“We are the three brothers in the photograph” The American soldier finds the children saved in ’44

by Letizia Gamberini

It is really Christmas, with its fairy tale. Even in the time of Covid that does not fade memories, rather it feeds them. The dream of private Martin Adler, who was searching from Florida for three children found in a basket during World War II, has come true. Those three brothers with whom he was photographed at age twenty -interlude of light in the horror of the Gothic Line, in a town in the municipality of Monterenzio- have faces and names. They are 83, 81 and 79 years old and all live on the outskirts of Bologna, in Castel San Pietro Terme. Yesterday they practically embraced with a video call from Florida. “Hello Bruno, Mafalda and Giuliana, how are you?” “We are good, and you?”. So far away, yet within their hearts, so close.

The story begins a few days ago. Martin Adler, 96 years old of Jewish origin who grew up in the Bronx, expresses, through his daughter Rachelle, the desire to know if three children photographed in the fall of ’44 are still alive. To pick up the appeal on the web is Matteo Incerti, journalist and writer of historical novels. Shared history rebounds everywhere, especially between Florence and Bologna, but also across the border. Thousands of people are moved to read about that twenty-year-old ex-soldier who fought in Italy against the Nazi-fascists with the 85th Infantry Division of Custermen and who, having entered a house on the Gothic Line in 1944 with his partner John Bronsky, failed to shoot opening a basket from which the noises came. He thought they were Germans in hiding, instead they were three children. They were blocked by their mother, who broke the silence by shouting: “Children! Children!” The two soldiers stopped and began to laugh with relief: “A moment of joy – Adler recalls – if we had pulled the trigger we would never have forgiven him. God was looking at us: I would like to know what happened to those children, what they have done in life” . The four of them took a photo, after the brothers put on the ‘good’ outfit. And with those coats and ribbons in their hair they remained, crystallized over time, in a memory never faded. Until recently, when Adler, forced into his home by pandemic restrictions, pulled the photo out of the drawer.

Since then, many groups, mayors and communities between Firenzuola and the Bolognese hills have been unleashed to identify the place where the story happened and that Adler did not remember. Considering that the photo had been taken between September and October 44, the 85th division in those days had fought in Passo del Giogo and went from Tuscany to Emilia. From there, the ascent along the Gothic Line began: after Firenzuola they would reach Monterenzio and Monghidoro, in the Bolognese area, up to Via Emilia. And in that area, where the boundaries between the municipalities are blurred, between forests and hills, the three brothers could, perhaps, still live. So it was.

On the night of Santa Lucia the miracle takes place: Bruno Naldi calls Incerti from Castel San Pietro. The three brothers recognized each other. “My niece called me,” he explains, “in my opinion it’s you. It was true, who would have thought it.” The house, the Naldis say, was located in the municipality of Monterenzio, in a place they call, in dialect, Rio della Pradella. They were between the house and a nearby shelter and still remember the grenades and those North Americans who played cards with them at night and had a curious little monkey. Then after the war, they all moved out. Bruno did various jobs, including a worker in a foundry, while Mafalda worked the land until his retirement. And yesterday they were all together, in front of the telephone connected to the United States. On the other hand, a very happy Adler, who has always worked in the social field, with his two daughters and his wife. The languages ​​are different, but Martín repeats the word that stuck to him several times: “Children. Do you want chocolate?” “We remember sweets and chocolates,” they reply. The youngest, Giuliana, also remembers the wicker basket “in which we played” and in which Adler found them. And he, when it’s Mafalda’s turn: “What beautiful eyes.” And while she is moved, it is time to say goodbye. And, of course, say Merry Christmas.