La Premessa: Il 13 Dicembre, dopo essersi imbattuta, per caso o per ricerca, sul nostro post su Lale Andersen, Maria Emilia (Emi) ci aveva inviato questa bellissima lettera dal Brasile:
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Hi there, I hope I can reach you in English. My name is Maria Emília, I'm Brazilian and my deceased father fought in Italy during the World War II. Although I'm post-war, I used to listen him singing Lili Marlene in Italian at home. Of course he wasn't "warsick", but he was certainly "italysick", if you know what I mean. Anyway, I've been looking for the Italian version of this song since my father was still alive, and he left us in 2001. I'd wanted to give it to him while he was still among us, but I wasn't fast enough. Now, I want to thank you because you gave me some important clues of what I need to have the song in the way I want it! God bless you, and have a Merry Christmas.
Emi
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Noi avevamo risposto così:
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Dear Emi,
it’s really a pleasure to receive your letter, and to learn that we have been helpful. When we put the post about Lili Marlene on the blog, we couldn’t imagine we were going to ship a moment of happyness till Brazil. Our objective was just to celebrate the singer, Lele Andersen, that first brought Lili Marlene to success. The idea was of my old friend Umberto, 84, who participated in the “Resistenza”, the clandestine war of anti-fascists against the regular troops of Hitler and Mussolini. The biggest part of the post was due to my dear friend Pasionaria. I’ve just assembled stories, pictures, musics…
Your happyness is a positive “collateral effect”, of which we are really glad. We’re sorry we didn’t arrive in time to reach you father alive, but please receive this small gift also “in memory” of your father, of his love for Italy, and of the sacrifice he did to fight abroad against “our” internal ennemies. Please, come and visit us on the blog once in a while. Merry Xmas and a happy New Year from me, but I’m sure I can speak also on behalf of all the blog’s friends.
Tafanus, alias Antonio
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Oggi, con mia grande gioia e sorpresa, ho ricevuto questa bellissima lettera, che trascrivo integralmente. Insieme ad una vecchia, bellissima foto color seppia, di 60 anni fa, che riprende lo sbarco di suo padre in Italia.
Hi Antonio,
It was really nice to find your reply in my mailbox and to see my message posted on you blog, thanks a lot! This morning, I felt courageous enough to try to read your entry about Lale Andersen, which I managed with some effort, filling the gaps of my language comprehension with inferences - and with some guessings too, I must admit. I hadn't ever heard about that singer before, which makes me think that, in more recent times, instead of keeping telling me "you must read the books", my father would say "you must read the books AND the blogs"!
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As far as I could understand it, I enjoyed Marcella's letter very much, because it made me realize that Lili Marlene doesn't have to do only with Marlene Dietrich (just joking), but specially because it provides a strong impression of what that song of love and war represented to the youth of that time.
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When my father went to Italy, he was a 27 years old doctor, and the attached picture shows him in the foreground, disembarking (I don't know exactly where) in September 1944. His first mission was in Monte Castelo. The image was originally part of a news movie that was exhibited in the cinemas all over the country. My father used to tell that, at that moment, he was almost dying of seasickness, but when he noticed that he was being filmed, he forced a smile, thinking that the family would perhaps see him, which actually happened.
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I've been sharing all this story about Lili Marlene with my two older sisters, including your blog, CD's with the four versions provided by you, lyrics in different languages and so on. We've been talking a lot about the subject (by phone and e-mail, since I live far from them) and, sometimes, they recall something of that time that I hadn't ever heard before, which I enjoy very much.
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Have a nice Chrismas Eve, in peace and with the ones you love.
A kiss from Brazil, Emi.
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Dear Emi, you are a real Xmas gift for me and for all the blog’s friends. Your father’s picture and story, more than sixty years old, so soft and gentle, are true fresh air for us, especially in those days, while in Italy we have been forced to face the orrible Welby story, of which you maybe had a chance to read something even into the brazilian newspapers…
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I wonder… maybe your father and my friend Umberto, who was also fighting this orrible war from “the right side”, could have met… who knows?
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I wish you and your dearest a very happy new year, together with all other blog’s friends. Kisses from Italy, Tafanus/Antonio
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