«But what if the shelters aren’t ready yet?»
«Anyway, it’s always been safer in the cellar!»
«Oh, really? Maybe if you want to die like a rat!»
They were all talking in a normal tone, without any regard for the night, as if it suddenly had become day. That sudden animation had an unnatural effect. And then for the first time I experienced a feeling I had never had before, and it seemed to me that it must be the feeling of war.
My mother came in and said, "The others are taking shelter in the doorway. What are we going to do?»
Ermanno Olmi, Ragazzo della Bovisa
the Air-raid shelters
On June 10, 1940, Italy declared war on France and England.
After only five days, at 1:48 a.m., the first air-raid alarm sounded in the city of Milan. The British bombardment continued throughout the year, not stopping until 1941.
The bombing recommenced in 1942, and in 1943 it intensified, hitting homes and factories as well as infrastructure.
The city faced the war with a defensive system based on anti-aircraft weapons and a network of shelters.
When the sirens wailed, the population sought refuge in bomb shelters.
At that time, Milan had about 15,000 shelters.
Cellars
The most common air-raid shelters were undoubtedly basements.
Basements reverberated not only with fear and anguish, but also with the adventures of those who at the time were children and adolescents.
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Cellars - info about the audio documentary/h4>
In the audio documentary Aldo Bartoli remembers the bombings and flight into the cellar like a big show, a stage for the adventures of a boy who loved to read Salgari. The same setting is remembered from a different perspective, that of Aldo’s wife, Barbara Tomiszewska, who lived through the Nazi occupation of Warsaw, the city where she grew up.
Cantine was produced by Chiara Campara, Matteo Ninni and Carlo Tartivita, who conducted and arranged the interviews. The music and audio mixing are by Alessandro Romeo.
There is no english version of the audio documentary.
Navigation info
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the Breda factory shelter
At least a hundred shelters were of a public nature, and some of them were specially designed in case of war.
Industrial plants such as the Breda factory had systems in place to protect workers during air raids.
Today, the factory’s abandoned air-raid shelter is part of Milan's Parco Nord.
the air-raid shelter of piazza Grandi
Built in 1935, this shelter is located underneath a fountain, the structure of which is partially functional to the shelter itself (the tower of the fountain, for example, is designed to facilitate the circulation of air in the shelter). About 400 people could be accommodated on the premises.
the air-raid shelter in the school on viale Bodio
During World War II the cellars of what is now Giacomo Leopardi Elementary School were transformed into “Shelter 87", which could accommodate up to 450 people.
the air-raid shelter of the Istituto Moreschi
The basements of the Istituto Moreschi were used as a shelter; its premises, as in the case of Leopardi Elementary School, were available to both students and the local residents.
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Air-raid shelters - Info on the contents of this route
The citation from Ermanno Olmi is taken from the book Ragazzo della Bovisa ublished first by Camunia Publishing House in 1986 and subsequently by Mondadori.
The video was shot in Milan’s air-raid shelters in the via Bodio, the Istituto Moreschi, the Parco Nord Milano (ex Breda) and the piazza Grandi.
explore the Air-raid shelters/span>,