Alpini di Arnad

«Around 10 o'clock on the evening of January 1st Sergeant Pradeni... here he was carrying the thoughtful news of his departure». Thus begins the diary of the Alpine soldier Antonio Janin who had the perseverance to note down the salient events of his Yugoslav campaign throughout 1942 and who was a victim of the war in that country. The world we live in today is the direct consequence of the results of the Second World War. Fought on an almost planetary surface, this catastrophe of the modern age led to immense human and material destruction, involved civilians and soldiers to an extent never seen before, shocked economies and societies, revealed the extraordinary development of technological capabilities at the service of the destructive will of the belligerent countries. It was a conflagration that revealed the total character of modern war even in the defeat of the vanquished, who surrendered, as the victors had established, without conditions. This work is the result of research among the Alpine deputies of Arnad who experienced firsthand the events of those terrible years. It collects the experiences of those who, still alive, were able to directly give their testimony, but also the memories of their family members who were able to document the sad moments of the war through photographs and postcards.