Sicily, Italy
This is the story of Concetta, my grandmother’s seven-year-old sister, told by four different women. This is the story that got this whole project started. I had heard this story growing up—it’s a sad and tragic story but I was so touched by its power, its reality, its truth and it connected me deeper to the people that told it—my family.
A story does that—I believe a story has that effect—it connects us. I believe it’s why we love stories so much when we are children. A story allows us to use our imaginations, it strengthens our listening and our focus, it opens us up to accepting how very different we all are yet see how truly very similar.
As a teacher, I see storytelling as a very powerful tool that spans any age group and it’s one of the many reasons I have embarked on exploring these women’s stories—women from a generation that experienced WWII, not as typical soldiers, not as Americans, but through a different lens and perspective, through every-day-first-hand-living experiences, having felt the effect of war as civilians, saw war, lived it, women who survived it, women whose stories have not been heard as often, women from a generation that will soon be a past, women from a generation some call the Silent.
This is the story of Concetta, my grandmother’s seven-year-old sister, told by four different women. This is the story that got this whole project started. I had heard this story growing up—it’s a sad and tragic story but I was so touched by its power, its reality, its truth and it connected me deeper to the people that told it—my family.
A story does that—I believe a story has that effect—it connects us. I believe it’s why we love stories so much when we are children. A story allows us to use our imaginations, it strengthens our listening and our focus, it opens us up to accepting how very different we all are yet see how truly very similar.
As a teacher, I see storytelling as a very powerful tool that spans any age group and it’s one of the many reasons I have embarked on exploring these women’s stories—women from a generation that experienced WWII, not as typical soldiers, not as Americans, but through a different lens and perspective, through every-day-first-hand-living experiences, having felt the effect of war as civilians, saw war, lived it, women who survived it, women whose stories have not been heard as often, women from a generation that will soon be a past, women from a generation some call the Silent.
Poland
I had over two hours of oral recording that had to be reduced and edited due to file size. I worked hard to keep the heart of Janina’s story in place. Her story began in Poland where WWII began. Her story is detailed, it teaches us history in the most personal of ways and it exposes a truth that resonates strength, wisdom and a resilience that connects us beyond the story.
I had over two hours of oral recording that had to be reduced and edited due to file size. I worked hard to keep the heart of Janina’s story in place. Her story began in Poland where WWII began. Her story is detailed, it teaches us history in the most personal of ways and it exposes a truth that resonates strength, wisdom and a resilience that connects us beyond the story.
France
Monique is French, soft-spoken and steady. Her brief and simple story is anything but…her story connects us to the child within and to what we held dear when play happened in the limitless space of our imaginations-- where a doll, a bike, and even an orange sparked wonder and joy.
Monique is French, soft-spoken and steady. Her brief and simple story is anything but…her story connects us to the child within and to what we held dear when play happened in the limitless space of our imaginations-- where a doll, a bike, and even an orange sparked wonder and joy.
Naples, Italy
Lena is the youngest of the women interviewed and her story connected with the memories of her older sister with whom she still speaks with about her past and who they both have become today—Lena’s story is also brief but brings us to a place that we passively have read about or have watched in Neorealist Rossellini films; her story sometimes muffled by the background noise of her customers as they order their lunch or just stop in to say “hello” to this hard-working and compassionate deli owner who now lives in Melrose Park, Illinois.
Lena is the youngest of the women interviewed and her story connected with the memories of her older sister with whom she still speaks with about her past and who they both have become today—Lena’s story is also brief but brings us to a place that we passively have read about or have watched in Neorealist Rossellini films; her story sometimes muffled by the background noise of her customers as they order their lunch or just stop in to say “hello” to this hard-working and compassionate deli owner who now lives in Melrose Park, Illinois.