Annemarie Eduardo
Harsh economic
conditions are a dreadful environment in which someone can be raised.In
times such as these, like the conditions in Europe in the time of World
War I to the time following World War II, money is hard to earn, and families
struggle to make it from day to day.Italians,
especially, faced a rough existence.Their
country had just lost a war.Their
savior, Mussolini, was executed, and their government fell into chaos.For
them, there was no way to overcome the poverty surrounding them except
leaving it completely.That is the
option my grandparents chose when they made the decision to move to New
York.
By the end of the
nineteenth century, Italy had joined the European race to secure overseas
colonies.This scramble to gain territorial
possessions continued through the turn of the century.By
the end of World War I, however, Italy’s land holdings, mainly in Africa,
did not match those of the three other European superpowers: France, England
and Belgium.
In 1922, Italy’s
dream for power and might in the eyes of Europeans came closer and closer
to fulfillment with the seizure of the Italian government by fascist powers
lead by Benito Mussolini.Mussolini,
better known as “Il Duce” or “the leader”, took the opportunity to voice
his opinions on government and revolution while editor of the Italian newspaper
Il Popolo d’Italia, or The Italian People.In
the summer of 1922, Italian workers went on strike in an effort to call
the government’s attention to their economic hardship.Fascist
forces threatened the Italian government.If
the government could not suppress the strike, then the Fascists would step
in and do the job.Fascist powers
advanced on Rome four days after their initial threat was made, and soon
after, Mussolini rose to power.
The Italian people
welcomed Mussolini with open arms.They
believed that Mussolini was the man who could turn the economy around,
improve their lives, and re-establish Italy’s role as a super-power in
Europe.Soon after his leadership
began, conditions for Italian workers improved as the Italian people predicted.Strikes
and civil riots stopped; Mussolini had restored order to a nation in chaos.The
people of Italy saw Mussolini as a savior. After taking care of Italy’s
internal problems, Mussolini turned his attention from the domestic problems
of the nation to his international agenda.As
the advent of the Second World War drew closer and closer, Mussolini began
to formulate strategies to restore Italy’s power and size of its overseas
empire to its former size. Mussolini’s plan of attack focused on
northern Africa.After a period of
both preparation and hesitation, Mussolini gave the order to go ahead with
the invasion of Ethiopia.
Italy invaded Ethiopia
on October 3, 1935. Mussolini chose to attack Ethiopia’s capital
city, Addis Ababa, because of its location and also because he knew that
the Ethiopian army was under-equipped and unprepared for an invasion.
Mussolini’s plan was to take over the nation and impose fascism on its
people. Mussolini also wished to reclaim Ethiopia after Italy lost
this colony in the 1896 Battle of Adwa in Ethiopia. Mussolini sought
to regain the power and prestige that Italy previously held in history.
The world’s response
to this invasion was not a positive one.Many
Americans and others around the world were opposed to Italian action taken
in Ethiopia. Marcus Garvey, a powerful figure in the fight for civil
rights, was adamantly against Mussolini in this war. In his essay
entitled “Italy’s Conquest?” Garvey states, “Italy was attacking Addis
Ababa from the presumptive high morality of freeing the slaves and developing
the country for the good of the people.” This attitude is the one
publicly Mussolini. I believe, however, along with Garvey, that Mussolini
had a more important and more selfish motive for invading Ethiopia.In
this essay, Garvey continues, “Everybody knows that this was a lie, that
the real motive was to create Abyssinia as a part of the new Italian Empire
and to exploit it for the good of Italians.”Throughout
the time he held power in Italy, Mussolini tried to convince Italians and
the rest of the world that he had taken over the capital city of Ethiopia
for the good of the Ethiopians. However,
the world could clearly see that Mussolini was merely looking for fame
and might for both himself and Italy.The
rest of Europe was appalled at the action taken by Mussolini and the Fascists
in seizing control of Addis Ababa.The
League of Nations quickly became involved and attempted to remedy the situation
for the Ethiopian people.Mussolini,
however, had other plans.On May
9, 1936, he made a public proclamation in Rome declaring that Italy, once
again, had an empire.
My grandfather
(my father’s father) was involved in the acquisition of this empire.Pietro’s
story began with his birth in 1914 in the small called Gallo-Matese in
the mountains of central Italy. The oldest of nine children, my grandfather
held a lot of responsibility as a young boy. He was expected to put
aside his childhood and schooling to work for his father in the tradition
of the Eduardo family in Gallo— sheep herding. He spent most of his
life living this existance until he was drafted to serve in the Italian
army under Benito Mussolini in 1935.
My grandfather’s
role in the actual battles of this war is not very clear to me.He
died six years ago, so I do not have the ability to talk to him directly
about his role in the war.My only
remaining sources of information are my father and my grandmother.I
have found my father to be the most reliable because my grandmother’s mind
is not what it used to be.I tried
talking to her about my grandfather’s role in the war, but she seemed confused
and often changed the facts in the middle of her story.I
found that I could rely mainly on my father for the information I needed,
and from him, I have learned most of what I know about my grandfather today.I
was surprised to hear that my grandfather told stories of working more
as a back-up soldier than on the front lines of battle. My father recalls,
as a young boy, hearing my grandfather tell stories about planning to build
schools and establish civil order in the communities of Addis Ababa.
From what information I have gathered through my research, I understand
that my grandfather was a part of the army’s peacekeeping force, rather
than the infantry forces. This is the reason that he remained in
Addis Ababa for four years after Italy’s victory.
My grandfather
was sent home in 1939 because he began experiencing lung problems.No
one is sure what exactly his symptoms were or what the problem was, but,
in any case, he was glad to return home, and my grandmother was glad to
see him come home.My grandparents
were very eager to start a family; my father, Giuseppe, was born less than
two years after my grandfather’s return.But,
my father was not alone for long.The
births of three new brothers (Antonio, Bonifacio or Benny, and Pasquale
or Pat) and three new sisters (Rosa, Maria, and Domenica) soon followed.
Although one may
think that my grandparents were happy, this is far from the truth.The
situation my grandfather was in when he came back from Ethiopia was far
from ideal.Upon his return to Italy,
my grandfather was forced to look his bleak future in the face. He
was unemployed and had to find a way to support my grandmother and prepare
for the birth of their first child. Within eleven years, the Eduardo
family grew in size from two to nine people. With the obligation
to care for and to support such a large family, times were tough for my
grandparents.
Immediately upon
his return to Gallo, my grandfather invested the little money he had into
sheep to start a flock of his own.Since
this was the only profession he knew, he fell back into the same existence
he lived before the war.While World
War II continued to rage throughout Europe and the rest of the world, my
grandparents felt the effects of the war quite badly.The
only food on the table was that produced on my grandfather’s small farm.Even
then, there was not much.My grandfather
insisted on selling the best of everything produced, including all the
livestock, to raise money to pay the taxes on the property and the rent
for the land on which his sheep grazed.
My father was born
into such a life of hardship. My father struggled as a child to work
for my grandfather, just as my grandfather worked for his father, to help
support his three sisters and three brothers. He had little education;
he was forced to quit school and work full-time before age ten. His
choice in overcoming the poverty in which he was raised was a difficult
one for him to make, but at the time he knew that it was his only option.Instead
of remaining in Gallo to live out his life in the tradition of his family,
my father chose to break out of the cycle of poverty and move out on his
own to find paying work.
At the age of fourteen,
my father chose to leave his parents and his home and ventured out to the
closest city.He found work in the
construction business in the relatively close city of Caserta.It
was only about 25 miles away from Gallo, so he could take the bus there
to visit home every couple of weeks, but he was forced to live in a boarding
house while working.For a boy of
only fourteen, my father was very independent.He
worked hard mixing cement and laying bricks everyday.A
portion of his salary went to the family who owned the boarding house for
his room and board and he saved up the rest of his wages so that when he
visited home, he could give it to his parents to help pay the rent, taxes,
and other expenses my grandparents had.
My father lived
like this for two years until he was sixteen.It
was at this time that the Italian government began work on a tunnel that
would go through Mont Blanc in the Alps in northern Italy to connect Italy
to Austria.There was a large demand
for workers to help in the project.My
father heard of this call for laborers and took the opportunity to make
more money and travel at the same time.So
then, while still only sixteen, my father left Caserta, his job, his friends,
and his family behind and traveled to northern Italy completely alone seeking
better pay so that he could provide more for his family back home in Gallo. Upon his arrival
at Monte Bianco (Mont Blanc) my father knew immediately that, while he
would make good money there, he would not enjoy his stay in the North.
From the first moment of his stay in northern Italy, my father encountered
the common prejudice against the people of southern Italy.According
to general northern Italian belief, which still exists today, people form
the south are low class, prone to committing crime, and, for lack of a
better word, stupid.This difference
in class is caused by many factors.Generally
speaking, northern Italy is more prosperous than the South, and, therefore,
the people of this region of the country are wealthier than those people
of the South.Inhabitants of the
North see the poorer regions that comprise southern Italy as a blemish
to the nation as a whole.Because
of this belief, southerners are not welcomed in Northern Italy.Although
this prejudice is not too common now, it was very prevalent in the attitudes
of northerners at the time my father was working in the Alps.For
this reason, my father disliked the situation in which he found himself,
but admits that he stayed there in spite of the prejudice he experienced
because he did not want to give up and return to Caserta having failed.
My father remained
working on Monte Bianco for two years until he turned eighteen.During
his stay in the North, my father came to meet up with his cousin Domenic
who had grown up with in Gallo.Although
Domenic was three years older than my father, they had played together
as children.Domenic told my father
of the good job opportunities he had seen in nearby Luxembourg.Domenic
was on his way back to Luxembourg and offered to take my father along with
him and get him a job where he already worked.Since
my father was now eighteen and could apply for a passport on his own, he
jumped at the chance to get away from the Northerners who had treated him
so badly.
My father made
the move to Luxembourg that summer, and with the help of Domenic, found
a job with a steel producing company in the capital city of Luxembourg.
At the time, there were many Italians working in Luxembourg, so my father
quickly made friends with the other Italian men working at the steel factory.The
only problem my father encountered with the move was that he did not speak
the language: Luxembourgese, which is a combination of French and German.However,
he seemed to catch on quickly and felt at home in this new country.
My father started
out working as a dockhand, loading and unloading trucks.He
quickly moved up from that position when Domenic began to teach my father
how to weld, which was considered a valuable skill at the time.My
father really enjoyed living in Luxembourg.At
the end of that year, however, my father received surprising news from
home.My grandfather had made the
decision to move to America.While
my father was upset by this news because he would be even further away
from his family, he felt happy because my grandfather had finally taken
a step to break lose from his hard life in Gallo.
Little by little,
my grandfather financed the trip to America for each of his children.My
grandmother came first with Rosa and Domenica, the two youngest girls.Maria
came next, followed by Benny, then Tony, and finally by Pat and my grandfather.The
move took three years to complete, but the family finally settled in New
York.In the meantime, my father
remained living and working in Luxembourg for the next six years.Finally,
at the age of 28, he made the ultimate decision, one that would change
his life forever.He gave into the
begging of my grandmother and decided to move to America. The decision
to leave Luxembourg was a tough one for my father to make.Leaving
meant saying goodbye to all the friends he had made during his ten-year
stay in the country.Yet, my father
knew that the best thing he could do was to come to America.With
his skills as a welder, he could find a good paying job and be close to
his family, members of which he had not seen in nearly ten years.
On August 21, 1969,
my father’s Sabena Airlines fight landed at Kennedy Airport in New York.After
fourteen years, exactly half of his life, my father was finally reunited
with his family, living at home again.By
this time, my grandfather had gotten a job as a cook in a local restaurant,
and my grandmother worked as a nurse’s aide in a nursing home.All
of my father’s brothers and sisters completed or were in the process of
completing their schooling in America.His
brother Benny even completed college and began working as an accountant.In
1972, my grandparents fulfilled their dream of owning their own home when
they bought a two family house in the Bronx.This
is where my grandmother still lives today.After
a lifetime of hardship and sacrifice, my grandparents finally were able
to say that they had accomplished something, and they had the proof to
show it.In spite of all the bumps
in the road, my grandfather and grandmother raised seven wonderful and
successful children who know the value of hard work and sacrifice because
of the work their parents did to provide a good life for them
My father went
on to meet my mother, and they married in 1975.Just
this June they celebrated 25 years of marriage.From
the stories my father has told of his life of hard work and sacrifice,
I know how much it took for him to make it to where he is today.He
remembers wishing, as a young boy, to have his own house and land.He
hated having to pay rent to someone else for the land his father used for
farming and sheep grazing.Finally
in 1980, his wish came true when he and my mother purchased the house I
live in today.When I asked him
if he thought he made the right choice in moving to America, he smiled,
and reminded me that if he had stayed in Italy and endured the hard life
into which he was born, he would not have all that he has today.
The harsh economic
conditions in Europe in the early twentieth century hit Europeans hard.Italians
relied on Benito Mussolini, the leader seen as a Christ-like figure who
was thought to have the ability to redeem Italy and its people.Instead,
Italians were disappointed when Italy lost World War II and the economy
fell into turmoil.Italians were
suffering, and many struggled to find a way out of their dreadful situation.
Although both my
grandfather and father were born into horrible economic conditions in the
time following the First and the Second World Wars, they both chose their
own path to take to escape their lives of poverty.My
grandfather tried to stay at home in Gallo and work through his problems,
while my father immediately tried to start a new and better life for himself
elsewhere while still providing for his family.Both
these decisions ended with both father and son immigrating to New York
in search of a decent life
Works
Cited
Agnew, John.“The
Myth of Backward Italy in Modern Europe.” Revisioning Italy:National
Identity and Global Culture.Ed.
Beverly Allen and Mary Russo Minneapolis:University
of Minneapolis Press, 1997.
D’Angerio, Vitaliano.“La
Moneta Unica Tenta la Grande Rimonta.” America Oggi.2
Nov 2000.
Garvey, Marcus.“Italy’s
Conquest?”http://www.commonlink.com/~olsen/RASTAFARI/GARVEY/blackman3607.html
Ginsborg, Paul.
A
History of Contemporary Italy: Society and Politics 1943-1988. London:Penguin
Books, 1990.
Lynch, David J.“Preserving
‘la dolce vita’ in Italy.” USA Today, 13 October 2000.
“Mussolini, Benito.”
Encyclopedia
Britannica.15th
ed.1996