the city was liberated. As the Germans retreated they blew up all the bridges south of the town of Je
