Tulipano - a story of wartime Italy - 1944-45

by Walter De Hoog

A 20 year old Dutchman joins the Italian Resistance to the Nazi occupation of Northern Italy. As a courier for the underground headquarters of the partisan movement he is captured by the Gestapo who find on him military intelligence documents for transmission to Allied headquarters in Southern Italy. He is deported to the notorious Nazi extermination camp of Mauthausen in Austria. In a daring nighttime escape from the cattle train speeding through icy snowbound mountains he goes on to survive by the skin of his teeth in heart stopping encounters with enemy soldiers and policemen. At war's end the leader of the Resistance becomes the first prime minister of liberated Italy and appoints him to his staff. The young Dutchman gets an inside view of the workings of government and politics as Italy faces overwhelming problems of reconstruction. The events in Walter's odyssey are highlighted by telling observations and reflections on the broader picture of what is happening in that final phase of the war. Along with the personal emotions and the constant tension and fear he feels as he faces one danger after another there are revealing observations about the dramatic impact the war has on the average people he meets, their fears, suspicions and understandable attitudes of self-protection as he seeks their help in this incredible journey of survival. Named to Kirkus Reviews' Best of 2012, "While large scale accounts of WWII will provide a more comprehensive overview of its conflicts, De Hoog's firsthand version teems with humanity not often found in such surveys. It's written with the same measures of ethical commitment and intelligence that seem to have helped him outpace his German persecutors. A lush, unsparing narrative that honors history ans emotion."

226 pages, Paperback

First published August 29, 2012

Reviews

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Walter De Hoog's memoir of his experiences as a partisan courier in the Italian resistance in World War II is a timely read now as the United States of America slides toward authoritarianism. His recollections of working as a secretary for the first prime minister of postwar Italy are also instructive. This is from a radio address De Hoog made at the time, and I find it highly relevant to ours:

"With our victory we are asking the Italian people to respect and understand the democratic institutions that are the unassailable guarantees of our liberties after 20 years of Fascist dictatorship. Let the various political parties be the symptoms of the country's vitality and rebirth. The honest contest between the parties should not be feared by the people, because it represents a search toward progress. Only where there is argument, criticism, correction by friend or foe can there be a truly productive flourishing of national life. Let us banish forever the contempt and even hatred attached to the idea of contesting parties, of democratic diversity. A political party is an association of ideas, opinions, and aspirations. It represents a distinct way of thinking. And it is in the nature of things but not just one party be endowed with all the wisdom and that all the others be just plain wrong. The political parties will disagree about our today's and tomorrow's, what is just and equitable, feasible or mistaken -- and what ought to be done. Luckily we are not all alike, and we will identify with this for that group. But it is essential, even elementary, that to secure our liberties we are to respect each others opinions, measure them against our own. And to be honest in recognizing what is valid. In other words, to be open-minded. We must banish the fanaticism of one party -- one faith. Above all we must respect the laws that make us a civil society. We must see and understand that the laws are meant to be a higher expression of ourselves. To resort to individual or party justice so called is a betrayal of our newly resurgent democratic life."