An owl in the night,
by Martine Vita
An owl in the night
Martino is secretary of a town hall in a small village in Tuscany whose political majority is communist;
When Mussolini, having come to power, promulgated laws against anti-fascists,
the factions of the Black Shirts spread into the towns and villages to try manganello and castor oil on all political opponents.
With his young wife and young child, Martino chose exile in France.
He will work in the forest as a charcoal burner then work in the Haut Var to provide for his family's needs. But Times are uncertain and History is catching up with them.
– And the owl, messenger of Destiny, accompanies them in their life as exiles from fascist Italy to France of the Popular Front then to the gates of war.
Screams, screaming cavalcades so early in the dawn of this day barely emerging from the mists of the night, the streets of the small village perched on a hill in this region of Tuscany suddenly filled with the sound of boots, the clanking of weapons and vociferations....Mussolini's camice Nere are there to drive out the Red...everyone feels in danger and more particularly Martino, secretary of the Town Hall and notorious communist trade unionist...He knows that they came on look for....manganello and castor oil....Vita, the little Gaétan in her arms understands that their life can never again be like before, that they will have to leave, go into exile as Martino has suggested to him several times, it's heartbreaking for her to leave her country but it's that or suffer: no choice, they no longer have a choice from now on...And the owl, messenger of Destiny, accompanies them in their lives of exiles from fascist Italy to France of the Popular Front then to the gates of war.