Late September 1938
Luca sat in the library at Villa Vittorio, comforted by the silence. The shelves of books spread out in a circular array surrounding him felt like a comforting and protecting shield from the increasingly hostile events taking place outside across Italia. The largest Puglia city nearby, Bari, was often referred to by Mussolini as “The Turin of Puglia” since Il Duce’s visit four years ago in September. Il Duce had relocated the fascist Court of Appeal to the new Palace of Justice in the 1920’s and continued into the 1930’s to proclaim that Bari should become the new metropolis of the south, along with Naples, exclaiming “Bari e il mio flirt” (Bari is my passion). These actions and many others to improve and expand redevelopment in the city led to increased homage to Il Duce from many residents throughout Bari and broader Puglia. And of course this was followed by increased violence, intimidation and suppression of any anti-fascist movements. The squadristi and other fascist polizia roamed the streets of the cities harassing everyday citizens who even slightly appeared to be a non-believer or against Il Duce and fascism. Luca hid from all of this in the safety of the library studying political history to find some clues to how this all began and what he and others could do to turn away from fascism before it was too late. A gentle knock came on the door and Sally peaked in.
“Luca darling, it is almost time to go to the cathedral in Bari for the christening for baby Luciano,” Sally whispered.
“Coming, mi amore,” Luca sighed standing from his wing-backed reading chair. “Is little Luciano ready?” he asked.
“Yes, everyone is ready and waiting for the automobiles,” Sally replied.
Luca stood and joined Sally at the library door before looking back with one final glance thinking, “There has to be some strategy in here somewhere to turn the tide of evil that is growing stronger every day in our country.” “I’ll come back to it later,” he thought. “But for now, I must go celebrate the christening of our dear darling boy, Luciano. Luca felt a wide smile come across his face, warming his entire body when he thought of his son. And his dear friend Rita and her family will be down from Turin to help celebrate. He was happy to see her doing well, all things considered, and not in danger at this time, but who knows how long that would last. For now, they would all gather and celebrate baby Luciano and the beauty that became rarer in the country every day.
As the christening service in the Bari Cathedral was ending, Sally glanced over at Rita, now officially Luciano’s godmother, and caught a glimpse of sadness hidden behind her mask of smiles for the occasion. It was subtle but there for Sally to see, then quickly faded away. She mentally made note of the observation for discussion later but returned her attention to the celebration of Luciano’s christening. The cathedral was filled with loving family, friends, neighbors, and well-wishers from across Puglia and all of Italia as well as some visiting from out of country, including Ambassadress Marjorie Davies (nee Post), Sir Joseph Duveen, and Madame Elsa Schiaparelli, not only Sally’s favorite haute couture designer, but also now a close friend who visited often over the past year of Sally’s pregnancy. Sally was encouraged that her son Luciano would have so many strong female aunties and grandmothers etc. around him to provide guidance, strength, and courage in his long-life journey ahead. However, at the back of the cathedral Sally noticed some darkly dressed men that she didn’t recognize who seemed to be acting suspiciously. She put the thought out of her head quickly but couldn’t let go of some nagging suspicion that they were up to no good. There would be time to reflect on that later as she brought her attention back to Luciano and Luca, the priest, and gathered family as the priest said the final blessing concluding the ceremony. Everyone was invited back to Villa Vittorio for a celebration. Sally and Luca quickly made their way back to the awaiting automobiles outside the cathedral to rush back to Villa Vittorio to prepare to greet their guests.
As most guests meandered through the gardens and lawns, a small group of ladies followed Sally into the Orangerie, including Rita, her mother Adele Montalcini, Marjorie, Elsa, and Contessa Cavallo.
“Congratulations Sally!” Marjorie exclaimed. “Luciano is such a beautiful son, and we are very happy for you and Luca.” “I’m so happy that I could be here for this occasion and meet him in person,” she continued, “Especially with all that is going on these days and our recent move to a new post.”
“Oh, Marjorie, we are delighted you could join us and would have completely understood if you couldn’t have made it since you just moved to Belgium!” Sally replied. “How has the move gone so far?” she asked
“It has gone well overall, but was definitely a lot of rapid changes,” Marjorie said. “Joseph was appointed Ambassador to Belgium in May of this year. We quickly made arrangements to leave our post in Moscow in June, and our official arrival in Brussels was on July 12th of this year,” she said with a sigh of exhaustion. “I’m accustomed to traveling often, but official travel and moves are quite another experience,” she added. “I’m still trying to settle into our new assignment, get to know the new crowd, and prepare for our upcoming formal dinners as the new Ambassador and Ambassadress to Belgium. It still feels a bit odd to focus on such formalities when the world around us in Europe seems to be on fire and becoming more dangerous by the day with Hitler and Il Duce,” she said, dropping her voice to a whisper when mentioning Il Duce.
Rita winced at the mention of Il Duce and all the women noticed. “Rita, are you alright my dear?” Contessa Cavallo asked
Rita’s mother Adele gently took her daughter’s arm as both had tears streaming down their cheeks, replying, “No, neither of us are alright Contessa. You all know by now that in July Il Duce and his government released the Manifesto della razza (Manifesto of Race), declaring true Italians to only be of “Aryan” origin, and formally establishing state-sanctioned racism,” she continued sadly. “Now, as of September 5th, all Jewish students and teachers are banned from public schools and universities, and Rita has been fired from her research position at the University of Turin,” she said, choking back the tears. “And I’m afraid it is only going to get worse. On September 7th the fascist regime revoked the citizenship of any Jewish person who was naturalized after 1919, and they are ordered to leave the country within six months!” she concluded with a sigh of exhaustion at the terrible news and growing danger.
All the women in the Orangerie gasped with surprise and frustration, Sally responding first, “This is outrageous! But we can’t say we are surprised. You yourself saw this coming Rita I’m sure,” Sally replied. “Outrage of course is expected, but we must quickly act to protect your family,” Sally said with boldness.
“Sally, you have done so much to help us prepare already with protecting our art collection,” Adele replied. “We can’t ask you to do more.”
“Of course you can!” Contessa Cavallo and Marjorie replied simultaneously. “That’s what friends do for each other,” Contessa Cavallo added.
“So, what is the plan?” Mme. Elsa questioned with sincerity. “How may I help?”
“I anticipated this was coming so I gathered as much of my equipment and research as possible from the university and took it to our home in Turin, Villa d’ Arte e Scienza, where I will continue the research in my own bedroom if I must,” Rita said defiantly.
“Brilliant!” Elsa replied. “That will bide us time to begin looking for a safe place to host your family should the need arise to leave Turin.” “I will make inquiries amongst my most trusted clientele and friends,” she promised with a nod. “We will work together to keep your family safe so that you may continue your important research Rita,” Elsa said.
“And if there’s anything I can do from my side in Brussels please let me know,” Marjorie offered. “These are dangerous days ahead ladies, and we must all pull together to support one another,” she said determinedly. “The men will certainly have their work to do, protecting the vulnerable and fighting back against the oppressors, but they underestimate how much we as women can do as well.”
“Well said!” Contessa Cavallo replied. “Ladies, we have much work to do ahead of us, and as dark as these times seem, when you have a strong alliance and talented friends such as all of us, we will overcome these oppressors one day and drive away the darkness with light.” “United we fight!” Contessa Cavallo exclaimed while lifting her champagne flute.
“United we fight!” all the women shouted in unison while lifting their champagne flutes in solidarity.
“And we must not worry the men too much with our work for now,” Sally said cautiously. “We can share a bit about what is happening, but we must be careful not to get them too riled up, especially Luca, otherwise they may do something more rash, causing greater risks and harm to themselves.”
“True my dear,” Contessa Cavallo replied. “We will let the men know the facts of what has happened and our basic plans, but we won’t share all our details to minimize the risks. They are busy enough with their own plans to pay any attention to what women are doing. That may be a good thing because the enemy may be doing the exact thing, underestimating the power of women in the battles ahead, and that may be our secret weapon in the war,” she said smiling. “Now, let’s take time to enjoy this glorious celebration of our darling baby Luciano and his christening, and may we all make a pact to work together to create a better future for our sons and daughters so their light may shine in the world,” she concluded as the women cheered their solidarity.
