Casgliadau Arlein
Amgueddfa Cymru
Chwilio Uwch
Recordiad sain / Audio recording: Massimo Alzetta
Oral history recording with Massimo Alzetta who was born in Montereale Valcellina di Grisso and moved to Wales in 1954. Part 1 of 7 (AV 11335 - AV 11341). Recorded as part of the Italian Memories in Wales project (2008-10), delivered by ACLI-ENAIP and funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
0:29 Massimo was born in 1934 in Montereale Valcellina di Grisso in a rural village where there was a strong sense of community and everybody helped each other. There were stables and many lakes, and plenty of water from the lakes of the Valcellina beyond the Alps. It was used to irrigate the fields. 3:25 When he was young he began a five-year apprenticeship as a carpenter, but it was unpaid. So, in 1954, when he was 20, he decided to emigrate to Wales, as he had two brothers there. He could have gone to Canada but he preferred Wales. He came on a work permit which he still has. When he came he didn’t have to have any health checks. In 1955 both his parents passed away. 07:21 He remembers that during the war the family donkey was stolen. He also saw Himmler, one of the bosses of the Gestapo, when he came to Montereale Valcellina. He shot a partisan in front of Massimo. He remembers that when he was young he was very curious. He also remembers all the houses being burnt down by the Germans. His eldest brother was deported to a concentration camp in Mathausen. Luckily he came back home in 1946. 10:30 As a young boy he was taught to learn everything he could, in case it came in useful one day. His father worked at the local power station. At that time it was run by a private company, and one of Massimo’s brothers worked there as well. His mother had received a gold chain as a wedding present, but was forced to hand it over to the government during the war. Massimo was a balilla (member of the fascist youth). 14:35 His sister worked as a maid in the house of a music conductor who later went to New York. The sister had a problem with her eyes and was going blind. The conductor sent her some penicillin from America, in the early days of penicillin. She was in and out of hospital but she still couldn’t see, so she went to Florence to learn to weave carpets. His mother had 17 children. Seven died very young, some of them of Spanish flu. 20:00 Now he still has a large family, with many nieces and nephews. When he first came to Wales he met many Italians, and he remembers a lot of them, like Les Servini from Bardi who was interned during the war. He spoke several languages and used to go to Friuli, as he knew a lot of Italians who lived in Wales. 23:48 Massimo learned English from his friends. Massimo has two children. One of them speaks Italian very well, the other a bit less. They live near Massimo.