Grace Acciarito

They say children do not remember. But I do remember. I remember everything. We had the
German command right in the city. And I remember my dad sleeping with the gun under the
pillow, because the Germans were coming in the middle of the night. They wanted a glass of
water — whatever it is they want. They were coming in. And he said to my mother, “If you see
that they kill me, get the gun. First kill the child then kill yourself.” Because there [were
monstrosities] that [were] going on over there. (Vicenza, Italy, during WWII)