April 25: Liberation Day in Italy

 It's the April 25 and here in Italy it's holiday. We are celebrating the anniversary of the Liberation and the end of the Nazi occupation of our country during the Second World War. We also commemorate the Resistance, those people (a lot of them were young men and women) who gave their life for our freedom.

In every city the Italian citizens are celebrating the Liberation remembering that bloody time, but I want to share with you a little story about my childhood, a little episode to tell you how much this day is important for us, from generation to generation.

When I was a child I used to stay with my father when he was in the forest to cut the wood for the stove. While he worked hard in a corner of the forest, I used to walk around between the trees playing in my own child world. One day I was a little bit bored and so my father said to me about a place, inside the forest close to us, where a young Partisan rested in peace. My father, who was just a little one during the Second WW, didn't remember the name of that young Partisan, but he respected so much him because he gave his young life to give us the freedom from the Nazi and so my dad said to me I could search the place where that brave boy rested in piece. I walk in the forest for a bit and, at the end, I found a sort of grave made just by some rocks and some parts of timeworn plastic flowers. When I saw that timeworn flowers I felt myself so sad. I thought people forgot that young man and so I did the first thing in my mind to say to that boy he was in our memory forever and ever: I sang a song. Not a simple song, but THE song we use to sing also today to commemorate who fight for freedom: Bella Ciao.

I was a child, but also today, when I sing that song, my heart go to those young men and women.

To share with you this beautiful song, I chose this new version, published just today to commemorate this day. Skin and the italian band Marlene Kuntz are the singer in this version and this is really a great way to talk about the importance of this day to the new generation.

See ya soon

Silvia