Grazia

"He was given the same name as his father. He was taken to the orphanage when he was seven years old. The lively youngest child needed guidance, as he was at serious risk of becoming a street kid, exposed to a thousand dangers. Grazia was never there. She was a factory worker. She had to work to feed the boys. She left early in the morning and returned late at night. She didn't know who to leave the little one with. She feared that by standing in the street all day, a "misfortune" could happen to him, as stated in an anguished letter sent to the orphanage in March 1942, in which she requests to accept "the shelter" of her son in the institution."

"Grace's youngest child is five years old when the second world war starts. Little Leonardo's life becomes even more precarious. "We were a very poor family, my mother a widow, I the youngest of four siblings. And then the war came," he recounts in a rare television interview. Grace is increasingly worried, she doesn't know what will become of the little one. When she comes home from the factory, the other women tell her about the pranks of her little one, the fights with the kids, the scuffles in the courtyard. No one can take care of him. "Once, a bad lady, who wanted to sleep in the afternoon, poured water all over the stairs to stop us from running up and down," he recalls. Obviously, the tiny homes gang does it anyway. Leonardo falls and cuts his eyebrow. Mother Grazia comes home and finds the little one injured, takes him to be treated at the nearby military hospital, where they put in two stitches. She realizes that she cannot leave him like that all day. And, meanwhile, ordnance rains from the sky."

"The admission document is a radiography of the family's poverty, but at the same time, of the dignity of mother Grazia. > Does the child have any capital tied up? No. Is he healthy? Yes. Is there a guardian? There is no guardian. Does he have any brothers or sisters? He has two sisters and a brother, the eldest is married. The youngest is twelve years old, and the other brother is fourteen years old. There are no relatives who can contribute to the payment of the boarding fee. Information on the mother's morality: Good. Does anyone else work in the family, other than the mother? No. The decision is made the same day. "It is urgent to shelter the minor because he is completely abandoned during the day.""