The moving reunion between an American soldier and three Italians he rescued as children during World War II

For more than seven decades, Martin Adler treasured a black and white photo of himself as a young American soldier with a broad smile alongside three immaculately dressed Italian children. credited with having saved when the Nazis retreated north in 1944.

This week, The 97-year-old WWII veteran was able to recreate the image alongside the three brothers, now octogenarians. Thanks to social networks, the face-to-face meeting of the group was carried out.

Bologna airport was the scene of the emotional moment during which Adler reached out to take those of Bruno, Mafalda and Giuliana Naldi, he had flown 20 hours from Boca Raton, Florida. Just like he did when he was a young man in his twenties in his village of Monterenzio, he handed out bars of American chocolate.

“Look at my smile,” Adler said of the long-awaited meeting in person. The protagonists of this story shared a video reunion during the month of December of last year.

Since They waited for the relaxation of travel rules due to the pandemic for the man to make the transatlantic journey.

A HAPPY END THAT COULD NOT BE

The first time the officer and the children saw each other, in 1944, the three faces were emerging from a huge wicker basket where their mother had hidden them when the soldiers approached. Adler thought the house was empty, so he pointed his machine gun at the cart when he heard a noise, thinking that a German soldier was hiding inside.

“The mother, she came out and stood right in front of my gun to prevent him from firing,” Adler recalls. “She put her stomach against my gun, shouting, ‘Bambinis! Bambinis! Bambinis! “Beat my chest”, said the veteran.

“She was a real heroine, the mother, not me Can you imagine standing in front of a gun and yelling “Boys! Did not say.

Adler still trembles when he remembers that it was only seconds to open fire on the gondola. And after all these decades he still suffers from nightmares about the warsaid his daughter, Rachelle Donley.

The children, aged 3-6 when they met, were a happy memory. His company stayed in town for a while and he would come and play with them.

Giuliana Naldi, the youngest is the only one of the three to remember the event. He remembers getting out of the basket and seeing Adler and another American soldier, who is already dead.

“They laughed,” recalls Naldi, now 80. “They were happy not to shoot”.

She, on the other hand, did not understand what was going on. “We were not afraid of anything”, noted. He also remembers the soldier’s chocolate, presented in blue and white packaging.

“We ate a lot of this chocolate,” he laughed.

Donley decided during COVID-19 containment to use social media to try and locate the children in the old black and white photo, starting with groups of veterans in North America.

Ultimately, The photo was discovered by Italian journalist Matteo Incerti, who had written books on WWII. He was able to track down Adler’s regiment and find out where it was stationed from a small detail in another photo. The smiling photo was then published in a local newspaper, which uncovered the identities of the three children, who were then grandparents.

“I am so happy and so proud of him. Because things could have been so different in a second. Because he hesitated, there have been generations of people, “ Donley said.

Serendipity does not go unnoticed for Giuliana Naldi’s 30-year-old granddaughter Roberta Fontana, one of six children, eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren descended from the three children hidden in the wicker basket.

“Knowing that Martin could have shot and that no member of my family would exist is a very big thing”Fontana said. “It is very moving.”

While in Italy, Adler he will spend time in the city where he was stationed as a soldier, before going to Florence, Naples and Rome, where he hopes to meet Pope Francis.

“My father really wants to meet the Pope.”Donley said. “He wants to share his message of peace and love. My father has to do with peace. “

(With AP information)

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