Italy / Biography
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Elena Guadagnucci and her son Alberto were living in Sant’Anna di Stazzema when the massacre took place. Elena was with the other women of the village and was badly wounded. She would die of her wounds not much later. Alberto managed to hide in the forest and survived.
Elena Guadagnucci was born in Avenza. She lived with her son Alberto in a place called Fiumetto. She was a single woman, humble and hardworking. During the war, she had moved to Tonfano, where Alberto attended primary school. After the evacuation order issued by the Nazis in the summer of 1944, Elena found accommodation in Sant'Anna di Stazzema.
In Sant'Anna di Stazzema they were guests in the locality called Argentiera with the Bernabò family. Elena helped them with household chores while her son played with a friend, Arnaldo. On 12 August 1944, when the Nazi troops were sighted, Arnaldo and his grandfather hid behind a bush. Alberto joined them and together they headed for the forest where they hid themselves.
Alberto and Arnaldo heard the shots, the screams and they saw the fire. After it had become silent, Alberto ran away, took some bread and reached Valdicastello where he found friends of his mother. Alberto returned to Sant'Anna the day after the massacre and found his mother. Elena had been wounded in the Vaccareccia stable. She had to be taken to the hospital, but no one could transport her. Alberto went back to Valdicastello to ask for help but when he returned to Sant’Anna his mother had passed away.
After the massacre Elena, like many people, was buried along with the other victims. Alberto never knew how and where she was buried. He only had a few photos of his mother. Until the trial of the perpetrators of the massacre in La Spezia, he didn’t talk about what had happened in Sant'Anna di Stazzema.
On 15 November 2017 in Avenza, Elena's hometown, a public garden was inaugurated in her memory.