Enrico Toti (Rome, August 20, 1882 - Monfalcone, August 6, 1916)
The Alps, this grand spectacle nature, this bulwark that protects us from the cold north winds and, in theory, there should have been saved from invasion ... The dazzling whiteness of white is so strong that I have to squint while people around me dashes to the cable car, wrapped up in overalls, wind, similar to penguins colorful and I look down to peek: I look like a penguin and it makes me smile with amusement.
A bird of prey, I do not recognize because of the glare caused by snow, zipping in the clear sky, emitting a high-pitched echoes in the valley and the calling my undivided attention. E 'spectacular. Some German tourists
joke, with red cheeks that stand out on white skin, fair hair and blue eyes like gold as the sky and I'm about to join them, when someone grabs me firmly by the arm holding me. Swallow the scream of fear I rose in my throat and I spun around, remained staring with wide eyes. A very quick look at his right leg alone makes me swallow and I am staring at him spellbound.
-Now no longer afraid, do you? - Begins with a strong Roman accent. Teutonic
wink to the boys and I shake my head, realizing that they are excited. My breath is short, my heart was galloping in front of this young man possessed minutes from drooping mustache and prominent nose.
-Enrico Toti ... - whisper, still incredulous. He mentions a
impercettibile inchino e sbircio la sua famosissima gruccia che lo sorregge.
-Ma tu ti fidi di loro?-
Capisco che si sta riferendo nuovamente ai turisti e con condiscendenza rispondo:
-Sì, mi fido. Non è più come una volta, credimi.-
Esita, poco convinto, e continua:
-Eccellenti soldati. Veri guerrieri. E' stato duro combatterli. Ma, lasciatelo dire da chi li ha visti in opera con i propri occhi, vere macchine belligeranti.-
-Oh, ma loro non sono più…-
-Le hai viste le loro trincee? Le loro, non le nostre o quelle francesi.- ribadisce. -Erano in grado di scavare trincee corredate di tutto, persino di brande comode, in metà del tempo che occorreva a noi od ai nostri alleati. I have never seen such trenches. Real impassable ramparts .-
nods as she speaks, her eyes, lost in a distant memory in time that we, although neighbors at the time, we can not perceive its full rawness. I can only try to imagine the new Italians, who were part of a united Italy in 1870, these young people, point blank, have seen the collapse of the boundary between one region and another, the Sardinians have come in close contact with from Puglia, with the Tuscans, with the Venetians, with the Romans rather than from Puglia, Romans or Sardinians, Italians, but with a lot of country, national anthem, in all respects identical to the British, the French, the Austrians, the Russian-
... My God ... as the period of sublime self-sacrifice for the achievement of a high ideal ... - whisper against my slumber.
-You can say, girl! - Exclaims with strong pride.
A second later I see him grow dark and a little china 'forward to whisper:
-And to think that someone now wants to divide Italy once again! Do you realize? -
I can understand very well the anger of those who, like him, gave his life for Italy and I wonder what he thinks of Italy today. Better to fly.
-You are in Rome, right? -
-Rome, yes, the last to be annexed to the kingdom, thanks to the brave riflemen
.- The eyes sparkle and I take this opportunity to ask
-It 's why you six enrolled in shooters, despite the handicap? -
-Sure! Sharpshooters cycling. Well, '- admits with some reluctance, I had to insist a bit' ... -
I smile, thinking back on his life, his accident at work in 1908 as today, has taken away the leg, his iron will to be equal in all respects to the other, the bicycle that took him around the world, until the outbreak of war, the Great War.
"My ardent patriot could not tolerate that Trento and Trieste were still in the hands of the Austrians, so I did everything to enlist. I pleaded with the Duke of Aosta, while leaving for the front-
.- And once there? - I see
esitare un attimo, si gratta la nuca e sorride, con quel suo sfavillante ottimismo che lo ha sempre contraddistinto.
-Be', il fronte non era certo rose e fiori… Facevo la spola tra i feriti, portando conforto, posta e tutto l'aiuto possibile. Ma ero comunque un infiltrato.- ammette.
-Un infiltrato?- ripeto sconcertata.
-Che vuoi… La mia unica gamba non mi permetteva di venire arruolato; tuttavia io sono partito lo stesso, con una divisa senza mostrine né stellette, ma con tanta voglia di dimostrare il mio orgoglio di essere italiano.-
-Sei stato a lungo a Cervignano, vero?-
-Sì. Mi trovavo bene, anche se a volte incappavo nei soldati che provenivano dal fronte e non comprendevano il mio entusiasmo. Of course, - he added with a shrug,-imagined the horrors of the trenches, but for me to participate in the war meant to fulfill your dream of our forefathers who had managed to unify Italy, meant to legitimize Porta Pia and demonstrate that the efforts of the fathers were not All in vain .-
his face, eyes mouth, shining light as we speak and a lump in my throat suddenly closes. This man was driven by pure ideals, devoid of politics and rhetoric, driven only by the enthusiasm and pride of being Italian and ask: How much did
-for you to be Roman? -
-Lots. I was the son of the last papal stronghold, the one that was determined to remain independent and did not think of any way to recognize the Savoy monarchs as legitimate. In Rome there is an air strange when I was born, just twelve years after the taking of Porta Pia: on the one hand, the atavistic attachment to the pope, on the other link to the new king. But we Romans are strange people, we adapt to everything. I am proud and proud to be Roman and it was this awareness that drove up to the trenches: to demonstrate the value of a trasteverino
-.- At the end you're going to make you enlist
.--Yes! Finally, in 1916, I took in the Third Cyclists Sharpshooters, Pinerolo Brigade. From then on I could be with my comrades in the trenches, and though I had not been allowed to participate actively in the fighting, stay with my teammates, and often they read the newspaper, the letters, because ... Well, 'those who studied at the time were very few, I was lucky to make the primary and I was not ignorant. I even wrote in a newspaper. And they asked me to read the letters, to write and I did everything possible to maintain high morale. I often ventured into no man's land and they scolded me, telling me that it was dangerous, but I was not afraid, death .-
were a bit 'reckless, admit it .- smile.
nods and inhales deeply the fresh air.
when I try to imagine it was decided that the attack on August 6 at an altitude of 85, he jumps with his comrades against the enemy trenches, supported by the hanger that always accompanied him, while urging his companions loudly. I try to imagine him sitting on the wall of the trench and shoot the gun behind the Austrians, supported by the enthusiasm and animated by an ideal greater than himself, and constantly out of his mouth exhortations to his fellow soldiers.
As if by magic, I feel the shots hit enemies who, they feel like echoes in my ears and for a moment my heart stopped, as if struck with death. Opens her eyes and before me there is no snow, there is the cable car, but huge holes, barbed wire, trenches, wounded, dead and I open my mouth to scream, but I cry dies in the throat in the same manner in which the soldiers are mowed down by machine guns. I do not know where these men take courage in both hands and throw themselves headlong into certain death: I'll never have the courage not.
Then I see him, angry at being hit, grab his crutch in a last ditch attempt and throw it against the enemy, in a gesture that could not be more eloquent. I see it collapse, whispering his famous words: "So dark I nun," Fluffy the kiss of his hat and return her sweet soul to God
I realize that my eyes are filled with tears and swallow several times not to burst into tears.
-Aho, but you cry? - Exclaimed in disbelief.
shake my head but I still can not talk. I realize that snow is back to dominate with its whiteness, surface purifier on human follies and inhale deeply.
-The gold medal you deserved more than the six-.-
consulate will have my mother and my sister. I just know and hope that the Italians today still love Italy as we have loved us .-
-This ... I do not know .- I admit and I am ashamed as a thief.
I see him smile and gently move the hanger to position it better.
-I believe ... I am sure my Romans, when they pass in front of my monument to the Pincio, can not help but share my ideals. If not, - he adds ruefully,-then the sacrifice of so many generations has not been in vain .-
- your .- I am about to say. Roman-We will never forget. Mai .-
I fixed a long time, then turns his attention to Austrian tourists, thought lost in a distant memory and a moment later I see him nodding before fading mingling with the snow.
remain motionless, wrapped up like a penguin and instinctively put his hand to the heart, but in my mind back a refrain that today does not say anything, but that was dear to our soldiers: "The Piave whispered: the foreigner does not pass."
