Close view of the brigde on the left river bank downstream.

My grandfather had already experienced the violence of the fascist squads in the twenties, in  1925 he managed to escape death by a miracle; a group of fascists had tried to eliminate him in the Michelotti canal, a clear, shallow old canal which flowed along the river  at that time. 

They had not succeded in killing him. The canal was too narrow and the deep waters in the river were practically not accessible as  the bridge over the  river did not exist as yet.

In 1925 fascism could not be stopped by my Grandfather alone.  It controlled  all state institutions, the police and the army included. As retailion my grandfather was forced again into  the army for six months from January 1 1926 in the 91° infantery regiment in Turin, at the age of 37 , with a one-year-old daugther, and a wife to maintain.

Uniforms and plumed helmets again, weapons and guns again, barracks and mad commands once more. 

In spite of threats and retailations my grandfather continued his desperate course, he never gave up his underground activities against the regime.

But his fate was already sealed. The forces involved in the struggle were desperately uneven. He could not hope to escape all the time without being surprised sooner or later, in the years to follow.

And at the end something happened.

Tuesday November 17 1931 was a rainy day, the temperature had fallen to 8 degrees C°, no wind was blowing. A week before it had rained a lot, the river waters now were  muddy, and were flowing fast. 

Tuesday November 17 1931 at 9,00 a.m. the fascists stopped him.