the editorial team

On Saturday, January 25th, just before the 82nd anniversary of the Battle of Nikolajevka, the exhibition "Dear mom, I'm doing Just Fine" was inaugurated at the MuGot in Scarperia – San Piero, with heartfelt participation.“.

On January 26, 1943, the Alpini fought an epic battle to save their lives and return home. At the cost of enormous losses, they managed to break through the pocket in which they had been trapped by the large Soviet winter counteroffensive. This battle became the symbol of the Russian Campaign, but we must remember that it had already been ongoing for a year and a half.

Throughout all these months, soldiers at the front wrote letters home to their families. Almost everyone wrote them, regardless of social background or geographic origin, in formal or ungrammatical Italian, but they all started in more or less the same way, aiming to reassure their families. The rest are snapshots of daily life at the time, giving us an idea of how they lived. Much can also be understood by reading between the lines, in the "unsaid," because clearly there was censorship, and one had to be careful about what and how to write.

These letters, along with the testimonies of those who returned, have contributed to creating the collective memory of these tragic events. A memory that is still deeply rooted in our society, also because, if we think about it, every Italian family can mourn a relative who never returned from Russia, or who, in any case, went there and endured great suffering.

In the exhibition hall, several original letters are displayed alongside their transcriptions, presented together with uniforms, equipment, and everyday items of the soldiers at the front.

All the letters deserve to be read, as each one can provide an important point for reflection or discussion. Certainly, it can be a bit long and uncomfortable to do so from the display cases; however , anyone who would like to read them leisurely at home in their free time can do so by purchasing the book, which is titled after the exhibition, for €10.The proceeds will be entirely used to fund the future activities of Gotica Toscana.