Amabile Ceccon 

I am Amabile Ceccon. I was born on May 3rd, 1920, in Domodossola, and I died on October 22nd, 1944, the date of the events I want you to know about. I was a partisan in the “Garibaldi” brigade, and I fought to defend our glorious Partisan Republic of Ossola. On October 22nd, 1944, I took refuge at Alpe Meccia before attempting to escape to Switzerland through the Monte Moro Pass in Macugnaga because Ossola had been retaken by the Nazi-fascists. I was with some of my comrades from the unit led by Commander Domenico Pizzi, known as “Il Moro”. We were resting in the huts, confident that the Nazi-fascists were far away. Shortly before eleven o’clock, the enemy reached the area and soon after opened fire. They aimed at the doors of the huts. In the barn where I was hiding with Commander Moro and others, the door was about to collapse. The commander was about to step outside when I held him back and went out ahead of him; as soon as I stepped outside, I was fatally shot. Moro and the partisan Scognamiglio ran out, firing wildly, and hid in a ravine. They remained hidden there, having decided to take their own lives rather than fall into the hands of those oppressors. However, by evening, everything had quieted down, and they managed to escape. Along with me, Benito Andreoli, Mario Bassi, Angelo Falsone, Giuseppina Fregonara, Mario Lana, Bruno Magnaghi, Luigi Magnaghi, Teodoro Picchetti, and Anselmo Scomazzon also lost their lives. All of them were as young as I was. My body and that of Angelo Falsone were found a year later in a ditch. The other bodies were taken to Macugnaga by local villagers. The Germans had forced them to carry the bodies tied to a pole by their hands and feet, like animals. The corpses were then laid out in a row on the ground at the entrance to the village. I sacrificed my young life for my commander, for my homeland, and for the freedom that I and my fellow citizens believed in!