Review of "War In Val D’orcia: An Italian War Diary 1943-1944," by Iris Origo

 Review of

War In Val D’orcia: An Italian War Diary 1943-1944, by Iris Origo, ISBN 0879234768

Five out of five stars

An account of war with many factions

Val D’orcia is a location in the province of Tuscany, Italy, which is approximately one-third of the distance down the Italian peninsula. Iris Origo was an English writer and with her husband, purchased an estate at La Foce in Tuscany in the 1920’s. At the time, Italy was ruled by the Fascist party led by Mussolini.

 At first, other than the men going off to fight, the outbreak of the Second World War did not have a significant effect on Tuscany. However, once the Allies conquered North Africa and launched their invasion of Italy through Sicily, the reality of the war started hitting all of Italy. The first step in the Allied invasion of Italy took place in July 1943 and the diary entries begin in January of 1943 and are sporadic until April of 1943.

 After Mussolini was deposed and Italy left the Axis, massive numbers of German troops invaded Italy to take over the country and defend it against the Allied forces moving up from the south. It was at this point that the entries begin to mention large numbers of German troops. Mussolini was deposed in July of 1943 and was freed by German commandoes in September of 1943. The Germans then re-installed him as head of Italy in the regions not controlled by the Allies.

 This led to several factions operating in Northern Italy. While the ultimate power was the German army, there were their Fascist allies of the Mussolini government, and armed partisan groups that were pledged to fight the Germans. There was also a small group of Allied airmen and other fighters that somehow ended up in Northern Italy and the representatives of the Catholic Church.

 Origo describes her dealings with all of these groups as she and the people around her do what they can to aid orphans, refugees and others displaced by the war. While many of the Germans were brutal and looted from the populace, some of the soldiers expressed surprising kindnesses to the Italian people. If it were not such a tragic situation, some of the negotiations Origo engaged in would be comical. She also points out that many of the Italians on both sides of the conflict were brazen opportunists rather than motivated by the goal of victory for their side.

 Iris Origo was a wealthy landowner when the war started, and she repeatedly talks about giving food and sustenance to everyone from orphaned children to Allied soldiers hiding from the Germans to inept people and thugs that claimed to be fighting for Italy. Of course, as the Allies moved up the Italian peninsula, the planes started to appear, and they dropped their bombs in attempts to damage Italian infrastructure. Origo also mentions many instances of Allied warplanes bombing and strafing people moving on the roads that were obviously civilians.

 The Second World War was a complex event in many European countries. The situation in Italy was one of the more extreme cases, for it switched sides and was a battleground for two years. In the south there were Italian forces that were part of the Allied contingent and in the north were Italian forces fighting for the Germans. Many of the diary entrees are interesting comments by Origo on how the war was perceived by the population.

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