Rosemary Tombasco was born on May 17, 1931.During World War 2, Rosemary went to school with Benito Mussolini’s daughter. Rosemary
was 6 years old when WWII started. She didn’t like the war at all and was afraid the German’s were going to come and cause trouble. She always
found herself safe when she was attending school. Living on the home front was hard for Rosemary because she always had to live in constant fear.
She lived through one of the hardest times ever and has lived to tell about it.
Rosemary was in school before WWII started. Rosemary was about 5 years old when she started to go to school with Mussolini’s daughter. Rosemary
found out that the war started when she heard Mussolini give a speech about it with Adolf Hitler from Germany. When Rosemary found out about the
war she felt really bad and scared, because most Italians didn’t want to fight. The leaders before Mussolini came to power were a King and a Queen,
which made Italy a monarchy. When Mussolini started to really become famous in Italy Rosemary was to young to understand anything that was going
on. The years that began at her age of six are troubled and sad.
Rosemary Tombasco lived her childhood through the most horrible war in history. There was always a threat that she could be killed. A
good thing was that she lived in Rome and Rome was an open city, which meant it could not be bombed. A couple of cities through Europe had this
pact so they could preserve the beautiful historical buildings of that city. Rosemary was 6 years old when World War II (WWII) started, so she didn’t
really understand what was going on. Everyday at the beginning of school, the students had to chant, “Mussolini is always right!” Benito Mussolini’s
daughter went to school with Rosemary so she got to see Benito Mussolini. Rosemary was in 3 movies; her first was at the age of 8. Her scariest
experience during the war was when her home was bombed, but luckily no one was home at the time. Rosemary’s only relatives in the war were a
couple of cousins. Also her uncle was in the Nazi-Resistance. This group of people killed many German soldiers and destroyed German factories. She
was one of many children across the world that got their childhood taken away from them. Like many other Italians she did not want Italy to fight
the U.S. When she heard about Pearl Harbor she felt bad, and was afraid this incident would bring America into the war against the Axis Powers. If
you didn’t join the fascist party you would be killed or sent to jail. Her family refused to join the fascist party and every time the government came
looking for her dad, he would make himself really sick so he would have to go to the hospital. When Allie troops traveled through northern Africa,
Italians were very happy that they might be free from war once again. In the middle of nineteen forty-five their dream came true and they were
free. When allied troops marched through the streets of major cities they were welcomed with thousands of cheering people. After 6 years this
country had suffered through war and now could lead a normal happy life once again. Once the war was over Rosemary had a brand new life to love
and explore in another country.
Living in the open city of Rome was a very hard life for Rosemary during the war. There were so many things to watch out for, especially
because she was so young. Rosemary is now currently 69 years old and up to this day she has lived to tell her story of WWII to many others. She
wants people to remember that you should cherish your childhood, because it is a terrible thing to waist.