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operations on the other side of the mountain. They caught the Stella Rossa by surprise yesterday and almost finished us all off. The remains of the brigade are now scattered all over the place and we are not a credible fighting force anymore.’
    â€˜What will you do now?’ I asked.
    â€˜I’ll go to Bologna and join the partisans there. This war should not last much longer now and I want to be involved in the fighting when the tedeschi eventually surrender.’
    â€˜Will the partisans take me as well? Those German bastards murdered every member of my family and I want to kill as many of them as possible,’ I said, lifting my shotgun to emphasise my point.
    Italo looked at me closely. ‘I’ll take you along with me to speak to them, but I honestly don’t know if they will think you too young to join them. How old are you?’
    I stood up to my full height and said in as deep a voice as I could, ‘I’m fifteen years old and I can fight as well as anyone. Just give me a chance to prove it.’
    Italo smiled, then said, ‘Well then little tiger, we’ll rest and settle down here until it’s dark, then we’ll head along the road to Bologna. If we see any vehicle lights, we’ll leave the road and hide. There won’t be any night patrols out after what’s happened here so we should be fine. As far as I know, Bologna is still in German hands, so we’ll have to be careful entering the city.’
    And so, I left my childhood behind on the verdant slopes of Monte Sole. It seemed to me that my rite of passage from childhood to adulthood had been almost instantaneous. My nightmares continued, but gradually became less intense and easier to bear. However, in my quite moments, I can still hear the sound of screaming voices.
    The partisan band was based in the mountain region near Bologna and they were always looking to recruit new members, although they took great care over selection in case of infiltration by fascist agents. When they found out what had happened to my family they had no problem in accepting me into their band, and as Italo had already proved himself with the Stella Rossa, we both joined together.
    I was with the Bologna 8th Garibaldi Brigade of partisans until the war ended in April 1945, some seven months after I joined them. They never found out that I lied about my age, although they may have suspected it. I was involved in several operations against the Germans and never once did I show any mercy towards them. During that time, I was constantly on the lookout for a tall, blonde SS Sergeant, but our paths never crossed during those eventful months.
    The partisans taught me how to handle all different types of weapons, and I proved to be a quick learner. I did find out though, that the German rastrallemento on Monte Sole had lasted for four days, and that the final death count numbered over eighteen hundred people, including forty-five children under two years old. One of them was my Lisa.
    I had never felt hatred against people on this scale before, but I now experienced an overwhelming compulsion to eliminate every German I laid eyes on. Over the next few weeks I became eaten up with a desire to kill Germans and not to stop until they were all dead or they had killed me. My company commander noticed that I was being eaten up with hatred and took me aside.
    â€˜Bruno, I realise that you have every right to hate the Germans and to want revenge for what they did to your family, but you must be careful. Many good men have felt the same as you do and threw caution to the wind in their attempt to get at the Germans and ended up dead. Don’t let this hatred consume you to the point that you lose your sense of reason. You are no good to me or to our cause if you continually burn with this anger. It could threaten us all. Do you understand what I mean?’
    I nodded my head in agreement. ‘I’ll try to change. Italo has already spoken